Risk management

Banks are dumping their mortgage servicing rights because low rates and new rules make it hard to earn a profit. SunTrust, Flagstar and First South Bancorp in North Carolina are taking the opposite view.

Mortgage fraud rose nationwide as Florida continued its reign as the state with the highest overall risk for unscrupulous activity, according to CoreLogic.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen pushed back against the notion that banks might be "too big to manage," saying that despite concerns raised by the recent scandal at Wells Fargo, there is no inherent reason why large banks cannot meet existing standards of conduct.

Fannie Mae has completed two Credit Insurance Risk Transfer transactions worth $14.4 billion, in a continuation of its efforts to reduce taxpayer risk through an increased role for private capital in the mortgage market.

Regions Financial Corp. has agreed to pay $52.4 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by originating and underwriting mortgages that did not meet Federal Housing Administration requirements.

It's no secret that subprime lending played a heavy role in the demise of the mortgage broker. But to truly understand how brokers rose to prominence, it is helpful to look back to the channel's beginnings. Here's a look at three data points that sum up the rise and fall of the mortgage broker.

Over the next 40 years, the rate of homeownership is likely to continue to decline further as changes in demographic trends, increased regulation and stagnant incomes make that dream harder to achieve.

Here's a look at some of the mortgage industry's most pioneering ideas and trends that have created legacies that have outlasted the companies that established them.

Loan defects and misrepresentation are occurring at the lowest levels in recent history thanks to the refinance boom spurred by low interest rates and better loan manufacturing processes.

In just a few years, a popular mall with high-end anchor stores and boutique retail tenants can fall into substandard property condition, leaving commercial mortgage bond investors with outsized losses on their exposure to these properties.

Many lenders are still reluctant to give mortgages to borrowers with less-than-pristine credit, yet such loans are far more likely than prime jumbo loans to be bundled into collateral bonds. Sreeni Prabhu of Angel Oak Capital credits banks' behavior and higher interest rates for that reality.

Equifax and TransUnion have stopped selling traditional credit reports, forcing lenders to buy their new, more expensive "trended" data reports that mortgage investors aren't using yet.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeking to make it easier for Federal Home Loan Banks to accept certain kinds of collateral for advances.

The Federal Housing Administration should look to private mortgage insurance companies as a model for how to standardize the claim review process.

The first commercial mortgage-backed security to comply with "skin in the game" requirements was extremely well received. Market participants credit the way the large banks sponsoring the deal retained the risk – a strategy unavailable to nonbank lenders.

The U.K. government will redeem 3 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) of bonds backed by mortgages from rescued lender Bradford & Bingley, paving the way for a potential sale of the loans.

The impressive loan growth in the second quarter is surprising in an economy that grew by 1.2% in the second quarter and by only 0.8% in the first quarter.

Arch U.S. MI's acquisition of United Guaranty Corp. will make one of the smallest private mortgage insurers the sector's new market leader. While the move is likely to ease pricing competition among the six remaining players, it's not expected to set off a wave of further consolidation.

Enforcement actions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against companies are well-known, but compliance starts with individuals.

Servicers got what they asked for when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau limited the specificity of certain requirements in its final servicing rule. Now they may regret it.