Mortgage Finance

Foreclosure Probe Criticism Escalates
   Independent foreclosure investigations initiated by bank regulators collapsed from a lack of objectivity, oversight and consistency in the loan sampling process, Lawrance Evans April 17 tells the Senate Banking Committee. The statements from the Government Accountability
posted 4/18/13 4:15 PM  read complete story

$15M Fine For Insurer Kickbacks
   Four of the nation’s largest private mortgage insurers are fined $15 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for providing lenders with kickbacks in exchange for business. The agency says the practice added to the cost of insurance.
posted 4/5/13 09:50 AM  read complete story

Fannie, Freddie Ease Mortgage Modifications
   Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tell mortgage loan servicers to prepare to offer simplified mortgage modifications to some struggling homeowners whose loans are backed by the firms
posted 3/28/13 12:41 PM  read complete story

Fannie, Freddie Partial Merger In Works
   In a move to push Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac toward a mortgage market financed primarily by private capital, the Federal Housing Finance Agency will create a single business model separate from the two government-chartered firms to begin building a new secondary mortgage market infrastructure.
posted 3/5/13 1:18 PM  read complete story

Eight States Challenge Dodd-Frank Act
   Attorneys general from eight states join a lawsuit challenging the validity of regulations designed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau while the constitutionality of the appointment of its director is in question. They challenge the constitutionality of regulations setting up a system to dismantle a large failing bank so its collapse doesn’t have a
posted 2/15/13 10:03 AM  read complete story

Fannie, Freddie Blink On Troubled Mortgages
   After months of resisting administration and congressional entreaties to help bail out underwater mortgages, the Federal Housing Finance Agency edges the door open enough to authorize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mace to allow underwater homeowners out of their mortgages if they continued to pay on time.
posted 2/1/13 09:27 AM  read complete story

Dodd-Frank Rules Seriously Delinquent
   Financial regulators are in disarray over completion of rules governing provisions of the Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act of 2010, also known as the Dodd-Frank Act. Fewer than 50% of the rules have been completed in the past two and a half years, even though the law calls for all rules to be completed within a year
posted 1/24/13 6:50 PM  read complete story

New Rules For Mortgage Loan Servicers
   A new framework requiring loan servicers to offer a fair process of evaluations of troubled mortgages is unveiled by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the second set of rules issued in as many weeks. The rule requires servicers to offer a clear set of options, such as loan modifications, to help delinquent borrowers avoid foreclosure.
posted 1/18/13 09:13 AM  read complete story

FDIC Reprieve For Appraisal Rule
   Mortgage lenders get an additional year to get comfortable with the new appraisal standards for higher-risk loans following a change in the proposed rule sought by financial firms.
posted 1/17/13 1:24 PM  read complete story

Bank Mortgage Settlements Round 2
   Bank of America will pay Fannie Mae more than $10 billion to remedy bad loans its subprime mortgage arm sold the mortgage bundler that helped trigger the plunge of the housing market in 2008. In another move marking the federal government’s solution to the crisis, 10 banks will pay $8.5 billion to resolve allegations of foreclosure abuses that
posted 1/7/13 4:45 PM  read complete story