Housing

U.S. Bancorp has agreed to settle a lawsuit that claimed it neglected to maintain foreclosed properties in Southern California after the 2008 financial crisis.

Restoring consumer confidence in financial services won't be easy after the latest banking brouhaha, but the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can help by proactively holding all mortgage loan officers to the same federal licensing standard.

Strong home sales are boosting originations of Federal Housing Administration loans and opening the door for first-time buyers — developments that could portend the mortgage insurance agency receiving a positive report from auditors this fall.

Following industry objections to how the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. defines brokered deposits, a House panel heard testimony Tuesday on a series of bills that would amend the definition.

The Federal Housing Administration issued a proposal Tuesday that would make it easier for lenders to secure government guarantees for condominium loans.

The bad-news stories about the largest institutions are worrisome in light of housing finance proposals that could benefit the big banks even more.

Both government-sponsored enterprises discount the rates on loans for buildings with "green" certifications; they also underwrite some of the projected savings from upgrades on buildings of a certain age, allowing owners to take out bigger loans.

Fannie Mae employees will be working this weekend to update the agency's automated underwriting machine to process trended data for the first time.

The high volume of commercial mortgages maturing this year has left some property owners scrambling for funds to refinance. Not so for these eight landlords, who took advantage of the strong price appreciation of their iconic office buildings, luxury hotels, super regional shopping malls, and a portfolio of rental homes, to cash out — in some cases, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars of equity. Bank commercial real estate lenders, who know all too well the cyclical nature of this sector, will want to take a close look at these transactions, details courtesy of our colleagues at Asset Securitization Report.

Contrary to expectations about growing mortgage lending volumes, current industry trends suggest a gradual reduction in capacity for both lending and servicing that should alarm policymakers.