With Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward DeMarco considering lowering loan limits for the GSEs, congressional and industry leaders are speaking out against such a plan, saying it poses a threat of hindering the housing recovery. In the last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Federal Credit Unions, and 66 House representatives have all written to DeMarco, decrying the potential move and even questioning its legality.
Read More »LoanLogics Enhances Tech with Fair Lending Solution
LoanLogics, a Pennsylvania-based company specializing in loan quality management and performance analytics, announced new enhancements to its LoanDecisions pricing and eligibility platform.
Read More »CFPB Penalizes Two Institutions for HMDA Violations
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered two mortgage banks to pay civil penalties for violating the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) with allegedly inaccurate for applications from 2011. According to a release from the agency, Mortgage Master (a nonbank headquartered in Walpole, Massachusetts), and Washington Federal (a Seattle-based bank), failed HMDA reviews when it was determined "that their compliance systems were inadequate and that they had severely compromised mortgage lending data."
Read More »Credit Availability Falls Again as Lenders Prepare for QM
The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) decreased 0.7 percent in September to 110.7. "Credit availability tightened last month as more lenders removed program offerings with loan terms greater than 30 years and/or interest-only features, similar to the trend we observed last month," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's VP of research and economics. "[W]e believe this reflects lenders' implementation of the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage regulation which comes fully into effect in January."
Read More »Fiserv Suite Aids Servicers with CFPB Compliance
Fiserv, Inc., a provider of technology solutions for the financial services industry, says lenders and servicers seeking help to maintain compliance should look no further than the LoanComplete suite.
Read More »Report: QRM Heightens Need for Evidence of Compliance
Originators and servicers are going to have to step up their documentation procedures as regulatory guidelines dovetail, financial services firm PwC says in a new white paper. "The age-old question asks: if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? A modern version to that question might be: if a lender in fact determines a borrower's ability to repay, or originates a Qualified Mortgage (QM), but cannot evidence it, has the lender complied with the Ability-to-Pay (ATR) or QM standards?" PwC asks.
Read More »CFPB Releases Online Tool to Reveal Market-Level Mortgage Loan Data
A new tool released Wednesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) provides heat maps and illustrative graphs that detail local mortgage market trends.
Read More »CFPB Finalizes Changes to Mortgage Rules
With months to go before the implementation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) qualified mortgage (QM) rules, the agency released several finalized amendments and clarifications created to ease the process.
Read More »Despite Decline in Fraud Levels, Some States Still Suffer
In its 15th Annual Mortgage Fraud Report, LexisNexis Risk Solutions put a spotlight on three economic indicators: mortgage fraud and misrepresentation involving industry professionals, potential collusion activity, and volume of properties in default. Looking at mortgage loan fraud levels, researchers at LexisNexis determined that most states have seen fraud fall to normal levels since 2008, though the fallout from prior years continues to build.
Read More »Credit Availability Falls as QM Date Draws Near
The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) decreased 0.7 percent month-over-month in August.
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