The proposed ability-to-repay rule released this week by the Federal Reserve included special provisions regarding balloon mortgages. Small lenders operating predominantly in rural or underserved areas would be allowed to originate mortgages that would receive “qualified mortgage” protections. “This option is meant to...

Mortgage investors are beginning to pay more for seasoned non-agency mortgages and demand remains high, according to industry analysts. The sector was also helped by the Federal Reserve’s sale this month of up to $1.33 billion in non-agency mortgage-backed securities acquired from American International Group. “The opening salvo from...

Non-agency participants have expressed optimism that legislation to create a framework for covered bonds in the U.S. will be approved by Congress this year. Supporters note that the framework will bring more private capital into the mortgage market. At a panel discussion hosted this week by...

Strategic defaulters display a different type of credit behavior than distressed borrowers who miss payments, according to new research from FICO. “Strategic defaulters tend to be more savvy managers of their credit than the general population, with higher FICO scores, lower revolving balances, fewer instances of...

Some imprecise language in last year’s financial reform legislation has thrust the Federal Reserve into a quandary on how best to define “qualified mortgage” under the new law, according to some top industry lawyers and market analysts...

Last week’s ground-breaking settlements between U.S. bank regulators and many of the top mortgage servicers in the country may bring some certainty to the industry about the ultimate resolution of the foreclosure crisis still gripping parts of the nation, but it’s also likely to lead to higher costs and more labor-intensive compliance efforts, according to a consensus of industry analysts...

Two of the mortgage lending industry’s top service provides, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems and Lender Processing Services, will not be continuing business as usual, now that federal banking regulators have announced consent orders with the two firms that call for a substantial amount of remediation of significant institutional weaknesses...

Judge Rya Zobel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts last week granted Bank of America’s motion for an extension of time to respond to the call for injunctive relief from a group of BofA homeowners that asked the court to dismiss the bank’s foreclosures on their homes...

Philadelphia-based Shaffer & Gaier, a consumer protection law firm, has been racking up a series of foreclosure dismissals against some of the biggest mortgage lenders in the land lately, including Bank of America, Citibank, Chase Home Finance and, most recently, U.S. Bank...

The Seattle-based law firm Keller Rohrback has begun beating the bushes for borrowers who were obligated to accept forced-placed insurance on their mortgages by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase or other top servicers in the country...