Mortgages

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.

Banks are dumping their mortgage servicing rights because low rates and new rules make it hard to earn a profit. SunTrust, Flagstar and First South Bancorp in North Carolina are taking the opposite view.

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.

A top CFPB official said Monday that lenders have adjusted their business models and practices to comply with new rules, while MBA CEO David Stevens called on the Federal Housing Administration to clarify its underwriting standards.

Steve Eisman, who profited from the mortgage meltdown, tells an industry crowd why he thinks the financial system is safer under Dodd-Frank, why Silicon Valley is "clueless" about lending and what the next "big short" will be.

Bankers may have a reputation for being old-school, but their rapidly growing digital-ad budgets are in step with the rest of the business world. Banks can both gather valuable demographic data from who clicks on their ads and better measure returns on their investments.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can determine nearly anything to be an unfair, deceptive or abusive act or practice, and it's more likely to do so when lenders try to take advantage of regulatory loopholes.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is taking a harder look at how mortgage lenders treat borrowers with limited English language skills.

PNC Financial Services Group plans to increase consumer lending with its current tilt toward commercial loans generating lower overall loan yields.

Provident Financial Holdings in Riverside, Calif., has restated earnings from its most-recent quarter after it booked higher loan-origination costs.

A fintech startup called Point is allowing consumers sell a piece of their home equity to investors, rather than borrowing against the value of their houses.

While troubling factors such as higher risk profiles may be behind the recent lending boom, the industry could also just be returning to the historical average for loan growth following the "Great Panic" of 2008-2010.

Home purchase lending hit its highest point since 2007 as low interest rates and growing consumer confidence continue to support the housing market.

Orrstown Financial Services in Shippensburg, Pa., has hired three former rivals from Metro Bank in Harrisburg: Adam Metz, Andrew Johnson and Doug Hummer.