Mortgages

Despite pledges last year to move "aggressively" to implement new credit scoring models at the government-sponsored enterprises, the Federal Housing Finance Agency's effort appears to have stalled.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Monday that will make it easier for some community banks to make qualified mortgages.

Lenders and vendors found no bad surprises in the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integrated disclosure exam guidance, but it didn't clarify much industry confusion either.

Brian Moynihan, Bank of America's chairman and CEO, told investors Thursday that revenue from fixed-income and equity markets should decline by 5% to 6% in the third quarter compared with a year ago. The Charlotte, N.C., bank will continue to have a higher efficiency ratio relative to its peers because of the high costs of paying financial advisers.

Wells Fargo is raising minimum credit score requirements on Federal Housing Administration loans, part of the ongoing jockeying by large banks to limit lawsuits by the Justice Department for defective FHA loans.

The third quarter ends in two weeks, and top executives at Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and two regional banks are raising concerns about cost pressures, impediments to revenue growth and heightened lending risks.

License numbers for loan officers, real estate agents and settlement agents will be required on one of the new TILA-Respa integrated disclosure forms, raising questions about whether they could trigger investigations of possible illegal marketing services agreements.

The refinance mortgage market's unexpected resilience in 2015 has come as the result of a number of well-timed factors coalescing to create a welcomed surprise to lenders.

Evans Bancorp in Hamburg, N.Y., has agreed to pay $825,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of mortgage redlining.

The rising costs to service mortgages reflects a market where there are not only downsides to being too small, but hurdles to being too large — raising the question of whether there's a middle ground where servicers are not too big, not too small, but just right.

Under a federal corruption probe and facing financial and performance issues, United Airlines has picked ex-KeyCorp CEO Henry Meyer as its new chairman. He'll have to draw on the crisis-management skills he sharpened while leading KeyCorp through the financial crisis.

Texas Capital Bancshares in Dallas plans to hire 100 people for its new mortgage correspondent aggregation business line.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said banks could consider loan-to-value ratios above 90% to help revitalize areas hurt by the housing crisis.

Nearly 20 trade groups representing lenders, banks, credit unions, title companies and others are urging federal regulators to provide guidance on how they plan to enforce a new mortgage disclosure regime that goes into effect Oct. 3.

What does a small bank do when a much larger bank encroaches on its home turf?

Randolph Savings Bank in Massachusetts has agreed to buy First Eastern Bankshares in Andover, Mass.

Wells Fargo has named Michael DeVito head of mortgage production, making him responsible for its retail and correspondent lending divisions.

About a fifth of the $163 million in credit Citi has earned under terms of the 2014 settlement would be considered extra credit. Citi can earn extra credit by doing things such as completing loan modifications early or reducing loan-to-value ratios below certain levels.