Following last week’s lengthy and at times contentious markup session where then House Financial Services Capital Markets and GSE Subcommittee pushed through a package of eight bills to bolster oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, industry observers are still working to get their arms around...
Despite a relatively strong rebound in the fourth quarter, savings institutions reported a sharp decline in residential mortgage lending in 2010 that reduced the industry’s share of the overall home lending market to its lowest level ever. Lenders regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision reported $136.2 billion in single-family mortgage lending last year, a 39.2 percent drop from 2009 levels. It was the lowest annual output for the thrift industry since 1996 and reduced the...[Includes two data charts]
The Department of Housing and Urban Affairs has declared April Fair Housing Month as it launched a nationwide media campaign to commemorate the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act was enacted 43 years ago this April to protect minorities and other groups from housing discrimination. The FHAct prohibits...
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. Revised Interagency Exam Procedures for Regulation Z (TILA). Notwithstanding court petitions seeking to stop the implementation of a new loan originator compensation rule, the Federal Reserve Board announced revised examination procedures that will ensure...
The Federal Reserve Board’s loan originator compensation rule is finally in effect after lawsuits filed by mortgage broker trade groups failed to stop the rule in its tracks. In a terse, one-page decision, the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit lifted a temporary stay order against...
A conflict of interest exists if an employee of a federal credit union disapproves member loans and then refers them to a mortgage banker that pays for such referrals, according to the National Credit Union Administration. Not only would there be a potential violation of the NCUA’s lending policy but the referral arrangements may also violate...
The consent decree which certain mortgage servicers have reportedly agreed to draws heavily from an earlier draft of comprehensive measures developed by federal banking regulators to improve foreclosure policies and practices. The provisions in the draft, which had been ready as early as February, compel servicers to...
Federally regulated banks and credit unions favor Republican-backed legislation that would install a commission, instead of a single director, to call the shots at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The majority of witnesses at a recent hearing called by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit expressed their support for...
Citing improved conditions for legacy non-agency mortgage-backed securities, the Federal Reserve this week auctioned off $1.33 billion in non-agency MBS acquired from American International Group. Information on the winning bids will be made public in three months but analysts suggest that...
The Home Affordable Modification Program continues to be criticized for the pace of activity, but one segment of the market has embraced HAMP: servicers with loans in portfolio. While HAMP accounted for 27.0 percent of all mods completed by major banks and thrifts in the fourth quarter of 2010, HAMP accounted for 50.2 percent of...
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