Wall Street Journal, Dec. 13, 2015–Kusisto, Laura
Last-minute negotiations in Washington have left real-estate agents and sellers nervous about the possibility that distressed homeowners could receive an unwelcome tax hit. “Borrowers need the certainty that they will not be faced with a large, unexpected tax bill,” said Bill Killmer, senior vice president for legislative and political affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Ann Arbor News (Mich.), Dec. 13, 2015–Perkins, Tom
Lending institutions leave houses to rot for a simple reason – there is no financial, legal or moral motivation to do otherwise, according to several industry officials.
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 15, 2015–Lazarus, David
“The Big Short,” which I saw over the weekend, is an entertaining movie. It’s also deeply disturbing because one take-away is that we learned nothing from the stupidity and greed of the subprime mortgage meltdown.
Scotsman Guide, Dec. 1, 2015–Whitman, Victor
Delinquency rates for commercial and multifamily mortgages fell to new lows in the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported on Tuesday.
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 1, 2015–Pleven, Liam
For months, investors and executives have been waiting for shares of real-estate investment trusts to catch up to the broader stock market and reflect the value of the properties the companies own. They may have to wait at least a little while longer.
Bloomberg, Dec. 2, 2015–Scully, Matt
Mortgage bankers are offering to take on increased default risk under a plan that would reduce the insurance fees they pay when their loans are bundled into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities.
National Mortgage News, Dec. 4, 2015–Collins, Brian
Issues with upgrading software and ensuring pricing accuracy to comply with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “integrated disclosures” have been magnified in wholesale loan transactions.
HousingWire, Dec. 4, 2015–Swanson, Brena
The Homebuyers Assistance Act, H.R. 3192, which passed the House in October by a vote of 303-121, has yet to make its way to the Senate and the president has threatened to veto it if it gets to his desk. The industry, including the National Association of Realtors, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and more than a score of other trade associations, have been pushing the government to pass the bill.
HousingWire, Dec. 4, 2015–Lane, Ben
Despite the fact that the federal government’s Making Home Affordable program is currently set to expire at the end of next year, one Obama administration official says that the mortgage servicing rules that were adopted as part of the Home Affordable Modification Program may be sticking around–permanently.
Bloomberg, Dec. 3, 2015–Moore, Michael J.; Son, Hugh; Campbell, Dakin
The Federal Reserve, which has said it may toughen capital requirements in future stress tests of U.S. banks, is open to relaxing another aspect of the annual exams at the request of some of the firms.
