Risk management

Impending rules allow sponsors of commercial mortgage bonds to satisfy a requirement to keep "skin in the game" of their deals by selling the risk of first loss to a designated third party.

Under pressure from regulators to beef up risk management in commercial real estate lending, banks are using new software tools to improve analysis.

When the limits on two of Bill Johnson's credit cards were lowered from $20,000 to $6,000, his outstanding balances jumped from a perfectly acceptable 20% to a dangerously high 66%.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could need as much as $126 billion in bailout money from taxpayers in a severe economic downturn, according to stress test results released by their regulator.

Fair market value adjustments to mortgage servicing rights will continue to put downward pressure on earnings throughout the rest of 2016, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Fannie Mae earned $2.9 billion in the second quarter, a step up from its first-quarter earnings, but Chief Executive Timothy Mayopoulos reiterated warnings about future volatility.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal Friday updating its mortgage disclosure rule did not give lenders what they wanted: an ability to correct errors after a loan has closed and a release from liability for technical violations. But the 293-page proposal did provide revisions that will help in compliance and the closing of more loans.

Loan application defect risk continued its downward slide in June, according to First American Financial Corp.

The CFPB updated its "Know Before You Owe" mortgage disclosure rule to provide more clarity to lenders. It has proposed additional tolerance provisions, clarified a partial exemption for housing finance agencies, extended the rule's coverage to all cooperative units, and provided more clarity about privacy and the sharing of information.

Suffolk Bancorp in New York, which recently agreed to sell to People's United Financial, discouraged several suitors from bidding due to concerns about concentrations of commercial real estate loans at those banks. The disclosures highlight the challenges that banks with heavy CRE exposure could face — as buyers or sellers — if they want to do deals.

As if high default costs haven't been challenging enough for mortgage servicers, a growing number of seriously delinquent loans are Federal Housing Administration products, which require significant upfront investment to resolve.

The Democratic and Republican platforms adopted at this year's party conventions take a more forward-looking approach to housing issues than they did four years ago. But they have distinctly different views on the government's role in maintaining a robust mortgage industry.

Democrats will adopt a party platform this week that omits most references to a need for continued post-housing crisis reforms, and instead focuses on expanding access to mortgage credit and support for industry regulation.

A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court decision that dismissed a lawsuit against Freddie Mac brought by a state pension fund.

Fannie Mae has priced its Connecticut Avenue Securities, the series 2016-C04, at tighter spreads to its previous deal, completed in April.

A private flood insurance bill passed by the House is making Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac uneasy because they fear it could lead to greater losses, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office.

Uncertainty about what constitutes a TRID error has had a direct impact on independent mortgage bankers. But some warehouse lenders that provide those originators with interim funding have also been affected by the liquidity concern, taking on increased risk exposure.

Upcoming risk retention requirements may be the proverbial straw that breaks the back of the commercial mortgage-backed securities market.

When Congress lifted the conforming loan limit in certain high-cost housing markets, it provided some much-needed liquidity for homebuyers.

The debate over a Republican bill to overhaul the Dodd-Frank Act is increasingly focused on two widely different philosophies about capital regulation, which were both on display at a hearing Tuesday.