Lewis Ranieri, one of the inventors of the non-agency mortgage-backed security, said there are currently a lack of viable alternatives to agency mortgages.

The Supreme Court will hear weigh in on fair lending laws and disparate impact in the case of Township of Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc.

The Supreme Court of the United States announced Monday, June 17, that it decided to grant the petition for certiorari in the disparate impact case of Township of Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc. Specifically, Mt. Holly challenges the position of the Department of Housing and Urban Development that disparate impact can be used to establish liability under the Fair Housing Act, even if there is no discriminatory intent. The CFPB, HUD and the Department of Justice have all previously gone on record as...

Former rating analysts at two of the major rating services told the Securities and Exchange Commission that problems with the rating system are due to management at the rating services, not the analysts in charge of assigning ratings.

Bipartisan legislation in the house to enact a transitional period for loan originators relating to the SAFE Act, a previous of a hearing on the Dodd-Frank Act's impact on homeownership by a subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, and regulatory implementation materials from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued guidance on several FHA issues, including partial-claim documentation and delivery requirements, clarification regarding title approval at conveyance, interest rates for loss mitigation home-retention options, and subordination of partial-claim liens associated with FHA streamlined refinances. Partial Claim Documentation and Delivery Requirements (ML 2013-19. The guidance addresses the problem of many missing FHA partial-claim documents due to lenders’ failure to comply with HUD procedures for ...

HUD Takes Second Furlough. The Department of Housing and Urban Development this week announced the second of seven furlough days employees are scheduled to take due to mandatory, government-wide budget cuts: June 14. Sequestration went into effect March 1 because Congress failed to pass legislation on balanced deficit reduction. HUD employees took their first forced leave on May 24. Approximately $85 billion will be slashed from the federal budget for the remainder of the fiscal year. The next furlough date is July 5. HUD, however, may not need to ...

The likelihood of new loans exceeding the statutory “high-priced mortgage loan” (HPML) threshold due to a recent policy change relating to FHA mortgage insurance premium payments is causing uneasiness among some lenders, said an industry trade group. This week, the Consumer Mortgage Coalition warned that lenders might not originate FHA-insured loans if they thought the new MIP policy would cause the mortgages to turn into HPMLs and subject them to increased liability. Specifically, the new MIP policy might prevent ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the reverse mortgage lending industry lauded the U.S. House of Representatives this week for passing bipartisan legislation that would allow the agency to make immediate, necessary changes to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program while working simultaneously on implementing regulations. H.R. 2167, the Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act of 2012, passed by voice vote after it was added to the House “suspension” calendar, which limits debate on noncontroversial bills for quick passage. Co-sponsored by Reps. Denny Heck, D-WA, and Mike Fitzpatrick, R-PA, the bill responds ...

Wells Fargo has reached an agreement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and fair housing advocacy groups to improve its handling of foreclosed and abandoned homes and resolve allegations of discrimination in the maintenance and marketing of real estate-owned properties. The National Fair Housing Alliance and several other fair housing groups filed a complaint with HUD in April last year after observing that Wells’ foreclosed homes in minority neighborhoods did not receive the same treatment and care as the bank’s REO properties in white neighborhoods. The NFHA, which conducted an ...