Mortgages

The system may be good for the banks that own it, but it is not meeting its public mission.

Executives at banks north of the border pointed this week to several potential U.S. economic snags, including inflation, the possibility of a housing market correction and soaring energy prices.

Former FHFA director Mark Calabria said the mortgage market was a “ticking time bomb” on track for a 2008-like crisis. Other experts foresee a tamer end to the bull housing market.

The nation's largest bank indicated Monday that it may again offer home equity lines of credit to a wide audience. Rising mortgage rates have made the product more attractive after a long drought when low rates suppressed demand.

Click here for an overview of No. 1-10 on American Banker's annual list of the highest-performing banks with less than $2 billion of assets and a full breakdown of all the banks on the roster.

Mark Calabria, who oversaw the two government giants under Trump and was fired by the Biden administration, said in a recent interview that the government-sponsored enterprises are once again at risk of insolvency.

Truliant Federal Credit Union is one financial institution eager to expand online notarization. For customers, it's more about convenience than social distancing.

The San Francisco-based online lender originated more than $2 billion in personal loans during the first quarter, a big jump from a year earlier. The surge made up for softness in the company's home loan and student loan businesses.

Roughly 24,000 people had new foreclosures listed on their credit reports in the first quarter, up from about 9,000 three months earlier, a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report says. States are trying to cushion the blow on homeowners now that many pandemic-related federal protections have ended.

The pending budget reconciliation legislation should retain measures meant to support minority homebuyers.

Multiple factors have slowed residential sales, tightening the market for home loans for banks and credit unions.

The moves were widely anticipated, with the markets already pricing them in, as the central bank attempts to get the upper hand on record-setting inflation.

Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures Management is leading a $185 million funding round for Canada’s Neo Financial Technologies, propelling it to a valuation of more than $1 billion as it plans expansion into mortgages.

Even "lifers" are considering new jobs as financial institutions bulk up to expand into new markets.

On Dec. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

The new hires joined Veritex from Bank of Houston, which has also been aggressively recruiting bankers.

The lender is the latest to announce cuts in response to declining production volume.

More than two years into the pandemic, banks hit several turning points during the first quarter. On the positive side, commercial loan growth finally materialized, but there were also snags, particularly in fee income.

The bank didn’t disclose which specific employees, or how many, were impacted by the announcement.

The Columbus, Ohio, bank, which already makes more loans than any other lender in the Small Business Administration's flagship program, is testing a plan to offer them outside of its Midwestern footprint.