The share of homeowners late on their mortgage payments fell sharply in the first quarter of 2007, but the downturn appears based on seasonal factors as default rates remain well above year-ago levels.According to the Inside Mortgage Finance... [Includes two charts] Read More

Under pressure from Congress, federal agencies and consumer advocates, the Federal Reserve is inching toward a new federal standard on subprime lending, but a key issue will be whether the project turns into a formal rulemaking or another guideline... Read More

The lack of clear, meaningful consumer disclosures may soon lead to the introduction of an amendment to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act that would require mortgage lenders to disclose key loan terms on a one-page form prior to loan closing. At the heart... Read More

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-MA, and several other Democrats last week asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to clarify current accounting rules on troubled debt restructurings and other loan modifications in light of rising... Read More

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has taken the unusual step of offering a draft regulatory guideline for public comment as it prepares to finalize its system for making annual adjustments in the conforming loan limit that governs mortgage... Read More

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are urging Congress to extend authority to write rules that define unfair and deceptive practices to all federal regulators, even as state regulators called for similar... Read More

Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac suffered a dramatic reversal of fortune during the first quarter, reporting a loss of $221 million, compared to earning $2.0 billion for the same period last year. The government-sponsored enterprise also reported a drop in the fair... Read More

The boom in second mortgage lending that reached a record $430 billion in volume in 2006 appeared to cool significantly early this year, despite signs that piggyback financing is alive and well. An estimated $95.0 billion of second mortgages... [Includes one chart] Read More

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson last week confirmed that he will consult again with mortgage settlement reform stakeholders before issuing a new proposed rule under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act later this year... Read More