H.R. 463 has been introduced in the House of Representatives to extend the Freedom of Information Act to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during periods when they are in conservatorship or receivership, as they are now. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-UT, who introduced the bill, noted that...

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...

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 Small Business Administration has joined other stakeholders in asking the Federal Reserve Board to postpone the April 1 implementation date of its final rule on mortgage loan originator compensation. In a recent letter, the SBA’s Office of Advocacy said the compliance guidance for small businesses it had requested...

Most mortgage industry groups have expressed support for a proposal by the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to require non-bank residential mortgage lenders and loan originators to establish anti-money laundering (AML) plans and report suspicious financial transactions. The groups, which represent...

House Republicans are vowing to place financial regulators under tight scrutiny to ensure that the objectives of the new finance reform bill are being met without harmful, unintended consequences. The House Financial Services Committee placed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act under a stringent oversight plan that takes...

CSBS. Registration of mortgage loan originators (MLOs) employed by federally supervised financial institutions is now in full swing. On Jan. 31, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors announced the opening of the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry to registration applications from...

Department of Housing and Urban Development Final SAFE Act Rule to OMB. On Feb. 8, HUD sent a final rule under the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act to the Office of Management and Budget for review. The final rule would clarify and interpret...

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]