Paul Muolo

Now that Ocwen has inked a deal to buy Litton Loan Servicing from Goldman Sachs, the big question on the minds of rank and file workers at Litton is this: just how many servicing jobs will be lost to India?

Fannie Mae sold 62,814 REO properties in the first quarter, a 65% jump in activity from the same period a year ago, according to new figures released by the firm.

The nation’s seven mortgage insurance companies wrote $13.6 billion of new policies in the first quarter, a 30% gain from the same period last year as the sector continued to gain strength, according to figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

How do you know when a mortgage cycle has ended and rougher times are ahead for the industry? Answer: When a foreign bank pays a ton of money for a lender, claiming it’s a great value play.

For some strange reason American International Group has stopped reporting the mortgage insurance activity of its MI subsidiary, United Guaranty Inc. of Greensboro, N.C. to National Mortgage News.

Freddie Mac on Tuesday afternoon unveiled a major reorganization in its ranks, naming former GMAC executive Tony Renzi to head a newly created division to oversee single family lending, operations and technology.

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance early this week slapped Kondaur Capital, Orange, Calif., with a final consent order, prohibiting it from lending or buying any loans in the state.

Add the name of Alexander ‘Zan’ Hamilton to the growing list of former mortgage bankers who are hoping to get back into the game.

The rumor mill has been active lately with reports that a large correspondent buyer of home mortgages may be heading for the exits. Again, we can only stress that it’s all talk at this point. We won’t name the firm and chances are it’s what we in the news/rumor business call a “false positive.”

General Electric Co. and Capital One Financial Corp. have submitted bids for ING Group's U.S. online bank, according to combined press reports.

An attorney for Arch Bay Capital, Irvine, Calif., said the company “is not being sold.” His comment comes in response to a story published on the National Mortgage News website late last week.

If uber investor George Soros is selling gold these days that tells us something. Or does it? The recent not-so-great reports on housing and employment are hardly encouraging.

Ocwen Financial Corp., a top ranked specialty servicer, made it official over the weekend, agreeing to buy Litton Loan Servicing from Goldman Sachs for $264 million in cash, plus extras.

Mortgage bankers funded $351 billion of new residential loans in the first quarter, a 35% decline from a robust 4Q, but a slight gain from the year ago period, according to new figures compiled by National Mortgage News.

THIS JUST IN: Back in the day Angelo Mozilo once dreamed of Countrywide Home Loans having a 25% origination market share. We all know what happened to that dream (and Countrywide). As I recall, Mozilo once thought that such a goal might be achievable, but it would probably require Countrywide combining forces with a megabank such as Wells Fargo.

IServe Residential Lending, an 18-state lender, this week announced that it has added seven new retail branch locations: three each in California and Washington state, and one in North Carolina.

Ocwen Financial is one of at least three investors recently invited in by Goldman Sachs to make a final round of bids on Litton Loan Servicing, the Wall Street firm’s specialty servicing division, according to investment bankers and others close to the situation.

If you, for a minute, believe that Goldman Sachs isn’t dumping Litton Loan Servicing overboard because of the taint of subprime, then I have some Enron bonds I’d like to sell you. As reported by National Mortgage News 10 days ago Ocwen is eyeing Litton, as are two other investors.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers this week confirmed that it has ended its legal challenge of the Federal Reserve Board's controversial rule on loan officer compensation and is looking at alternative ways of changing how LOs are paid.

An offering book on Arch Bay Capital, Irvine, Calif., one of the largest investors in nonperforming mortgages, is making the rounds, according to investors and traders familiar with the matter.