Banks Need More Mortgage-Rule Details Before Credit Boost

(RECAP: Executives at the biggest U.S. mortgage lenders said they aren’t willing to commit to expanding lending until hearing more about FHFA Director Melvin L. Watt’s plan to ease rules that can force them to buy back soured debt. “You really need to get all the details,” Steve Boland, the home-loans originations executive for Bank of America Corp., said in an interview at the Mortgage Bankers Association conference where Watt spoke. Boland said “clarity and certainty” are a “necessity” for the industry. Watt said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants he oversees, will be making a third attempt since 2012 at giving lenders more protection against loan repurchases.)