The final HUD regulation marks the first time the agency has made changes to the LI program, which enables high-performing lenders to insure forward mortgages without a pre-endorsement review.

Banks continue to press the CFPB on their request that the agency use its exemption authority to extend the ATR rule's compliance deadline from 12 to 24 months.

Tim Duncan, a past chief information officer for the CFPB, aims to protect third-party lenders from regulatory snafus with his new venture.

Four non-management directors at Nationstar Mortgage earned almost $1.5 million last year. Meanwhile, it appears Flagstar is selling some of its MSRs.

The industry is happy that the Home Affordable Refinancing Program has been extended, but it also means that 'HARP 3.0' might not come anytime soon.

Now that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are earning a ton of money, who will have a say over what happens to that cash?

Rep. Maxine Waters, the ranking minority member of the House Financial Services Committee, believes that now is "precisely the time to think about how we can reshape the secondary mortgage market."

It appears that well known economist Mark Zandi is indeed a candidate to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency. But will the White House actually nominate him?

UBS Americas failed in its bid to shut down a lawsuit brought by the Federal Housing Finance Agency in connection with non-agency mortgage-backed securities purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while in another case three former Freddie executives lost their own bid to dismiss a Securities and Exchange Commission securities fraud case against them. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld a lower court’s ruling that denied UBS’ motion to dismiss the FHFA’s suit as time barred. In the summer of 2011, the FHFA filed 18 lawsuits in Manhattan federal court against UBS and other big banks on behalf of the GSEs, alleging violations of the federal Securities Act of 1933 for approximately $200 billion in non-agency MBS sold to Fannie and Freddie.

Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s recent, unambiguous return to profitability will diminish an already waning urgency among Capitol Hill lawmakers to proceed with legislative GSE reform as the companies’ profits flow into the U.S. Treasury by the billions, industry experts warn. Fannie announced last week that the GSE expects to remain profitable “for the foreseeable future” after posting record-shattering quarterly and yearly earnings for the period ending Dec. 31, 2012. In the wake of Fannie’s announcement, the White House this week said that from January 2013 to the end of 2023 the two GSEs could send $183.3 billion to the Treasury.