REFinBlog

Editor: David Reiss
Cornell Law School

September 10, 2015

Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Round-Up

By Serenna McCloud

Enterprise Community Partners and other leaders of the #Capshurtcommunities campaign have arranged a National Call in days on September 15 and 16, 2015 to “to educate Members of Congress on just how devastating these cuts are to low-income children, families, … Continue reading

Read More

September 10, 2015 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments

September 9, 2015

Better to Be a Banker or a Non-Banker?

By David Reiss

  The Community Home Lenders Association (CHLA) has prepared an interesting chart, Comparison of Consumer and Financial Regulation of Non-bank Mortgage Lenders vs. Banks.  The CHLA is a trade association that represents non-bank lenders, so the chart has to be read in … Continue reading

Read More

September 9, 2015 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments

Wednesday’s Academic Roundup

By Shea Cunningham

The Effect of Negative Equity on Mortgage Default: Evidence from HAMP PRA, Therese C. Scharlemann & Stephen H. Shore, Office of Financial Research Working Paper No. 15-06. Housing Tax Reform and Foreclosure Rates, Richard Dusansky & Firas Zebian, Journal of … Continue reading

Read More

September 9, 2015 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments

September 8, 2015

Tuesday’s Regulatory & Legislative Round-Up

By Serenna McCloud

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking public comment on its revised system of records for the National Mortgage Database Project. The FHFA collects information on all outstanding U.S. mortgages in keeping with its mandate to ensure the creditworthiness … Continue reading

Read More

September 8, 2015 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments

September 4, 2015

Friday’s Government Reports

By Serenna McCloud

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has reported an uptick in mortgage rates from June to July 2015.  This is according to the Monthly Interest Rate Survey (MIRS), which measures several indices of new mortgage contracts to arrive at a … Continue reading

Read More

September 4, 2015 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments

September 2, 2015

Expanding the Credit Box

By David Reiss

DBRS has posted U.S. Residential Mortgage Servicing Mid-Year Review and 2015 Outlook. There is a lot of interest in it, including a table that demonstrates how “the underwriting box for prime mortgages slowly keeps getting wider.” (7) The report notes that While most lenders continue … Continue reading

Read More

September 2, 2015 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments

Wednesday’s Academic Roundup

By Shea Cunningham

On the Cyclicity of Regional House Prices: New Evidence for U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Michael André Flor & Torben Klarl, CESifo Working Paper Series No. 5471. How Mortgage Finance Affects the Urban Landscape, Sewin Chan, Andrew Haughwout & Joseph S. … Continue reading

Read More

September 2, 2015 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments