Mortgages

PHH Corp. has been ordered to pay $109 million over allegations that it illegally accepted kickbacks on reinsurance premium payments after Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray partially overruled a decision previously made by an administrative law judge.

The regulatory burden for originators has not only been the main driver of acquisition activity in mortgages but also influences deal structures. Acquirers are looking to craft transactions so they don't get burned by targets' compliance lapses.

RPM Mortgage and its chief executive are facing $20 million in fines on allegations that the company violated the loan originator compensation law enforced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Rep. Edward Royce, R-Calif., urged fellow House members Wednesday to support a Senate proposal that would make significant reforms to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The CFPB gave little ground in its pledge Wednesday to be "sensitive" to lenders that make a "good-faith effort" to comply with new mortgage disclosure rules that go into effect in August. The agency's statements fell short of a formal grace period that the industry and lawmakers had been demanding.

t's no grace period, but the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working placate lender fears of hasty enforcement of its new integrated disclosure rules.

After a "landmark" first-quarter driven by mortgage origination gains, Flagstar Bancorp is counting on mortgage servicing and community banking to spur future growth.

FICO discards incomplete and old credit history information for a good reason. The solution to today's credit-access problems is not to use this unreliable data but to turn to alternative data such as the payment of everyday bills.

Community banks will be able originate and sell jumbo loans with balances as high as $1.5 million under an expansion of a conduit program the Chicago Home Loan Bank has forged with Redwood Trust.

Banks and mortgage lenders are in the final stretch of preparing to deliver new TILA-Respa Integrated Disclosures to homebuyers starting Aug. 1. But it's not just the change of forms that is causing alarm bells. Fines could be steep, and legal liability could be even higher, for violators, while necessary technological changes are expensive, they say.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling Monday that said second mortgage liens cannot be voided in bankruptcy, even when the first lien is underwater.

A Florida court on Friday sided with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the state over claims that a law firm charged illegal fees to consumers seeking foreclosure relief.

Provident Funding Associates, a private mortgage lender, has agreed to pay $9 million to settle allegations its brokers charged minorities higher fees and interest rates, federal regulators said Thursday.

New servicing standards issued by the government-sponsored enterprises are unlikely to pose a hurdle for the biggest nonbank players in the market, but small servicers could find it more challenging.

In a sign that the GSEs may once again be trying to compete with each other, Freddie Mac will no longer charge lenders to use its Loan Prospector automated underwriting system.

Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain's largest taxpayer-owned lender, could pay as much as $4.5 billion to resolve claims of misconduct in its handling of U.S. mortgage securities, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.