Risk management

Data Facts Inc., a mortgage credit report and verification services provider based in Cordova, Tenn., has adopted AccountChek, a deposit verification service provided by FormFree.

The ongoing push for more robust loan data will continue in 2015, as market participants across the mortgage lifecycle adopt new regulatory requirements and take advantage of recent developments in paperless processing and self-service capabilities.

The government-sponsored enterprises' changes to their representations and warranties regulations could increase lending — and some risks. Here's the downside to the move and how lenders can mitigate related concerns.

The number of mortgages outstanding is down considerably from pre-recession levels but is starting to slowly increase. How much further it needs to go depends on certain public policy goals.

The government-sponsored enterprises' changes to their representations and warranties regulations could increase lending, or cause taxpayer losses related to GSE purchases of bad loans. Here's why advocates like the move.

Market participants are encouraged by the FHFA's move to ease repurchase requirements — which will likely result in a continued domination of the market by government agencies.

Investor confidence in Ocwen Financial was clearly shaken Monday after New York state regulators forced the firm's founder out as part of a $150 million settlement.

Payments on mortgages that have passed the 60-days-late mark have seen a "material drop" from their recession-era peak, but have not returned to "normal" levels yet. They're getting closer, though.

Trustees for mortgage bond investors asked a New York court to approve a $1.13 billion settlement reached in April with Citigroup Inc. as the bank seeks to resolve liabilities for loans it packaged and sold in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Ocwen Financial has agreed to pay $150 million to New York regulators to settle allegations that it fudged foreclosure documents and said Monday that its founder and, executive chairman, William Erbey is stepping down after 30 years with the Atlanta company.

Former Countrywide Financial Corp. executive Edward O'Donnell will get $57 million for his part in bringing a whistle-blower lawsuit against Bank of America Corp. which helped the U.S. force the lender to pay almost $16.7 billion to settle mortgage fraud charges.

Bank of America Corp. and US Bancorp were sued by the agency that oversees federal credit unions, which claimed the banks failed as trustees over securities backed by home mortgages that defaulted after the 2008 credit crisis.

Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, said he's added "meaningfully" to his bets on U.S. mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the past two weeks.

The deal resolved claims relating to the underwriting and servicing of loans in more than 300 residential mortgage-backed securitization trusts.

Ocwen Financial came under fire from Joseph A. Smith, the monitor of the national mortgage settlement, after concerns of conflicts of interest were raised by an unnamed whistleblower.

In a speech last May, Edward DeMarco declared these truths to be self-evident: "Restoring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is not the solution. They failed and their business model failed. Going backwards to an obviously failed model cannot be dressed up with some promise of higher capital or explicit rather than implicit guarantees."

Mortgage fraud remains a national problem as loan applications have seen misrepresentations increase on an annual basis for three consecutive years, according to LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

Lenders concerned about maintaining vendor oversight compliance may require title insurance and settlement firms to adopt the American Land Title Association's quality standards, even though the industry guidelines are only voluntary.

More than 1.8 million Americans have sought help keeping their homes from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program. Hundreds of thousands more still need help, according to the program's administrator.

While evolving market conditions have made retaining servicing rights more attractive to independent mortgage bankers, making the right choice between an in-house operation or engaging with a subservicer is critical to the new business line's success.