Risk management

The collateral for Agate Bay 2016-2 includes some residential mortgages that failed to comply, at least initially, with "Know Before You Owe" disclosure rules that took effect in October.

Lenders and servicers that haven't complied with the Federal Housing Administration's lower cap on late fees better do it soon.

Market volatility and new regulatory burdens are thinning the ranks of commercial mortgage lenders that underwrite loans for securitizations. Activity is slowing down as a result, and it is unclear if banks and insurers will fill the void, especially outside the largest cities.

The agency that insures government loan securitizations could use some more subservicers because it is concerned that so much of its issuance gets outsourced to a small number of players.

Whether it's an intentional bait-and-switch or a misunderstanding on the originator's part about compliance requirements, here are seven things lenders should be careful not to misrepresent when communicating with borrowers.

First Federal Bank of Kansas City has agreed to a $2.8 million settlement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to resolve allegations of redlining in African-American neighborhoods.

New services seek to replace lender processes that often involve manually updated spreadsheets and other efforts pieced together to meet steepening regulatory requirements for vendor management.

After imposing a virtual moratorium on adding new issuers, Ginnie Mae is again accepting applications from mortgage companies seeking to pool loans for securitization and servicing.

Understanding how consumers pay their debts over time is expected to widen access to credit for consumers recovering from financial problems or who were hard to score before. Just how many it will benefit is an open debate.

Amid growing scrutiny of how the hand-off of mortgages is managed after loan closings and bulk sales, servicers are working to automate the entire process to create a consistent and accurate onboarding experience for borrowers.

With the stakes so high for compliance officers, their rights and responsibilities should be clearly defined, including a safe harbor for those who play by the rules.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acknowledges that gearing up for the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integrated disclosures has been tough, and it promises to consider that fact in exams.

Mortgage servicers are actively discussing with regulators how current rules could be streamlined, and future rules could be shaped, to minimize costs and hassles.

The mismatch between demand for new homes and the supply threatens to drive up prices and dampen lending.

There is concern that a decline in condo pricing could create loan problems similar to those that cropped up before the financial crisis. Bankers in the area, however, believe foreign investors would take the biggest hit.

Low borrowing costs and rising home values are just two of several reasons why owning a home is far less burdensome than it was a decade ago.

Investors continue to demand additional yield for exposure to defaults on loans insured by the Fannie Mae.

Redwood Trust said it will stop originating commercial mortgages for securitization and focus solely on investing in bonds backed by commercial mortgages originated by others.

Fitch Ratings is warning about the mezzanine tranches of commercial mortgage securitization by Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, though it is still rating the notes.

Many institutional investors are refusing to purchase mortgages loans until they get assurance from the CFPB that they won't have to pay for others' mistakes. Their pullback could further the slow the issuance of private-label mortgage bonds this year, a huge concern at a time when the majority of home loans are insured by Fannie, Freddie and the FHA.