Mortgages

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action Thursday against three mortgage companies that, authorities say, falsely implied affiliation with the U.S. government.

GOP lawmakers on Wednesday harshly criticized the Federal Housing Administration's recent move to lower insurance premiums, saying it violates the law and will be used to entice borrowers into predatory loans.

In unusually expansive comments, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray provided new details Tuesday about proposals due soon from the agency while offering insights into an internal battle over easing a key mortgage rule.

WASHINGTON — NewDay Financial has agreed to a $2 million fine after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleged that the mortgage lender engaged in an improper kickback scheme and used deceptive marketing tactics targeted at veterans.

Wilshire Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy Manhattan Bancorp's mortgage lending division.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is raising concerns about the transparency and clarity of reverse mortgages based on more than a thousand complaints it received about the product.

It's a mortgage on top of a mortgage, and at least one lender is making these loans again through brokers.

Protests by community groups and now a public hearing threaten to delay the completion of CIT's acquisition of OneWest Bank. The deal will probably get approved, and it might not get delayed too long, but all those "probablys" and "mights" are what make the proponents of more big M&A queasy.

Regulators are taking their review of CIT Group's agreement to buy OneWest Bank to a public forum, following community activists' complaints about the deal.

Beneficial Bancorp in Philadelphia reported higher quarterly profit due to improving asset quality.

The expiration of the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act leaves servicers dealing with a patchwork of state laws and investor rules, while renters living in REO properties are at a greater risk of eviction.

Studying borrowers' credit characteristics and tightening quality control are more important to how mortgages perform than the size of down payments.

M&T Bank used hidden racial criteria to steer first-time home buyers into certain neighborhoods and particular lending programs, according to a housing group that sent women of various races to apply for loans.

The Federal Housing Administration's new foreclosure relief options for nonborrowing spouses of reverse mortgage customers will increase loan servicers' costs, and some question how many consumers they will actually help.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will require nonbank mortgage firms to meet minimum liquidity and net worth standards to curb risks to taxpayers from the rapidly expanding industry.

The California Department of Business Oversight is accepting applications until Feb. 20 from firms or individuals with experience with the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act and California Homeowner Bill of Rights.

Two Republican legislators have suggested that affordable housing funding should be put on hold until Congress finally decides what to do about Fannie and Freddie. But why give Congress another six years to fiddle around with housing finance while the poor and homeless face a declining level of government housing assistance?