Paul Muolo

The Prestwick Mortgage Group is offering $128 million of Freddie Mac servicing rights and hopes to complete the auction by the end of next week.

This morning The New York Times reported that our nation's banks are "back to lending to risky borrowers. As banks look to make up for fee income barred by new regulations, they've gone back to offering loans and credit cards to borrowers with bad credit."

Mortgage applications fell 2.4% for the week ending April 6, continuing a trend that started several weeks ago when rates began to rise, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Roughly 33 full-timers will lose their jobs when Ally Financial closes its MBS broker/dealer operation, according to a company spokeswoman.

In the early days of the financial crisis investors were lining up for the mother of all loan auctions. It was thought to be the best buying opportunity for bad debt since the S&L crisis. And then a funny thing happened: banks and investment bankers decided not to dump their nonperforming loans, at least not in large numbers - or at fire - sale prices.

Ocwen Financial Corp., which relies heavily on its overseas workforce, has decided to shutter a pair of North Texas servicing offices, laying off almost 680 mortgage workers in the process, according to a recent filing with the Texas Workforce Commission.

Here's a pop quiz for all jumbo MBS fans: what's the biggest stumbling block to the private label securities market taking off? Answer: the subordination levels on jumbo deals are about twice what they used to be, which means the credit pendulum has swung overly far to the conservative side.

Bank of America this month will try to unload roughly $42 billion of mortgage servicing rights through two different offerings, one involving private label product, according to investors and investment bankers familiar with the bank's auction plans.

Is there really much of a professional difference between loan officers who work for a bank versus a nonbank? I'm not picking sides, but recent comments to this column suggest that nonbank LOs feel they are better equipped to serve the consumer - and not necessarily because they have passed the state test.

Fannie Mae purchased $62 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in February, its weakest monthly acquisition volume in four months.

Pacific Union Financial LLC, Walnut Creek, Calif., has hired Rick W. Skogg as its new president.

Until a few months ago it was thought that 2012 might turn out to be a disaster year for loan production, one in which refinancings finally withered and home purchases continued to be anemic. But not anymore.

If you're looking for the next megabank to exit the mortgage sector the most likely candidate would be Ally Financial, the government owned bank holding company that controls No. 5 ranked servicer GMAC Mortgage/Residential Capital Corp.

ICON Residential, Irvine, Calif., has hired MetLife veteran James Matarazzo as area sales manager for wholesale, covering the Southeast.

So, HARP 2.0 is going to be the program that finally helps millions of current but underwater Americans refinance their GSE loans? Last week National Mortgage News first reported about some of the fat profits being earned by the nation's megabanks on the 'new and improved' program.

Mortgage Master, Walpole, Mass., one of the largest privately held nonbank lenders in the Northeast, this week hired industry veteran Don Henig to be its managing director of national sales, officials at the company confirmed to National Mortgage News.

Over the past few months eWarehouseOne has been gaining somewhat of a buzz among small to medium-sized nonbanks that have been searching high and low for a good deal in warehouse financing. But at the same time, these very same lenders have been asking a very basic question: who exactly are these guys?

Banc of Manhattan Capital, Woodland Hills, Calif., is taking bids on a $26 million pool of re-performing whole loans, servicing released.

The most charitable thing a mortgage company did this year happened when MetLife, a bank holding company, paid for its residential loan officers to receive training and education in preparation for passing their state licensing tests.

Although Wells Fargo & Co. won't talk about its 'exclusionary' list of third-party lenders, correspondent loan buyers doing business with some of the firms say they wound up on the list mostly because of buyback disputes with the megabank.