The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rebuffed arguments that would have subjected mortgage lenders and other secondary-market participants to increased liability under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In a published opinion that appeared in the Banking Law Journal, the Fifth Circuit court rejected plaintiffs’ argument that mortgage investors that promulgate discriminatory lending guidelines could be held liable as the original creditor. ECOA prohibits...
Former Ginnie Mae president Ted Tozer stressed the importance of getting the post filled as soon as possible. “The way things are going, by yearend Ginnie will have $2 trillion of guarantees on its books,” he said.
Profit margins and net income fell sharply in the mortgage banking business during early 2017, according to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. On average, firms participating in the MBA’s quarterly performance report earned just $886,000 in pretax income during the first quarter, a hefty 74.8 percent drop from the previous period. Only about two firms in three (67.0 percent) managed to report net pretax income for the first three months of the year. The industry funded...