Barbara Desoer, the president of Bank of America's home loans division who was once considered a possible successor to former Chief Executive Ken Lewis, will retire at the end of February, B of A said Friday.

Another state attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Merscorp, this time in New York, where Eric Schneiderman took aim at the thousands of MERS “certifying officers” employed by mortgage servicers whom he alleges filed defective and inaccurate foreclosure documents that deceived and mislead borrowers and courts.

Mortgage companies have added at least 3,000 full-time employees to their payrolls since September -- to keep up with refinancings -- but held off on hiring in December, according to new government figures released Friday morning.

Genworth Financial posted earnings of $107 million in the fourth quarter - compared to a $161 million loss a year ago - but its mortgage insurance division continued to struggle.

Less than 5% of originations backed by the Rural Housing Service last year were refinancings, but the agency is trying to change all that with a new streamline refi pilot program, unveiled this week by the White House.

A Senate bill that would bar members of Congress from trading on confidential information was amended Thursday to include a ban on paying bonuses to executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Provident Financial Holdings Inc., Riverside, Calif., has hired 40 people from MetLife Home Loans to run three new retail mortgage loan production offices in Northern California.