Kate Berry

MetLife Home Loans was profitable and gaining market share. But the risk of having to repurchase soured loans likely fazed prospective buyers.

Big banks may not be very happy about the newly-empowered Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but they're hoping to leave the unpleasant task of challenging the new agency to their nonbank competitors.

For all the talk about legal challenges to the recess appointment of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the American Financial Services Association, which represents nonbank consumer lenders, has no intention of stepping into the fray.

The retired director of the Center for Consumer Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee says it is unknown if the cap on debit interchange fees will ultimately benefit consumers.

Peggy Twohig, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's associate director for nonbank supervision, canceled her appearance at a bank lawyers' conference "at the last minute," the conference organizers said Tuesday.

Lawyers involved in the big banks' robo-signing practices are finding themselves increasingly targeted by angry homeowners, who are filing complaints with state bar associations.

Banks are asking for more data from card networks as they attempt to comply with new regulations capping debit card interchange fees, a Capital One executive said.

Attorneys and consumer advocates gathered at the American Bar Association's winter meeting of consumer financial services attorneys raised various concerns about the CFPB and the impact it will have on federal preemption of state regulations of the bank and mortgage industries.

An Atlanta area couple, after waiting weeks for their home loan to close, posted a humorous — and scathing — YouTube video that targeted the lender, Bank of America Corp. The video prompted a rapid response from B of A, including reimbursement of some seller fees.

PHH Corp., the largest non-bank lender, abruptly replaced chief executive officer Jerome Selitto with chief operating officer Glen A. Messina on Wednesday, weeks after a failed bond offering and an S&P downgrade.

The much-maligned practice forces long-delinquent borrowers who are "in limbo" to decide whether they really want to save their homes, says a specialist in the trenches.

LendingTree's findings have not reassured mortgage industry members worried about regulatory efforts to raise the minimum amount home buyers must put down upfront.

The mortgage market is expected to change dramatically in the coming year as some of the largest banks cede loan-origination market share to regional banks and non-bank mortgage lenders.

The California attorney general's lawsuit against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac raises questions about preemption and the FHFA's authority, but seems unlikely to produce revelations about foreclosures.

The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that it overestimated home sales by nearly 15% last year, an indication that the housing market is in even worse shape.

Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's chief economist, is warning that the United States has a 40% chance of slipping into a double-dip recession in 2012.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto alleges that the processor fraudulently notarized 4,000 documents a day and demanded kickbacks from foreclosure attorneys.

Former radio DJ Steve Streit has shepherded prepaid marketer Green Dot from its early days to its hard-won Fed blessing to buy a bank.

A series of hush-hush deals have shifted the responsibility for servicing hundreds of billions of dollars in troubled loans to special servicers of Fannie's choosing.

The former special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program hammered the Obama Administration and Treasury Department Tuesday night at a panel discussion on the foreclosure crisis, saying fears of a political backlash led to the administration's tepid response to the housing crisis.