Underwriting

Preferred Bank's experience with an apartment developer is a reminder of how important strict underwriting terms will be as loan demand increases, rates rise and lenders try to outdo each other.

Fannie Mae's first-quarter profits were enough for it to rebuild its minimum capital buffer and pay the Treasury Department dividend after being forced to take a draw during the previous fiscal period.

If Freddie Mac's credit-risk transfer activities continue to grow, mortgage lenders could eventually see a reduction in the guarantee fees they pay to the government-sponsored enterprise, according to CEO Donald Layton.

The CFPB finalized an amendment to its "know before you owe" mortgage disclosure rule that gives lenders more flexibility to adjust closing cost estimates and pass those increases on to borrowers.

Servicers are still trying to figure out how they can best take advantage of the growing use of electronic notes and other digital mortgage tools by lenders and the secondary market.

Freddie Mac and Arch Capital are testing a new form of risk-sharing deal to boost investor appetite for low down payment mortgages. But the pilot is raising concerns about "charter creep" because it dictates private mortgage insurance decisions typically made by lenders.

Tight margins, regulatory clarity and a renewed appetite to expand have made mortgage brokers and the wholesale channel attractive again, at least to the small and medium mortgage lenders.

Recent developments in the Federal Housing Administration's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program are making it easier for lenders to originate reverse mortgages to borrowers who want to buy a new-construction home.

Financial services groups are calling for more funding for the Internal Revenue Service that could fix flaws in the agency's system for verifying the income of mortgage applicants.

As inflation fears put upward pressure on 10-year Treasury bonds and mortgage rates nationally, borrowers could start to take more notice of what lenders are charging them locally.