Victoria Finkle

Ten Federal Housing Administration lenders could be facing hefty penalties from the government following an investigation into their underwriting practices, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are urging the Federal Housing Administration to change an employment eligibility requirement for borrowers looking to modify their mortgages.

Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said Tuesday that she is preparing to unveil an alternative housing finance reform proposal to rival more conservative legislation backed by many House Republicans.

The House Majority Leader's failure to include mortgage finance reform in his legislative agenda for the fall has sparked more questions about whether Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Patrick McHenry and others can advance his legislation to the floor this year.

The banking committees are set to resume debate over mortgage finance reform when Congress returns from August recess on Monday, but the issue will be just one of many facing lawmakers during a very busy fall.

The housing industry is stepping up behind-the-scenes lobbying to alter the housing finance bill sponsored by Rep. Jeb Hensarling and perhaps kill the legislation entirely.

Efforts to overhaul the mortgage finance system are gaining momentum, but key logistical hurdles remain as lawmakers prepare to return from the August recess.

The group unveiled a new white paper Wednesday that outlines two alternative proposals for integrating affordable housing into the larger mortgage finance reform debate.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is pressuring the Department of Justice for more details related to payments made to the Federal Housing Administration as part of the $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement announced last year.

Decades in Washington are bound to make any lawmaker a little cynical, but former Rep. Barney Frank says Netflix's hit drama "House of Cards" goes too far.

President Obama held a private meeting with financial regulators on Monday to discuss ongoing implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, emphasizing the need to finalize additional rules quickly.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is keeping busy on her August recess, talking housing finance reform and meeting with community bankers in her home state of North Dakota.

The Government Accountability Office is poised this fall to unveil the first of two reports on whether big banks benefit from an implicit subsidy due to the perception that they are "too big to fail," adding more fuel to an already contentious debate.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said Tuesday that he remains hopeful the House will take a vote this fall to reform the mortgage finance market and move toward a conference with the Senate, despite ongoing policy disagreements.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's surprise criticism of President Obama's plan to unwind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has upset the conventional wisdom surrounding housing finance reform.

As Congress struggles to determine the appropriate role for government in the mortgage market, affordable housing may prove a politically charged hurdle on the path to reform.

President Obama has nominated J. Christopher Giancarlo to serve on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Karen Dynan to serve as assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy.

Sen. David Vitter, a staunch conservative who can usually be found singing the praises of plans to break up big banks and overhaul the FHA, will be singing a different tune this weekend — namely that of pop idol Justin Bieber.

GOP lawmakers are raising concerns that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's former deputy director, Raj Date, and other staffers "left the CFPB in order to profit from rules they helped create."

Lawmakers have authorized the Federal Housing Administration to make a narrow set of changes to its reverse mortgages program to help the troubled program avert more radical reforms later this year.