Shellpoint’s long-awaited first jumbo residential mortgage-backed securities deal is in the pipeline, and it is backed by a $261.58 million loan pool with slightly broader group of borrowers than other deals.

Only portfolio lender Astoria Financial, a company which would benefit from higher interest rates, closed higher on Wednesday.

Lead management technology provider Leads360 has changed its name to Velocify, which it said more accurately reflects its mission to enable sales professionals to sell at the “speed of opportunity.”

Newport Beach, Calif.-based diversified financial services provider Sabal Financial Group, L.P. is expanding into third party servicing, special servicing and construction loan administration nationwide.

For the second time in recent weeks, an originator has come to the Mortgage Grapevine seeking a stated income loan.

Wells Fargo & Co. marketed a risky securities-lending program as safe and ended up causing millions of dollars in losses for institutional investors, a lawyer said as the trial of a lawsuit against the bank began.

News that Wells Fargo and Bank of America failed to comply with the mortgage loan modification timeline processing requirements of the mortgage servicing standards mandated by the National Mortgage Settlement are bittersweet for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Affiliated Mortgage Co., a Monroe, La.-based subsidiary of Texas’ Benchmark Bank, has started a wholesale/mini-correspondent division that is getting started in the Lone Star State with a plan to expand from there.

When it comes to whether to outsource valuations or keep them in-house, opinions can be fierce, but the best advice is to not close the door to either until one has carefully examined all the pros and cons in line with which best matches a particular company’s size or situation.