The ability-to-repay rule promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is perhaps the single most important mortgage-related regulation the CFPB will produce under the Dodd-Frank Act, and mortgage lenders will need a vigorous and comprehensive strategy if they are going to make qualified mortgages profitably while maintaining the desired level of legal protection. But before lenders get to the compliance pieces of the QM puzzle, they’ve got to figure out “how to get to QM” and what types of loans they want to make. “We’re assuming...

Efforts by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to use the False Claims Act to recoup $1 billion in losses suffered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have suffered a big setback. Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed claims for treble damages and penalties the federal government brought under the FCA against Bank of America as successor to Countrywide Financial for allegedly selling defective loans to the two government-sponsored enterprises while representing that the mortgages complied with their requirements. The government asserted...

The Federal Housing Administration has streamlined requirements for permissible sources of downpayment funds, which should be a boost to borrowers using government financing.

Why is the share price of Fannie Mae's junior preferred stock rising so much? Also, send Freddie Mac "back to the future"?

The mortgage interest deduction is costing the U.S. Treasury roughly $72 billion a year.

One mortgage expert warns that lowering GSE loan limits one step at a time to $417,000 could leave parts of the residential market underserved.

A new modification program from Freddie Mac also will pay mortgage servicers $1,400 per unit for each successful loan restructuring.

If. Sen. Franken has his way, the MBS rating system will change. Meanwhile, top executives at Impac Mortgage clean up.

As adopted, Appendix Q of the QM rule requires items to be considered and verified for the two prior years, and requires well-documented projections for the following three years.

Bank of America and MBIA announced a settlement this week of a long-running dispute regarding representations and warranties on mortgages securitized by Countrywide Financial. The settlement benefits non-agency MBS wrapped by MBIA, according to industry analysts. The settlement applies to all outstanding rep and warrant claims and all other claims between the bank and bond guarantor. BofA agreed to pay MBIA approximately $1.6 billion in cash and remit to MBIA all of the outstanding notes in the firm that BofA acquired in December. BofA also will terminate...