Paul Muolo

By now you've read all the stories about those protesting lefties from the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement who are encouraging their followers to move their savings and checking accounts from megabanks like B of A, JPM and Wells to more consumer friendly organizations such as a credit union.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac late Tuesday afternoon released a somewhat detailed bulletin on the underwriting guidelines for refinancing underwater borrowers with GSE loans, segmenting what's allowable based on the LTV and if the product is being offered by the current servicer.

First, the good news: mortgage bankers that process loans for pooling into GNMA securities will continue receiving a 44 basis point fee for servicing those mortgages.

When the average taxpayer hears that Uncle Sam has provided $170 billion of their money to bail out the GSEs they get outraged. (Okay, some of that money has gone right back into the government's pocket via dividend payments from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.) But how do you explain to the man-on-the-street that without the GSEs the housing and mortgage markets would collapse?

The acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency told a Senate panel this morning that the agency is moving ahead with "private" risk sharing opportunities between Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and firms outside of the government's control.

Mortgage servicers seem to be caught between a rock and hard place when it comes to foreclosures: their legal practices are being scrutinized by state attorneys general for sloppy paperwork while the GSEs pile on fees for delays in loss mitigation work.

According to the National Association of Realtors, home sale contracts are falling through at twice the rate of last year. And who does the trade group blame? Answer: lenders for turning down applications, and (of course) appraisers.

One man's junk is another's gold, especially when it comes to mortgage servicing rights. Late this past week Ocwen inked a deal to buy roughly $15 billion of MSRs from JPMorgan Chase, which like many mega-servicers (except for maybe Wells Fargo) is downsizing its presence in the receivables market (for a variety of reasons).

Not only is the government suing Allied Home Mortgage for FHA fraud, its lawsuit calls into question how company founder and CEO Jim Hodge handled complaints by insiders about its net branch arrangements.

Fortress Investment Group appears to be the winning bidder on a $50 billon package of mortgage servicing rights being peddled by Bank of America, according to industry analysts watching the deal.

It appears that a member of the 'Grand Ole Party' has gone off the reservation. That would be Sen. Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee who the other day introduced a bill that would wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over time (that part is okay) but wants to nationalize the privately managed MERS System.

When it comes to analyzing mortgage origination numbers, it's a matter of relativity.

Foreclosure filings increased 7% in October from the prior month, but were down 31% compared to the year ago, according to new figures from RealtyTrac. It's hard to tell if this is good news or not.

Foreclosure filings increased 7% in October from the prior month with servicers and banks recording default notices, scheduled auctions, and lender repossessions on 230,678 U.S. properties, according to new figures compiled by RealtyTrac.

The politicians in Washington are outraged at the pay packages the head honchos at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been receiving. On Wednesday Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus introduced a bill that would “suspend the compensation packages” of these very same top executives.

Mortgage applications jumped 10.3% for the week ending Nov. 4, a sign that continued low interest rates are starting to entice consumers, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Walter Investment Management Corp. posted a $61.7 million loss in the third quarter, citing higher operating and debt costs tied to its purchase of specialty servicer Green Tree Servicing, St. Paul, Minn.

The Mortgage Bankers Association posted a $28.4 million loss for its fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, almost double the loss it suffered the year before.

By now you've seen the stories about Bank of America losing some of its top loan producers who—among other things—are griping about the painfully slow underwriting and closing times at the troubled residential lender.

About two months ago Fannie Mae bought roughly $70 billion of mortgage servicing rights from Bank of America – but has yet to confirm that the transaction ever took place. (B of A won't either.)