Cart

Inside Mortgage Finance

January 20, 2011

View Archived Issues

Reform Wheels Grind Forward as Federal Regulators Push for Change in Servicing

The federal government’s fiercest critic of mortgage servicing practices upped the ante this week, calling for an industry-wide settlement to resolve what she sees as a dysfunctional system, and a separate initiative to address long-standing financial issues in the agency servicing business. Sheila Bair, chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said... Read More

Agency Risk-Retention Study Reveals Array of Choices, Lack of Certainty

A new report from the Financial Stability Oversight Council released this week suggests that federal regulators who are tackling a controversial new legal mandate to write risk-retention rules for mortgage securitizers face a daunting array of choices without a lot of hard historical evidence. The council, which includes... Read More

House Lawmakers Second-Guess GSE Buyback Settlements That Industry Analysts Deemed Fair

House Democrats are raising concerns that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have given up too much in settlements with Bank of America and Ally Financial over mortgage repurchase disputes. In a letter to Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Reps. Maxine Waters, D-CA, Keith Ellison, D-MN, Brad Miller, D-NC, and Stephen Lynch, D-MA, wrote that they were... Read More

Flawed Citigroup Mortgages in Leaked Memo Not Necessarily Up For Repurchase, Says Freddie Mac

Both Freddie Mac and Citigroup are downplaying Bloomberg’s publication this week of an internal Freddie report noting flaws in 15 percent of performing loans that Citi sold the government-sponsored enterprise during the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010. Freddie Mac’s review of 375 of the mortgages bought... Read More

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Faces Tall Order in Shortening Mortgage Disclosure Form

The Bureau for Consumer Financial Protection is poised to begin crafting a new simplified mortgage-disclosure form that industry insiders say will be tough to do and could end up creating more legal problems for lenders. The BCFP is expected... Read More

Consumers’ Written Requests for Information, Contentions of Servicing Error Trigger RESPA Protections, U.S. Court Finds

Borrower inquiries to a mortgage servicer asking for information or contending an error in servicing are “qualified written requests” under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, according to a Chicago federal appeals court. Ruling recently in Catalan v. GMAC Mortgage Corp., the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit shone... Read More

Extending Fiduciary Standard to Real Estate Appraisers Would Increase Costs for Investors

Pension funds and other institutional entities that invest in mortgage-related assets will face higher costs and likely receive lower-quality appraisal services if the Department of Labor proceeds with a proposed rule that would extend fiduciary responsibilities to real estate appraisers, according to two industry groups. “Our organizations are deeply concerned... Read More

Now For Something Completely Different

Midway through the morning agenda at this week’s MBA servicing summit in a Washington, DC, hotel, a group 75-100 union workers wearing hard hats overwhelmed security guards and stormed the dais. They weren’t protesting subprime lending practices or foreclosures, as has happened... Read More

Latest Imf News

More Imf News

Featured Data

More Featured Data

Featured Reports

More Latest Reports

Featured Poll

As homeowner equity continues to build, more and more lenders are launching home equity lending products. Are you thinking of joining this market?

View Results