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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New regulations will soon restrict a common way of compensating residential mortgage brokers and loan officers. But those sales representatives still have to be paid somehow, and far more may change than simply commission structures.
August 26 -
Finding bad eggs, in the mortgage industry and in the fridge; the foreclosed-mansion squatters in Seattle strike again; and more.
August 25 -
It took just one sentence in the 2,300-page financial reform law to end federal preemption for mortgage lenders that operate as subsidiaries of national banks.
August 20 -
Fannie Mae has narrowed the circumstances under which home lenders must reunderwrite applications submitted by borrowers who take on other debts before the mortgage closes.
August 15 -
A surge of refinancings at record low interest rates today could mean a dearth of homebuyers applying for mortgages tomorrow.
August 13 -
A surge of refinancings at record low interest rates today could mean a dearth of homebuyers applying for mortgages tomorrow.
August 13 -
During the boom years, mortgage lenders paid Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a small fee for accepting stated-income loans. Today those lenders are paying a whole lot more.
August 12 -
The high cost of short sale fraud; Hamp has helped stabilize home prices, but for how much longer? And more.
August 11 -
The Federal Housing Administration's third program in two years to help troubled borrowers refinance into more affordable mortgages is likely to do better than its predecessors — but that is a low bar to set.
August 10 -
Loan modifications are still hurting borrowers' credit scores, but regulators and legislators say people's participation in such programs should end their delinquent status.
August 6 -
Mortgage rates fell to fresh lows this week as the average rate on a 30-year home loan fell to 4.49% for the week that ended Aug. 5, from 4.54% a week earlier, according to a weekly survey released Thursday by Freddie Mac.
August 5 -
Superman comes to the rescue of a family facing foreclosure; PHH grabs a bigger slice of a shrinking pie; and more.
August 4 -
As loan officers who don't meet the requirements drop out of the industry, the result could be a shortage of people to take applications — at a time when demand for refinancings is historically high.
July 29 -
Torch the car, save the house; GSE foreclosures pick up, but shadow inventory of distressed homes remains massive; and more.
July 28 -
A combination of historically low interest rates and reduced competition are fattening home lenders' profit margins, making up for lost volume.
July 23 -
A combination of historically low interest rates and reduced competition are fattening home lenders' profit margins, making up for lost volume.
July 23 -
General Motors Co.'s deal to buy a subprime car lender says as much about the state of consumer finance as it does about the auto industry.
July 22 -
Why government short sale program is falling short; a new documentary about the financial crisis is already outdated; and more.
July 21 -
Mortgage buyers are finding new reasons to make the originators buy back home loans, ensuring that repurchases will remain a burden for lenders for the next few years.
July 19 -
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is taking a hard line with some borrowers who want to sell their homes for less than they owe on the mortgage and avoid foreclosure.
July 15
