Kenneth Harney

Pressured by consumer protection regulators, the Federal Housing Administration is expected to end one of its most controversial practices: charging borrowers interest on their home mortgages for weeks after they’ve paid off the entire principal balance.

Here’s a heads-up for the growing ranks of seniors whose post-retirement monthly incomes aren’t sufficient to qualify for a mortgage under today’s tough underwriting standards: Thanks to a rule change by the largest players in the home loan business, you may be able to use imputed income from your 401(k), IRA and other retirement assets to qualify for the loan you want.

Are large numbers of homeowners who have negotiated short sales with lenders at risk because of a startling omission in the American credit system? Do their credit reports and scores indicate that they were foreclosed upon, rather than having negotiated a mutually agreeable resolution with their lender?

Some houses sell even before they formally hit the market – through a controversial technique known as “pocket listings.”

Who says lenders need to charge you a cash down payment when you take out a mortgage in this era of hyper-strict underwriting?

With full-fledged sellers’ markets underway in dozens of metropolitan areas around the country, new research has found curious statistical patterns emerging: Even in cities where listings get multiple offers within days or hours, significant numbers of homes are sitting on the market for six months, 12 months or more with no takers.

Using your home as an ATM no longer is a financial option, but the tools that allowed owners to pull out massive amounts of money during the boom years – equity credit lines and second mortgages – are making a comeback.

They’re back after barely a decade: Escalation clauses in real estate contracts, “naked” contingency-free offers and lowball-priced listings designed to pull in dozens of bidders and turn routine sales transactions into auctions.

Got a beef with your mortgage company or loan servicer? Lots of people do, and thousands of them have been turning to a federal complaint hotline for action – or at least a quick response from the lender.

If you buy or own an energy-efficient house, does this make you less likely to default on your mortgage? Is there a connection between the monthly savings on utility costs and the probability that you’ll pay your loan on time?