Mortgage servicers will likely proceed more carefully with their borrower interactions after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau compelled Flagstar Bank to pay $37.5 million to settle allegations it interfered with borrowers’ attempts to save their homes. In the first enforcement action based on its new mortgage servicing rule, the CFPB ordered Flagstar to pay $27.5 million to the victims, and $10 million in to the bureau’s civil penalty fund. According to the consent order, Flagstar committed...

The vast majority of community banks plan to continue to offer mortgages even though increased regulation is limiting business, according to a survey conducted by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau remain a primary concern, although many community banks already offer loans outside of the standards for qualified mortgages. “Banks continue to see opportunity in residential mortgage lending but have a mixed view of non-QM lending,” according to the report jointly compiled with the Federal Reserve. “Assessing the ability to repay and QM standards against current exposures, bankers generally identified a low level of nonconformance, suggesting the rules may generally be in line with bank practices while still requiring significant changes in operations.” Some 64 percent of the 884 community banks surveyed said...

So, is now a good time to buy into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? It's a game not for the faint of heart.

However, a separate lawsuit filed by Pershing Square Capital Management in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims is unaffected by Judge Lamberth’s ruling.

The handbook is designed to support FHA’s broader goals of expanding access to mortgage credit and making it easier for stakeholders to do business with the agency.

Investors have been scratching their heads over the downdraft at Walter/Green Tree...

Among other things, the CFPB is warning that the technical nature of the HMDA rule could cause operational headaches.

To some, the MSR transfer prohibition slapped on Flagstar is similar to the one New York regulators placed on Ocwen Financial regarding the Wells Fargo deal.

Fitch does not single out any servicers by name, but it’s common knowledge that both Ocwen Financial and Nationstar Mortgage have thousands of servicing-related workers housed in India...

One active NPL bidder has been Lone Star Funds, but sources tell IMFnews the hedge fund has been having a “brain drain” of sorts when it comes to talent.