The main risks in making mortgages to foreign nationals: the borrower’s lack of credit history and issues tied to income verification.

Despite some reports of credit access loosening, it’s harder to get a mortgage today than it was during the housing bubble, according to the Urban Institute. With borrowers being denied at a much higher rate than in the past, lower-credit mortgage applicants are dropping out of the housing market. As access to credit tightened after the financial crisis, many lower-credit applicants were discouraged from applying, the UI study noted. That led to a higher-credit applicant pool, which in turn led to a lower rejection rate. This caused...

The court also ordered that the three-judge panel’s ruling this past October be vacated. Oral arguments will be heard May 24...

“Anytime you have rates run up by 50 basis points, it usually takes about 90 days before a washout begins,” said one mortgage advisor.

Fed Chairman Janet Yellen on the future of Fannie and Freddie: “…I would hope that Congress would decide explicitly on what the government’s role is and if there are guarantees, that they would be recognized and priced appropriately.”

It’s unclear at this point what the takeover might mean, if anything, for Nationstar, whose own share price has rallied the past few months.

Walter Investment/Ditech has yet to establish a date for the release of its fourth quarter results…

Bill Erbey, who was forced out by financial regulators two-plus years ago, controls 16.8 percent of Ocwen Financial...

Among the key announcements: the company is selling its PHH Home Loans joint venture to Guaranteed Rate; unloading its private label operations to LenderLive Network, and monetizing “certain” servicing assets.

Mariner is an investment advisor that manages roughly $13.5 billion in assets...