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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Though lenders have long resisted entreaties to lower principal for underwater borrowers, Wells Fargo & Co. and perhaps Ally Financial Inc., formerly GMAC Inc., are poised to roll out pilots that would let such borrowers refinance into Federal Housing Administration loans and would write down the value of the credits.
February 25 -
Fannie Mae said it will give servicers more financial incentives to help borrowers avoid foreclosure.
February 23 -
Quicken Loans court case serves as a stark example of how mortgage lending can turn into fraud; subsidies for homeownership gets support from an economist at the Cleveland Fed; and more.
February 23 -
A California lender began selling jumbo loans this month to BlackRock, proof that private investors aren't waiting for the securitization market to fully recover before getting back ...
February 23 -
CoreLogic: home-sale estimates by National Association of Realtors far too high; FHFA puts down on paper how Fannie and Freddie should compensate mortgage servicers.
February 16 -
By accepting lower FICO scores in its retail channel, Wells appears to have struck a winning compromise with HUD that allows big lenders to maintain credit overlays.
February 16 -
JPMorgan Chase & Co. put a top executive in charge of managing its home lending business two days after acknowledging to Congress that some military personnel customers faced improper foreclosures.
February 11 -
With the flood of foreclosures has come a flood of litigation, and with that, higher costs and reputational risks for trustees.
February 11 -
With the flood of foreclosures has come a flood of litigation, and with that, higher costs and reputational risks for trustees.
February 11 -
JPMorgan Chase & Co. put a top executive in charge of managing its home lending business two days after acknowledging to Congress that some military personnel customers faced improper foreclosures.
February 11 -
Jonesing for the Obama administration’s official proposal to overhaul Fannie and Freddie? Here are some housing reform prescriptions to tide you over until tomorrow morning.
February 10 -
A Freddie Mac director says board has no fiduciary responsibility to remaining private shareholders; HUD revamps REO management; and more.
February 9 -
In July 2008, the cusp of the financial meltdown, Aurora Loan Services approached some ARM borrowers with a loan mod offer that was hard to turn down — in more ways than one.
February 8 -
A California appeals court has dealt mortgage servicers another setback by letting a borrower pursue a fraud claim because she was promised a loan modification, but got pushed into foreclosure.
February 4 -
A California appeals court has dealt mortgage servicers another setback by letting a borrower pursue a fraud claim because she was promised a loan modification, but got pushed into foreclosure.
February 4 -
Wikileaks' Julian Assange laughs at "squirming" banks; sobering scene at a Wells Fargo loan-mod workshop; remembering those subprime-era pop-up ads.
February 2 -
Ally Financial Inc. reported its fourth consecutive quarterly profit Tuesday and its chief executive said the auto and mortgage lender is hyperfocused on repaying its $17.2 billion bailout as the company prepares for an initial public offering.
February 1 -
The countdown clock on the Federal Reserve's rule to limit mortgage brokers' pay still has two months to go, but the shake-up is under way.
January 28 -
The countdown clock on the Federal Reserve's rule to limit mortgage brokers' pay still has two months to go, but the shake-up is under way.
January 28 -
Infestation by thousands of snakes hurts the value of a seized home in Idaho; cost-wary servicers reportedly won’t complete foreclosures on Chicago properties; and more.
January 26
