Loan Think

If the Federal Housing Administration wishes to take seriously the concerns lenders have about the definition of a loan error, demonstrating flexibility in crafting and revising its guidelines is a good place to start.

Lenders that sell both forward and reverse mortgages must carefully consider how their products are offered to older borrowers to avoid confusion that could lead to accusations of financial abuse.

Credit access and homeownership for low- to moderate-income families are under siege by the DOJ's overuse of the False Claims Act, as lenders worried about punitive damages discontinue Federal Housing Administration loan programs.

With consumers generally averse to risk, financial institutions have an opportunity to rethink what it means to make bets in line with their customers' well-being.

For banks looking to enter or expand their mortgage servicing rights business, there is a pressing question: Are the best years for MSRs behind us or do current market conditions offer a favorable risk/reward opportunity?

A recently enacted requirement from the Securities and Exchange Commission places liability for collateral assets within securitization trust funds squarely on the shoulders of a depositor's chief executive, prompting calls for more extensive due diligence procedures.

The courts would not be getting involved in defining the reach of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if the architects of the agency had instituted a commission to oversee it.

As the war for talent heats up and lenders face tougher decisions in recruiting and hiring loan officers, the need to deploy certain tactics might seem appealing, but will ultimately create more problems than they are worth.

The recent proposal is less about fixing fundamental flaws in our mortgage finance system and more about finding a broadly acceptable path to resolving the current impasse in mortgage finance reform.

Borrowers of "forward" Federal Housing Administration mortgages are unfairly being expected to backstop the disparate mission and risks of the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program.