Risk management

The new financial assessment requirements pose a challenge, but they are necessary to the sustainability of the reverse mortgage industry.

Still reeling from underwriting guidelines that went into effect last year, some small lenders are worried that a new mortgage disclosure regime might be the thing that pushes them over the edge.

More banks are buying mortgage servicing rights now, reversing a post-crisis shift that saw nonbanks dominate the MSR purchasing landscape, according to Fitch Ratings.

Ocwen Financial announced a preliminary loss of $546 million, or $4.18 per share, for fiscal year 2014 Tuesday, on a higher-than-expected goodwill impairment and charges stemming from the company's settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services.

Nomura Holdings Inc. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group's fight against a billion-dollar government lawsuit over mortgage-backed securities is ending where it started: with the banks blaming the housing crash.

Independent lenders rebut suggestions that they pose a greater risk to FHA (and hence taxpayers) than the large banks.

Clayton Homes, the manufactured-housing business owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., uses aggressive sales and lending practices that traps some borrowers in homes that are difficult to resell, the Seattle Times reported.

The mortgage application and closing process is once again facing an overhaul. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will soon require lenders to provide customers with integrated disclosure forms, which aim to clarify costs associated with real estate transactions. As with any new process, the switch poses a number of challenges for lenders — and could even put business at risk during implementation. Here are five pitfalls to look out for in the process.

Some nonbank issuers of mortgage-backed securities are wrestling with capital pressures, and Ginnie Mae has cooperated with their efforts to sell chunks of mortgage-servicing-revenue streams to investors.

Mel Watt, the former North Carolina lawmaker, has earned praised for his cautious approach to guiding the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But critics say he is making it even more difficult to craft a system without them.

Lower-than-expected interest rates and greater demand for purchase loans has been a boon for both mortgage lenders and the crop of new or returning players providing warehouse lines of credit.

There are a lot of consumer, investor and regulatory complaints about how the nonbank servicing firm does business, but Morgan Stanley researchers offer reasons why certain investors and borrowers could benefit from sticking with Ocwen.

If you thought the subprime mortgage-backed security was an artifact of the past, think again. Nomura Holdings and Angel Oak Capital have a deal that may help revive the part of the market that went bust during the crisis. Their success could encourage more banks to dip their toes back into riskier mortgages.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second-largest servicer of U.S. mortgages, is buying the right to handle $45 billion of home loans from Ocwen Financial Corp., according to a person familiar with the transaction.

But derivatives that magnified their performance woes were the bigger culprit, according to a new book by investor Howard Hill, who created models for collateralized mortgage obligations before the meltdown.

Ed DeMarco, the former chief regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, warned that efforts under the Obama Administration to expand access to credit could risk repeating mistakes that led up to the crisis.

Nomura Holdings Inc. will defend claims by a U.S. regulator that it sold defective mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the 2008 financial crisis, becoming the first bank to take such a case to trial.

Real estate investment trust ZAIS Financial Corp.'s acquisition of privately owned mortgage company GMFS proved to be highly dilutive to earnings.

Fannie Mae selected a chief internal auditor with an "inherent conflict of interest" and the mortgage giant's process for filling the position was faulty, according to a watchdog report to be released Wednesday.

Banks can expect to incur higher costs in several areas during the implementation of a settlement agreement to improve the accuracy of credit reports. But they might benefit in the long run by getting better information on borrowers.