Sara Lepro

Fannie Mae said Friday that many mortgage lenders are not complying with the most basic underwriting guidelines, such as confirming a borrower's identity or verifying a Social Security number.

Fannie Mae said Friday that many mortgage lenders are not complying with the most basic underwriting guidelines, such as confirming a borrower's identity or verifying a Social Security number.

Few such loans are being originated these days, but Freddie said Friday it will not accept any from lenders beginning in September.

Few such loans are being originated these days, but Freddie said Friday it will not accept any from lenders beginning in September.

It's no secret that the government-sponsored enterprises have been aggressively pushing dicey mortgages back to lenders. But data released Wednesday by Freddie Mac shows lenders are doing plenty of pushing back.

MGIC said it would start including a borrower's credit score in its pricing model and lower rates for prime borrowers to better compete with the Federal Housing Administration.

After nine years of issuing a cobranded Visa credit card, Target said Tuesday that it is considering a return to issuing credit cards only for use in its stores.

The first in a series of Fannie Mae-branded mortgage help centers has opened in Miami, the government-sponsored enterprise announced Monday.

Lenders now have another choice when it comes to mortgage insurance. Essent Guaranty Inc. marked its arrival Thursday, announcing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have approved it as an official mortgage insurer, making the Radnor, Pa., company one of only eight with such a designation.

Lenders face a condominium conundrum in Florida; private mortgage insurers get a break from state regulators' capital ratio requirements.

In his first major initiative since taking the helm at PHH Corp., Jerome Selitto laid out his strategy for transforming the company, the financial services industry's behind-the-scenes mortgage machine.

The game of hot potato between lenders and mortgage insurers continues. The mortgage insurance unit of Old Republic International Corp. is asking a court to back its refusal to pay claims on soured mortgages originated by Countrywide Financial Corp.

The game of hot potato between lenders and mortgage insurers continues. The mortgage insurance unit of Old Republic International is asking a court to back its refusal to pay claims on soured mortgages originated by Countrywide Financial Corp.

Mortgage insurers are no longer an endangered species, but it will be more than a year before they return to profitability and healthy capital levels.

Everybody out of the pool: Freddie to repurchase all severely delinquent MBS loans. Plus: reports of Ditech's death greatly exaggerated.

One of John Thain's challenges as the new chairman and chief executive of CIT Group Inc. will be persuading regulators to let the commercial finance company become more bank-like.

Tree.com Inc., the parent of LendingTree LLC, plans to rev up its marketing efforts this year, in part to maintain volume as the mortgage market contracts.

Tree.com Inc., the parent of LendingTree LLC, plans to rev up its marketing efforts this year, in part to maintain volume as the mortgage market contracts.

For today's consumers, there's nothing like cash on the barrelhead — and that's giving Visa Inc., with a stronger debit card foothold than MasterCard Inc., an advantage in the competition for card transactions.

Visa Inc.'s profits jumped by a third in its fiscal first quarter, which ended Dec. 31, and use of the company's debit and credit cards picked up in the U.S.