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Byline: Brian Collins When the consumer financial Protection Bureau finalized its mortgage underwriting rule in 2013, it granted government-backed loans an exemption. Years later, the government-backed market appears to be [...]

Byline: Lou Tisler Early next year, thousands of American homeowners may get an unpleasant surprise in the mail: a tax statement from their mortgage lender announcing that they may owe [...]

Byline: Victoria Finkle Despite a strong industry push, a bill to amend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's 'qualified mortgage' rule is facing an uphill battle to enactment this year. The [...]

Byline: Austin Kilgore U.S. policymakers' negative attitudes toward the mortgage industry are starting to thaw, but that doesn't mean devising Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's exit from conservatorship or charting [...]

The Political Desires of CHAIRMAN GONZALEZ Childhood is often the time when one hears proud tales of one's ancestors. Not so for a quiet, Mexican-American boy in San Antonio who [...]

ON THE HEELS OF PERHAPS THE WORST GLOBAL BANKING crisis of our time, financial markets tumbled--both in the U.S. and abroad. Throw in a government takeover of mortgage providers Fannie [...]

Byline: Kate Berry The Federal Housing Administration could finally get something it desperately needs: funding to upgrade its outdated technology infrastructure. But nearly a dozen housing and banking lobbying groups [...]

Byline: Kate Berry Lenders are shooting for the moon when it comes to legislative fixes in the coming year, but their lobbyists are trying to bring them gently back to [...]

Byline: Victoria Finkle WASHINGTON -- Sen. Sherrod Brown may give the country's biggest banks heartburn, but there are signs he's positioning himself as an industry ally ahead of a potential [...]

Byline: David Stevens Four years ago, at this very conference, I made headlines. At the time, I was FHA commissioner and we were in the thick of trying to pull [...]

Byline: Michael Bartlett The indications from Congress are clear: there will be reforms made to the secondary mortgage system that long has relied on government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie [...]

Byline: Michael Bartlett WASHINGTON-The indications from Congress are clear: there will be reforms made to the secondary mortgage system that long has relied on government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie [...]

Byline: Brad Finkelstein Marc Savitt has been a rather loud voice for mortgage industry issues for a number of years, especially when it comes to things like the Home Valuation [...]

Byline: Victoria Finkle The head of the Federal Housing Administration urged senators to sharpen their focus on the agency's struggling reverse mortgage program as Congress considers broader reforms to the [...]

Byline: Victoria Finkle A bipartisan bill to reform the mortgage finance system being crafted in the Senate has already drawn praise from a variety of stakeholders, but the effort is [...]

Byline: Brian Collins Residential servicers are completing nearly 100,000 short sales every three months, giving former owners a few thousand bucks to pack their belongings and start a new life [...]

Byline: Glen Fest Like carnival barkers at the county fair, mortgage brokers and realtors are urging underwater homeowners to hurry, hurry, hurry on their short-sale plans. The reason for the [...]

Government plans to kickstart the self-build sector to bring it in line with Europe, reports Rachael Adams, but many in the industry say it is losing the plot if it [...]

Byline: Austin Kilgore LAS VEGAS-Politicians and government leaders did not have a comprehensive knowledge of the mortgage and appraisal industries as they struggled to set the policy that avoided an [...]

Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-The White House has spoken: not only does it want to pull the plug on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-it wants a reduced role for the FHA [...]

Byline: Stacy Kaper WASHINGTON-While much of the next Congress will focus on making changes to the Dodd-Frank Act, lawmakers are also likely to deal with problems in mortgage servicing. The [...]

The financial services reform legislation is expected to have a significant impact on the way mortgage brokers are able to conduct their business, especially in terms of compensation. Yet, in [...]

A hung parliament after next month's general election could add GBP52 a month to the average mortgage, according to flat-share website easyroommate.co.uk. Jonathan Moore, director of easyroommate, warned that if [...]

CHICAGO - A handful of Midwestern state housing authorities, most of them shut out of the credit market this year, are acting to take advantage of the U.S. government's temporary [...]

Albania Raiffeisen Bank in Albania Albanians know a thing or two about financial crises, with the 1997 collapse of nationwide pyramid investment scams still fresh in the memory. But those [...]

Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-The House and Senate appropriators are at odds over how to deal with a shortfall in the FHA reverse mortgage program and they are taking different approaches. [...]

WASHINGTON-Representatives of CUNA and NAFCU were lobbying lawmakers last week to limit the potential impact of the mortgage cramdown bill. The heads of the two trade associations received separate phone [...]

Though the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention plan promises to help some homeowners meet their mortgage payments, many foreclosures are still expected from borrowers who fall outside the plan or who [...]

WASHINGTON-Credit unions were be put on the defensive at last week's opening of the 111th Congress with the introduction of 20 new bills that would allow bankruptcy courts to restructure [...]

WASHINGTON-The mortgage industry is going to face more pressure to modify loans and prevent foreclosures with Barack Obama in the White House and larger Democratic majorities in the House and [...]

Washington -- The Senate has passed a bipartisan foreclosure prevention bill by an 84-12 vote that provides $10 billion for refinancing subprime mortgages, $4 billion for purchasing foreclosed properties and [...]

WASHINGTON -- A controversial measure that would have allowed troubled homeowners to file for bankruptcy to get their mortgages rewritten was quietly put to death last week when the Senate [...]

House Ways and Means chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. introduced a housing bill yesterday that would permit tax-exempt bonds to be guaranteed by Federal Home Loan Banks and permanently exempt mortgage [...]

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats will be pushing for vote on a foreclosure prevention package during the first week in April that will allow distressed homeowners to seek relief in the [...]

WASHINGTON -- The credit union lobby convinced Senate leaders last week to carve out most credit union mortgages from a bill that would give bankruptcy courts the ability to rewrite [...]

Both highly leveraged homeowners and consumer rights organizations are likely to applaud legislation, introduced in the fall, which may receive a full hearing this spring. But the powerful banking lobby [...]

Washington -- In a flurry of legislative activity, Congress completed action on a mortgage debt tax relief bill and an extension of the federal governments terrorism insurance program before adjourning [...]

WASHINGTON -- The idea of recreating a Depression-era agency to purchase defaulted mortgages and prevent widespread foreclosures is gaining traction in the House and Senate. Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris [...]

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's proposal for Congress to increase the private-activity bond volume cap and allow state and local housing finance agencies to issue tax-exempt bonds for subprime mortgage [...]