MORTGAGE

Some low-risk home loans that meet certain underwriting guidelines will no longer be eligible for an exemption from a broader rule requiring so-called skin-in-the-game if House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank gets his way as lawmakers put the final touches on new rules for Wall Street.

U.S. authorities have charged 1,215 people in hundreds of mortgage fraud cases that resulted in estimated losses of $2.3 billion, top Obama administration officials said on Thursday, unveiling a crackdown after the housing market collapse.

A broad rewrite of financial rules will make it tougher to get a mortgage, but Congress may not be going far enough to crack down on the easy home loans at the heart of the financial meltdown.

Mortgage rates held steady at or near record lows in the latest week, home funding company Freddie Mac said on Thursday, with new housing data indicating market momentum is muted.

Mortgage demand jumped to a five-month peak last week, with applications to buy homes up from 13-year lows set in the wake of buyer tax credits while refinance loans hit the highest level since May 2009.

The former head of the now bankrupt mortgage lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp has been charged with fraud in a scheme that led to the misappropriation of more than $1 billion, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.

The former head of the now bankrupt mortgage lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp has been charged with fraud in a scheme that led to the misappropriation of over $1 billion, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.

Low-rated U.S. companies may struggle to refinance more than $1.7 trillion in debt that comes due between 2011 and 2014 as growing economic concerns make banks and investors more reticent to lend, Standard & Poor's said on Wednesday.

U.S. mortgage rates dropped in the past week, with fixed-rate loans either reaching or nearing record lows, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.

Home buying applications sank for a fifth straight week to a fresh 13-year low, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday, suggesting that tax credits had robbed more from future sales than expected.

The homeownership rate will drop further unless house prices rise substantially, as people who owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth become renters, according to a study released Friday.

U.S. mortgage rates stayed at or near record lows in the past week, with the 30-year fixed rate 1/2 percentage point lower than a year ago, home funding company Freddie Mac said on Thursday.

Foreclosures for sale continue to rise in Florida as more homeowners default on their home loans.

Demand for loans to buy U.S. homes fell last week for the fourth straight week, holding 13-year lows, as the housing market adjusted to a selling environment without the federal tax credits that had stoked April sales.

U.S. mortgage rates moved still lower in the past week, nearing a record low set in early December, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.

U.S. mortgage applications to refinance home loans jumped to a seven month high last week as rates neared record lows, but purchase demand remained stuck at a 13-year low.

The default rate for commercial mortgages held by banks in the first quarter hit its highest level since at least 1992 and is expected to surpass that by year-end and peak in 2011, according to a study by Real Capital Analytics.

The U.S. thrift industry reported its third consecutive quarter of profit, earning $1.82 billion during the first three months of the year.

House prices will manage a small gain in 2010 after the worst crash since the Great Depression but gains in coming years are likely to come slowly, a Reuters poll found.

U.S. consumers are less interested in buying a foreclosed home than they were a year ago, which could slow a housing market rebound as banks prepare to sell a record number of repossessed properties, according to a survey released on Thursday.

One in every seven U.S. households with a mortgage ended the first quarter behind on payments or in foreclosure, although a peak in unemployment could mean repayment stress is easing, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.