Mortgages

Legislation would require GAO to study the impact the FHFA membership rule would have on the FHLB System and its members.

Community organizations and the banking industry are advancing dueling visions for how to reach the unbanked, with community groups asking regulators to strengthen existing rules while community banks want to lighten their regulatory burden so they can extend their services.

Lawmakers and industry groups are urging FHA to update condo rules to provide more homeownership opportunities for first-time buyers.

Mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial failed four servicing tests in the second half of 2014. Joseph A. Smith Jr., the monitor of the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, said the Atlanta servicer was “beginning to show progress” in complying with terms of the 2012 agreement.

The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned software vendors that they face new scrutiny from regulators for causing mortgage lenders to miss the TRID-compliance deadline. He was vague about how far the CFPB might go, but many in the industry are prone to fear the worst.

Both forecasts call for growth in home purchase volume over the next few years, but the decline in refinance originations will be so steep that overall origination volume will decrease.

Profits fell at New York Community Bancorp in Westbury, N.Y., as it continued to manage its balance sheet to stay below a key regulatory threshold.

Private mortgage insurers are seeking a larger share of the credit risk on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-guaranteed loans.

Housing finance reform in Congress is stalled, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (often under pressure from their regulator) are forming partnerships, developing new products and finding ways to share risk with the private sector to correct flaws in the housing system.

David H. Stevens, the Mortgage Bankers Association's president, pledged to "shine an aggressive spotlight on abusive enforcement" at the trade group's annual gathering, specifically calling out the Department of Justice.

Mortgage servicers have gotten a rare reprieve from the Federal Housing Administration.

Next year Fannie will require that mortgage lenders use so-called trended credit data for all mortgage borrowers, a move it says could broaden access to credit.

Quicken Loans is partnering with Freddie Mac to boost business among first-time and middle-income borrowers as it battles allegations over its past underwriting practices on Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgages.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau backed off some of its initial plans in its final rule requiring lenders to collect more data from mortgage borrowers, but industry representatives warned the agency had not gone far enough.

Regional banks did a much better job of expanding revenue than their megabank counterparts in the third quarter, but they had to spend more to do so and risk angering investors in a tight-margin environment.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Thursday that requires lenders to collect more information from borrowers as part of mortgage disclosures.

Executives in the mortgage industry must "take a page from the real estate community" and be more active in Washington and their state capitals, said outgoing Mortgage Bankers Association Chairman Bill Cosgrove.

KeyCorp in Cleveland posted higher third-quarter profits as revenue soared on growth in fee income from its investment banking business.

Forget the San Francisco bank's pedestrian bottom line this quarter — the real things to focus on are its revenue growth and the reasons behind it.

Bank of America's long effort to become a slimmer, more profitable retail bank could be starting to pay off. In a tough quarter for revenue growth, its consumer banking division gained traction thanks to branch consolidation, investments in mobile banking and other factors.