Videos Created for New Mortgage Rules
Several of the mortgage rules that were finalized in January are discussed in a set of new videos from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

On May 15, the CFPB announced the availability of the Overviews of the 2013 Mortgage Rules videos on its YouTube-hosted site.

Compiled into one longer or six shorter videos, the CFPB provides an overview of recently finalized rules for the mortgage industry, most of which have an expected implementation date in January 2014.
read story

Opportunity Seen in Radian Shares When the housing market was suffering, Mad Money's Jim Cramer says that he advised his audience to get out of Radian Guaranty Inc.'s stock.

Top-Producing LO Calls for Appraisal Process Overhaul One of the nation's top-producing loan originators says that the appraisal process is broken and needs to be overhauled, while an appraisal industry veteran says appraisers are getting a bad rap and are just trying to mirror the market.

BofA CEO Sees Private Label MBS Revival Ahead The chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp. said that he sees a return of investors to private-label mortgage-backed securities. He also expects the Charlotte, N.C.-based company to double its share of the mortgage market.

BofA Chief Sees Growth in Mortgage Production Ahead The chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp. sees a robust mortgage origination market ahead but said the company is being very careful about which mortgages land on its balance sheet during these low-yield times.

Former Wells Chief Blames GSEs, Brokers & Banks for Crisis The former chairman and chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Co. left no doubt about who he believes was responsible for the global financial crisis that brought down some the biggest financial players and sparked the Great Recession.

Fannie, Freddie Responsible for Housing Crash The former chief economist for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. says that Freddie Mac and its government-controlled rival Fannie Mae were at the heart of the U.S. housing crash.

Brokers Call for Support on QRM Legislation The head of the trade group that represents mortgage brokers is calling on the sector to support legislation that would leave more income available for loan originators.

HUD Chief Grilled on Housing Market The head of the Housing and Urban Development talked with reporters about a range of issues including additional funding for the Federal Housing Administration, investors complaints about the mortgage servicer settlement and writing down principal on loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Wave of Whistleblower Actions Ahead for Mortgage Firms
In April 2011, attorney Lynn Szymoniak appeared on 60 Minutes. Delinquent on a $780,000 loan she took out with Option One Mortgage Corp. in February 2006, her lender took her to court to start the foreclosure process. But the company had lost her loan documents only to find them a year later. Problem was, Szymoniak was a specialist in forgery and identified discrepancies in her assignment -- a revelation that led to the discovery of thousands of documents fraudulently signed as "Linda Green" of DocX.