Loan Think

The Trump administration should not name J. Mark McWatters as head of the consumer agency, given his lack of experience overseeing commercial banks and his leadership of the National Credit Union Administration, a cheerleader for the industry it supervises.

The GSEs are on their way to paying back the money they owed the government under the original bailout deal made at the height of the financial crisis, making 2018 an opportune time for an overhaul of the housing finance market.

The credit bureau enraged many with its response to a massive data breach this fall, but closing the company down would ultimately harm consumers.

For decades, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped working-class Americans get mortgages. That essential and powerful role in the national economy is fading.

The government-sponsored enterprises are at the heart of our housing finance problems, not the solutions.

To succeed in an era of increasingly narrow margins and broad competition, mortgage lenders must be methodical about loan fulfillment and take a "less is more" approach to designing workflows.

Homeowners are still paying very high insurance premiums for the life of their Federal Housing Administration loans to subsidize the operations of the HECM program.

Mortgage servicers should be especially concerned by the rise in Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits, which often hinge on whether consent to call borrowers exists or has been revoked.

Potential first-time home buyers can save money for a down payment if they are able to use a special account just for that purpose.

Recent research into customer preferences regarding home equity lending reveals that banks need to better engage with their customers to understand their needs and expectations, and then guide them to optimized HELOC product offerings that precisely meet their needs.