Kate Berry has covered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for American Banker since 2016. She joined the publication in 2006 covering mortgage lending and the financial crisis. Berry also has covered big banks including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. She has won five awards from the Society of American Business Writers and Editors, and has worked at several news organizations including the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Associated Press. Berry began her career as a clerk at the New York Times.
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has created an online guide to help the roughly 25% of U.S. public service workers eliminate their student loans.
August 28 -
If the suit is settled, JPMorgan would become the fourth and largest bank to resolve allegations that it fraudulently sold poorly underwritten loans to Fannie and Freddie.
August 27 -
Three of the four largest mortgage servicers failed to meet Fannie Mae's minimum servicing requirements in the first half of 2013, according to a Fannie report released Tuesday.
August 27 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to issue subpoenas to mortgage servicers to find out if borrowers in foreclosure are being overcharged by third-party vendors or paying for services that were not actually delivered.
August 27 -
Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase are the latest servicers to say they have fulfilled their obligations related to the national mortgage settlement. The five servicers covered by the deal say they have provided more than $50 billion in consumer relief, double what was required.
August 22 -
Fannie Mae used its authority over Bank of America's sales of mortgage-servicing rights to resolve a bitter dispute involving mortgage repurchases, the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency says.
August 22 -
With interest rates rising, lenders are pushing hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages again. Lenders say borrowers like the lower monthly payments and the loans no longer have the onerous interest-only or balloon features that contributed to the housing crisis.
August 19 -
The cost of doing business with the Federal Housing Administration could skyrocket if the agency adopts a new method for calculating lenders' liability for poorly underwritten loans that default.
August 12 -
BlackRock, DoubleLine and Pimco filed a lawsuit Wednesday to try to stop the city of Richmond from buying and restructuring underwater mortgages through the use of eminent domain.
August 8 -
Freddie Mac's top lawyer threatened to file suit against municipalities that attempt to use eminent domain to refinance underwater mortgages.
August 7 -
Even as policymakers plot its demise, Fannie is raising the prices it pays to community lenders for mortgage loans outbidding large-bank aggregators like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.
August 7 -
Unlike their bigger competitors, smaller banks are resisting the temptation to pare staff or close mortgage production offices because they still see an opportunity to nibble away at large banks' market share.
August 2 -
The City of Richmond has sent offer letters to roughly 32 mortgage servicers and trustees requesting that it be allowed to buy underwater home loans at reduced prices. If the servicers balk, city officials say they will seek to seize the properties through eminent domain.
July 30 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's crackdown on Castle & Cooke Mortgage is the first in what could be a string of enforcement actions against mortgage originators for failing to follow new loan officer compensation rules.
July 29 -
Wells Fargo (WFC) said Thursday it will terminate eight mortgage joint ventures including a partnership with HomeServices Lending, an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway.
July 25 -
A new report from the Tarp inspector general says the Treasury Department failed to analyze its own data to determine which borrowers were most at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure after receiving government support.
July 24 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a federal complaint Tuesday against Castle & Cooke Mortgage for giving bonuses to loan officers who allegedly steered consumers into mortgages with higher interest rates.
July 23 -
Receiving Wide Coverage ...Warehouse Probe: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is examining the warehouse operations used by Goldman Sachs and others for the storage of aluminum that has inflated prices to consumers, the New York Times reports Tuesday. The operations were the subject of a Times story Sunday. The CFTC has told Goldman and other firms to hold on to internal documents and emails, hardly a good sign. The Journal weighs in, claiming banks have retreated from physical commodities markets even as Goldman, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are cited for buying up oil pipelines, metal warehouses and power plants. A Senate committee is holding a hearing Tuesday on bank ownership of commodity assets, raising concerns that loose regulations have allowed banks to control the storage and shipment of commodities. The question is whether such activities pose a risk to the financial system. Senior officials at the Federal Reserve have discussed with bank executives whether to bar them outright from owning physical commodity assets, the Financial Times says.
July 23 -
Wells Fargo and Citigroup are laying off hundreds of employees in their mortgage units as rising interest rates cause home loan refinances to plummet. More layoffs by banks with heavy exposure to mortgages are expected this year.
July 19 -
Astoria Financial (AF) in Lake Success, N.Y., reported strong second-quarter results thanks to a decline in expenses and improving credit quality.
July 18
