Risk management

The risk for mortgage fraud fell 8.9% at the end of the second quarter compared with a year earlier, according to CoreLogic.

Executives in the mortgage industry must "take a page from the real estate community" and be more active in Washington and their state capitals, said outgoing Mortgage Bankers Association Chairman Bill Cosgrove.

The Internal Revenue Service has stamped an approval on Bank of America Corp.'s $8.5 billion settlement tied to bad mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit in the run-up to the financial crisis, possibly setting a standard for agreements with other lenders.

The outlook for originations, and regulators' priorities for 2016, will dominate discussions throughout the Mortgage Bankers Association's Annual Convention in San Diego next week. Earmark these eight hot topics and features to seek out at the show.

"How's TRID going with you?" is sure to be the most-asked question at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Annual Convention, but fair lending compliance and the Qualified Residential Mortgage rule are among the key market developments that will dominate conversations.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced this week a revised selling representation and warranty framework at the direction of their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned lenders Thursday to avoid marketing services agreements where payment for advertising is really just disguising kickbacks.

Bank of America is getting some more mileage out of its Supreme Court victory in June.

The clash between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and its inspector general over down payment assistance programs run by state or local housing finance agencies continues to heat up.

Despite their major push to overhaul the housing finance market last Congress, Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., offered little optimism Tuesday that structural reform is on its way anytime soon.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development launched a new ethics program that will support whistleblower, ombudsman and hotline initiatives.

An initiative underway at Freddie Mac seeks to integrate new and existing technology to create a comprehensive suite of quality control tools designed to help lenders manage their mortgage repurchase risks.

Rebecca Mairone scarcely deserves a mention in the annals of finance, except for this: She's the only executive of a major U.S. mortgage lender found liable for her part in the 2008 financial crisis.

Ginnie Mae's plans to beef up oversight in response to the growth of nonbank issuers in its ranks will emphasize deeper analysis of firms' capital and liquidity positions rather than requiring issuers to maintain larger cash reserves.

Freddie Mac has taken out another reinsurance policy that transfers the risk that mortgages it insures will default.

It's hard to decide which is more surprising: that the largest U.S. bank has almost abandoned the business of making home loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, that lots of big banks could be right behind it, or that the FHA might not even need to care.

Fannie Mae has completed a credit risk sharing transaction that transfers the actual losses on mortgages it insures — to reinsurers.

Lenders that allow borrowers to shop for third-party settlement services face new liability, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's integrated mortgage disclosure rules will let borrowers sue over problems with vendor lists.

A recent uptick in mortgage application defects might be reversing, according to First American Financial.

GOP presidential contender Jeb Bush unveiled a plan to reform the regulatory process, including at agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.