National Mortgage Professional Magazine recently had an opportunity to chat with David H. Stevens, Assistant Secretary for Housing at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), and 27th Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).Read more

Commercial Mortgage Securities Association (CMSA) has announced its support of U.S. Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan’s recent remarks on the need for a vital and robust securitization market, agreeing with several assertions that certain accounting and regulatory standards may limit credit availability.Read more

Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) and private reverse mortgages gave birth to a new asset class, but the sharp financial minds on Wall Street missed this seminal event for almost a decade. Then in 1998, Lehman Brothers tapped a young investment banker to start its reverse mortgage business, the first on Wall Street.Read more

For good reasons, it is open season on Wall Street, bankers and their sidekicks in the mortgage-lending food chain, but Americans still value balance and fairness in their public discourse. That is why I believe “Sub-Prime Revisited,” the ‘report’ released on Oct. 6 by the National Consumer Law Center, is a one-sided editorial with a regulatory policy agenda built on generalizations and extrapolations.Read more

NewOak Capital announces the appointment of Jay Lown as managing director and senior member of the financial institutions group. He will be responsible for coordinating all activities relating to the U.S. government-related mortgage lending programs through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA, as well as developing mortgage advisory solutions and focusing on the bank advisory and recapitalization at NewOak Capital.Read more

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has adopted a model sale and servicing agreement it anticipates will become the standard form for industry participants to use voluntarily for whole loan purchases and sales made with an eye toward potential securitization. The agreement was adopted by MBA's Residential Board of Governors (RESBOG) as an MBA supported best practice. Read more