The Obama administration has submitted a plan to Congress for reforming the nation’s housing finance market, including fixing the basic flaws in the mortgage financing chain. Among other things, a top administration priority for the immediate future is a series of reforms to correct problems in...

The House Financial Services Committee intends to conduct a hearing to examine the impact of the Federal Reserve’s recent regulation governing compensation to mortgage loan originators. In its oversight plan for the 112th Congress, the HFSC expressed concern that the Fed’s LO pay rules, which take effect April 1, may have an adverse impact on...

The Department of Justice and state attorneys general are watching the mortgage servicing arena closely for signs of unfair or discriminatory business practices, and whether minority borrowers are receiving loan modifications on par with similarly situated non-minority borrowers. While fair lending on the loan origination side remains...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played huge roles in the surge of refinance business that lifted up the mortgage market at the end of 2010, according to a new Inside the GSEs analysis. The two GSEs knocked out $351.6 billion in mortgage-backed securities during the fourth quarter, a 39 percent increase from the previous quarter. That lifted...[Includes one data chart]

The Financial Services Roundtable has circulated a draft letter commenting on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s study on the possible standardization of credit ratings terminology. The Roundtable said it believes the SEC should continue to allow credit rating agencies to use...

Maryland. Fannie Mae has announced an increase in attorney’s fees for non-judicial foreclosures for properties located in Maryland. For loans referred to an attorney on or after Feb. 1, the maximum allowable attorney’s fees for legal work related to non-judicial foreclosures will...

Federal Housing Administration Anti-Flipping Waiver Extended. The FHA has extended its temporary anti-flipping waiver to hasten the resale of foreclosed homes in neighborhoods with high foreclosure rates. With certain exceptions, current FHA regulation prohibits insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. Early last year, the FHA temporarily set...

The mortgage financing industry will push harder in 2011 for less stringent risk-retention regulations, harmonized mortgage disclosures and certain regulatory relief issues facing industry participants. Rulemakings, mostly implementing provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, must not...

House Republican leaders have started to make good on a post-election promise to deconstruct the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-TX, chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, has requested...

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is expected to hire a private firm to develop a new, simplified form integrating mortgage disclosures required under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act. About 80 percent of disclosures mandated by both TILA and RESPA will be whittled...