On Monday the National Association of Independent Housing Professionals is expected to file suit against the Federal Reserve Board, seeking to block its loan officer compensation rule, according to officials familiar with the situation. The civil action will be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. At this time, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers is not a party to this claim, but is contemplating suing the FRB on its own. For complete details see the National Mortgage News website on Monday at
Meanwhile, wholesalers are issuing their new “compensation contracts” to loan brokers with mixed reviews. One broker told me that his wholesaler told him to sign and return the contract by Friday, otherwise they were going to clip his commission by 50 basis points down to 1.5%. For the full story see the analysis in Monday's National Mortgage News. Don't subscribe? Call 800-221-1809…
The LO comp rule is the most important regulatory issues facing mortgage bankers and brokers. For servicers, the most important issue is “servicing standards.” At the MBA's recent servicing show in Texas, several officials from the Federal Reserve Board were in attendance, collecting information and talking to servicers and subservicers. We're told the industry may get a glimpse of the standards this coming week. The MBA has a task force (of sorts) of about 28 “practitioners” who are working on the issue, including representatives from some of the top servicing firms. Several weeks back officials from the FDIC and Fed met with the group. Supposedly Ted Tozer from GNMA was there, as well as FDIC's Sheila Bair, but I cannot confirm that…
There have been plenty of press reports this past week about the “global settlement” between the nation's largest servicers and the state attorneys general. We continue to hear that nothing is imminent and that the leaks to the press are intentional “trial balloons” meant to gauge reaction. We're also told that some servicers would like to tell the AGs to stuff it. After all, these mortgagors have lost their homes because they didn't make the payments. Of course, as we've noted before, missed payments do not allow for sloppy foreclosure paperwork…
As an addendum to the above item, consider this: Many states are in the red with their budgets. If several GOP governors get their way they will slash state budgets—and that (presumably) means the AG offices…
And while we're on the subject of state budget cuts, let's call a spade a spade: when governors talk about cutting "costs" and reducing expenditures what do you think they're taking about? Eliminating the discounted soda machine? (My company did that and it was a real morale breaker.) No, the states are talking about eliminating jobs—thousands of them. In fact, when the new jobs report came out Friday some of the largest losses came in state and local workers. Mortgage bankers might want to check their servicing rolls to see how many borrowers are state workers. These teachers, firefighters and police officers are their customers. And friends and neighbors—and soon may be loan modification customers. Of course, the GOP wants to kill all those programs, too…
How would I balance a state budget? Answer: Reduce salaries without laying off workers. At least they still have a job. And, yes, I would raise taxes. Of course, I wouldn't call it a tax hike. I'd call it a “user fee.” That's what smart Republicans do. Send your angry e-mails, to…
Then again, the economic recovery will be ending in a month or so when oil tops $150 a barrel…
A recent report funded by mortgage insurer Genworth Financial showed that a mandatory down payment of 10% could shrink mortgage originations by 7% to 15%...
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT No 1: Flagstar Bank recently sold $474 million of nonperforming residential first mortgage loans. The buyer's identify was not disclosed…
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT No. 2: Ocwen Financial Corp. said it is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, which has asked the mortgage servicer/subservicer for information about its employee training, debt-collection practices, loan modifications and foreclosure procedures.
WASHINGTON NEWS: With the housing finance market so dependent on government-backed mortgages, federal regulators—with the blessing of the Treasury Department—have decided to exempt Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-issued bonds from the new risk retention rules. The decision means that any MBS—even product backed by high LTV collateral written with mortgage insurance—issued while the two are in conservatorship will be exempt. (For the full story see Brian Collins' story on the NMN website.)
Meanwhile, if you're looking for a ranking of the nation's top sellers of loans to Fannie/Freddie drop a line to
CALLING ALL LOAN OFFICERS: We want to know how you did in 2010 and your outlook for this year. NMN's new LO survey can be found at
DATA STUFF: Although the mortgage origination sector faces challenges this year, there's plenty of money to be made in servicing. A ranking of the nation's top 100 servicers can be found in the Quarterly Data Report, an Excel spreadsheet and database product offered by NMN. The QDR also ranks certain firms by their cost to service. To order the QDR send an e-mail to
A MUST ATTEND SERVICING SHOW: The MBA's servicing show ended two weeks ago, but if you missed that event try the SourceMedia show. The publisher of NMN and American Banker will hold its fifth annual servicing show in Dallas April 5-7. Top servicing and subservicing executives will be there. For more information e-mail
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THE LAST WORD: The name Charlie Sheen was in the news constantly this past week, but let us not forget that this Shakespearian-trained actor appeared as a young rookie pitcher in the greatest baseball movie of all time, “Major League,” available on DVD.
