Brian Collins and Mark Fogarty

There are plenty of companies waiting for a secondary mortgage market to develop for these high-margin loans.

FHA officials believe lenders will qualify more borrowers with sub-680 credit scores via manual underwriting, but there is concern they will simply limit originations to plain-vanilla FHA.

The case involved a lender leasing space in a bank office with the rental fee allegedly based on loan production.

If wishes always come true, lots of mortgage lenders will be increasing their volumes of purchase mortgages this year. But Fed tapering and rising rates may spoil the party.

There ought to be some flexibility to allow negotiated loan fees. But in these highly regulated days, nothing is easy.

Borrowers have been generally in a rush to refinance during the holidays. This year, there has been no such impetus.

The Federal Housing Administration is handcuffed but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s new regulator is expected to favor broader mortgage financing terms for borrowers.

Companies like Lennar Corp. have seen an 18% jump in prices on their inventory this year.

The only relief might come from a deduction for first-timers if they get housing counseling.

The CFPB estimates litigation expense could be just 10 basis points per loan, or even lower.

Readers can now comment on virtually all (and soon, all) content on National Mortgage News’ website. The first comments from readers prefigure some lively interactivity to come.

The GSEs will be lenient when it comes to enforcing the QM rule’s 3% cap.

Single-issuer Ginnie I pools have been the mainstay of the Ginnie MBS program for decades.

WE’RE HEARING competition in the correspondent channel is heating up and some banks are reaching out to mortgage brokers and asking them to join their “mini-correspondent” programs.

Galante getting closer to re-examining pricing policies but don’t expect premium reductions anytime soon.

Since the government shutdown might all happen again in a couple of months, we now have a template the mortgage agencies can reuse.

We're hearing the private-label jumbo MBS market has slowed to crawl mainly due to higher mortgage rates.

We're hearing that consumers love the concept of homeownership but when it comes to finding a place to live they end up renting.

We're hearing that a government shutdown is coming and this time it could hurt the housing recovery.

We're hearing the mortgage industry is looking favorably on the latest Federal Reserve Board easing plan.