Mortgages

The Senate approved a bill Thursday by unanimous consent that includes major reforms to the Federal Housing Administration condominium loan program and the Rural Housing Service loan program.

Upcoming risk retention requirements may be the proverbial straw that breaks the back of the commercial mortgage-backed securities market.

Profit rose at First Republic Bank in the second quarter, as higher loan originations and fee-based business offset a spike in employee salaries that was partly caused by the bank raising its minimum wage.

WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers put Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro on the hot seat Wednesday, criticizing his decision to allow nonprofit community groups to bid on more nonperforming Federal Housing Administration loans.

Jack Kuntz, president and chief executive at American Savings Bank in Portsmouth, Ohio, recently put his personal cell phone number on a billboard off Interstate 71 in Cincinnati as part of an advertising campaign for his $260 million-asset institution.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently dressed down the mortgage industry for failing to invest in technology. Here are 10 tech ideas from our colleagues at fellow SourceMedia publication National Mortgage News that could improve efficiency, margins and the industry's image among growing demographics. Some might sound farfetched, but so do most great inventions at first. Dream big.

Freddie Mac is on track to issue mortgage-backed securities via a common securities platform by the end of this year, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The sharp fall in gas prices early this year helped U.S. consumers to stay current on their credit obligations during the first quarter.

The scheme is used by borrowers who don't have enough income to qualify for a regular mortgage, so they apply for a higher-rate non-owner-occupied loan.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has opened the door to experimenting with front-end credit risk transfer transactions, but it is not wide enough for some market players.

The U.S. mortgage market is of course considerably smaller, safer and less accessible than it was nine years ago.

Fannie and Freddie regulator's first report on NPL sales shows more borrowers avoid foreclosures when their loans are sold to investors.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp is buying a bank with a national mortgage platform. The company hopes the business will provide a much-needed lift in fee income.

NPL investors will have to consider principal reductions and offer more sustainable loan modifications.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is soliciting industry input on how to improve Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's credit risk transfer transactions, for the first time saying it is considering front-end transactions rather than back-end deals.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency wants mortgage servicers reaching out to delinquent borrowers to be exempt from tough restrictions on robo-calling. But the idea is being panned by consumer groups, who say it would give a free pass to mortgage servicers that have a record of consumer-protection violations.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Home Loan banks of Topeka and San Francisco have signed up to participate in a Mortgage Partnership Finance program that pools and securitizes government-backed loans via Ginnie Mae.

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal by Wells Fargo and Bank of America in a lawsuit brought by the city of Miami to determine whether the city can seek redress for lost tax revenue from predatory mortgages.

WASHINGTON — Big banks have drastically reduced their share of the Federal Housing Administration market, a massive shift that has big implications, according to new analysis by the American Enterprise Institute.