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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Housing and Urban Development officials repeatedly said Tuesday that the department's "review" of 15 lenders was not an investigation and that the companies may continue writing Federal Housing Administration loans.
January 12 -
Some lenders fault the Department of Housing and Urban Development's plan to strengthen the Federal Housing Administration for — of all things — reducing regulation.
January 7 -
How HUD's good-faith estimate rule might give big lenders an edge — and how it might temporarily disadvantage banks; and more.
January 6 -
Struggling with their own problems, the mortgage industry's megaservicers are unlikely landing spots for GMAC Inc.'s troubled home loan unit.
January 4 -
The Department of Housing and Urban Development last week eliminated the 1% cap on origination fees for Federal Housing Administration mortgages.
January 2 -
Steep estimates for extinguishing negative equity of underwater homeowners; strategic defaults troubling default managers; Rep. Bachus sounds off on the GSE's blank check.
December 30 -
Starting Jan. 1, lenders, for the first time, will be held to the good-faith estimate of closing costs they provide loan applicants. Lenders will be forbidden from increasing some charges at the closing table and limited to a 10% increase on other fees.
December 30 -
The Treasury Department's pledge of unlimited support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may foreshadow changes to the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program.
December 28 -
Private mortgage insurers have stepped up their rejections of claims on defaulted loans, compounding the pain that banks and other lenders have felt from the housing crisis.
December 11 -
Private mortgage insurers have stepped up their rejections of claims on defaulted loans, compounding the pain that banks and other lenders have felt from the housing crisis.
December 11 -
HUD to lift 1% cap on FHA origination fees; RealtyTrac reports fourth straight month-to-month drop in foreclosure filings; and more.
December 9 -
Taylor Capital Group Inc.'s return to the home mortgage business after eight years illustrates that sometimes it's who you know — and what they know.
December 7 -
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan asked Congress for a bigger stick to wield with large lenders that originate Federal Housing Administration mortgages around the country. Make that two bigger sticks.
December 2 -
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan is expected to tell lawmakers Wednesday that the Federal Housing Administration needs greater authority to cut off mortgage lenders with high default rates.
December 1 -
The issue is more than an academic one today. A proposed overhaul of financial regulation being debated in Congress would require securitizers of mortgages to keep, at minimum, between 5% and 10% interest in the pools.
November 30 -
The FHA proposed changes Monday to reduce the risk to its insurance funds, which have fallen below the congressionally mandated capital reserve ratio of 2%.
November 30 -
Delinquencies rise at Freddie Mac; credit bureaus "score" a court victory over FICO; making securitizations more transparent; and more.
November 24 -
Citigroup is reporting a higher redefault rate on home loans it has modified and signs of heightened risk in its servicing portfolio.
November 24 -
In another dismal quarterly report, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday that the share of all loans that were either 30 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure soared to 14.4% in the third quarter, the highest rate in 38 years.
November 19 -
Servicing is where the action — and government money — has gravitated. "It's a critical mass that gets IBM's attention," says a former insider.
November 19
