Paul Muolo

Builders broke ground on fewer homes in August than in July and the same month a year ago, evidence that the nation's housing depression is continuing – despite ultra low mortgage rates.

Industry veteran John Robbins, who exited the business six years ago, next week will announce that he's reentering mortgage banking with a new retail/wholesaler lender.

This past weekend we published a blog about how hard it was for customers and members of the media to contact Seterus, the residential servicing division of IBM. Over the weekend, one veteran mortgage banking executive who we've known for years weighed in on the matter.

The National Association of Home Builders said Monday that its index of builder sentiment fell in September to a reading of 14, one point below the prior month.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will hike their guarantee fees some time next year to better reflect "that which would be anticipated in a private competitive market," FHFA acting director Ed DeMarco said Monday morning.

I often wonder if the Treasury Department—which owns Fannie Mae—has actually tried to call (on the telephone) Seterus, the servicing division of IBM that the GSE is apparently using to handle its lousy loans.

Now that Walter Investment Corp., has officially purchased subservicer Green Tree Servicing, St. Paul, Minn., and its parent company, GTCH Holdings, LLC, it has changed certain job duties of executives that joined the firm.

Fannie Mae has apparently doled out part of a large subservicing contract on Bank of America MSRs to the residential servicing division of International Business Machines, according to industry advisors who have been briefed on the deal.

Next week the National Mortgage News website will publish a story about some improving numbers in wholesale production, but in the meanwhile we keep hearing stories about firms growing their presence in table funding.

CMG Mortgage, San Ramon, Calif., originated $275 million of home mortgages in August, a 44% increase from the prior month.

We keep hearing reports that a former Freddie Mac official (post the federal takeover) is working on creating a 'mega' platform to originate loans. We have a name and presently are trying to confirm details.

In recent weeks Bank of America has been telling analysts and shareholders that it is actively selling – or has sold -- mortgages servicing rights while offering little, or no, details on what may've been unloaded, and at what price.

Now that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has sued the pants off of 17 issuers of nonprime MBS, the big question boils down to this: How much will the agency actually collect?

Three officials – including chief operating officer Craig Wildrick – recently left Allonhill, an independent third-party mortgage review firm based in Denver.

By now, most of know that the second quarter was not pretty when it came to residential origination volumes. On Monday National Mortgage News will publish its final 2Q rankings.

Elizabeth Warren, who is credited with founding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will announce Wednesday that she is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Scott Brown, R-Mass., according to combined press reports.

Total Mortgage Services, a fast growing nonbank lender based in New England, has received final investor approval from Fannie Mae to service the GSE's loans, a move that sets the stage for the firm to hold MSRs.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is dominated by mortgage/banking hating socialists hell bent on destroying the U.S. economy. At least that's the perception you get from talking to some rabid industry executives who were hoping to kill the agency before it ever got off the ground.

The nation's top five ranked servicers continued to lose market share in the second quarter – compared to the same period a year ago – as refinancings and concerns about capital rules and MSRs affected their decisions to retain receivables.

In general, mortgage booms are born in recessions (though not always.) When the economy struggles (like it has since 2008) the Federal Reserve keeps rates low, and those low rates spark a boom in housing and mortgage lending. Of course, this time around everything is different.