Mortgage

Although he acknowledged that the nation’s housing market is “headed in the right direction,” Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David H. Stevens believes post-crisis overcorrection continues to stall the long-awaited recovery.

Details of the $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers are finally available. On March 12, more than a month after Attorney General Eric Holder lead a press conference announcing the settlement, the Justice Depart

Commercial and multifamily mortgages have fared better through the credit crunch and recession than any other major type of loan held by banks and thrifts, according to two reports released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on March 7.

The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conservatorships drag on. It has now been three and a half years since the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) was named conservator for the two failed government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), and there is still no

It’s official. After a number of last-minute delays as the parties haggled over details, the five largest home mortgage servicing firms reached a comprehensive settlement with state and federal authorities. Under terms of the agreement, the serv

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has filed suit against several big banks charging that the creation and use of a private national mortgage electronic registry system known as MERS has resulted in a wide range of deceptive and fraudu

The Obama administration announced January 27 that it is making “important enhancements” to the Making Home Affordable Program, including the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), to expand the reach of the program to help additional ho

Attorney General Eric Holder announced the formation of the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group on January 27. Holder called the Working Group, which will operate as part of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, “an import

Does the Fair Housing Act go beyond prohibiting disparate treatment and create a cause of action for disparate impact? That’s the key fair lending issue the U.S. Supreme Court will tackle in Manger v. Gallagher, which is scheduled for oral argum

The U.S. Department of Justice ended the year with a fair lending bang. On December 21, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the largest residential fair lending settlement in the DOJ’s history. The $335 million settlement resolves allegations

The American Bankers Association has taken a stance against raising the loan limit on confirming mortgages eligible for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac backing.

On October 1, a temporary hike in the conforming-loan ceiling expired, and loan lim

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced November 3 that it has reached an agreement with Luxury Mortgage Corporation (LMC), a mortgage lender based in Stamford, Connecticut, settling accusations that the lender violate

Independent foreclosure review — a requirement of the regulators’ enforcement actions against fourteen large mortgage servicers — is now underway. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced the start of the reviews on Nove

The Obama Administration is trying to re-energize its disappointing Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). When President Obama first unveiled the program back in 2009, he predicted it could help 7 million to 9 million underwater borrowers refi

Date wasn’t the only one making news at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual conference. Protests organized by the “Stand Up Chicago” coalition made the real headlines. The coalition called for protesters to “come together for a mas

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on September 28 that the Joint Initiative on Mortgage Servicing Compensation is seeking public comment on two alternative mortgage servicing compensation structures detailed in a discussion paper

The 2010 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data released by bank regulators continued the “heavy reliance” on loans backed by Federal Housing Administration insurance that began with the emergence of the current mortgage market difficulties.
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The next several weeks will see the roll out of a “robust, transparent, and accessible complaint process” that will give borrowers the opportunity to request an independent foreclosure review, Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh said

In a display of bipartisanship that is increasingly rare in Washington these days, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) are cosponsoring legislation to encourage the refinancing and restructuring of mortgage loans owned by Fan

For a variety of reasons, the housing market is not working as it should, Federal Reserve Board Governor Elizabeth Duke told a recent housing-policy forum. Low home prices are not stimulating sales and even record-low interest rates are not enough