Mortgages

Fannie Mae is planning to provide relief to lenders from potential buybacks for loans in which the borrower's income, assets and employment information have been validated through automated underwriting.

David Stevens, the chief executive and president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, revealed Monday that he has been diagnosed with cancer in prepared remarks at the association's annual conference in Boston.

Lenders will get a reprieve from the threat of some mortgage-related penalties under a new program announced by housing-finance giant Fannie Mae on Monday.

In a move designed to help further calm lender fears about mortgage repurchase liability, Fannie Mae is preparing to offer immediate representation and warranty relief to lenders that use its suite of automated quality assurance technology.

Record deposit growth, improved expense management and strong revenue gains from mortgage banking boosted Umpqua Holdings’ profits in the third quarter.

A strong and dynamic risk detection system requires focusing on the most important blind spots not satisfactorily explained by existing tools, rather than focusing on the "answers" produced by those tools.

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., reported a higher third-quarter profit, citing improved fee income from mortgage lending, capital markets and credit and debit cards. It also benefited from some special items and energy-market improvements.

Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. lender by assets, said third-quarter profit rose 7.3%, beating analysts’ estimates, as revenue from fixed-income trading was better than predicted and expenses fell.

West Town Bancorp in Illinois has revved up its government-backed lending to small businesses, making it a good example of how community banks can outhustle big lenders in the quest for new sources of fee income.

As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to experiment with upfront risk-sharing deals, some small mortgage lenders fear they will be left out of the action.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Victor Dodig said new federal government housing rules will slow growth in mortgage lending, though he expects the decline to be manageable.

Earnings season is set to begin with a bang Oct. 14 when four of the six largest banking companies report. The next few weeks will likely bring a steady stream of lackluster commercial lending results, good news on energy and mortgage books and (thanks, Wells Fargo) a whole lot of scrutiny of cross-selling practices.

Current proposals about what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that still focus on a government-backed solution are misdirected.

A former top regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wants to abandon the development of the common securitization platform and use the existing Ginnie Mae platform to issue government-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities.

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.

BB&T Corp. has agreed to pay $83 million to settle a Department of Justice investigation over loans that failed quality control tests but were still insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

Community bankers are showing renewed interest in consumer lending but admit they may be losing ground to more tech-savvy players, according to a survey released Thursday.

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.