After a half-decade of tightening mortgage guidelines, banks are starting to "loosen up". The Federal Reserve conducts a quarterly survey of its member banks and, last quarter, not a single responding bank reported having tightened its mortgage guidelines for prime borrowers. A "prime borrower" is defined as one with a well-documented credit history, high credit scores, and a low debt-to-income ratio. 53 banks responded to the Fed's survey and none said that mortgage … [Read more...]