It’s (almost) late summer and what better time to throw out a "loose ends" blog on several story leads, ideas, and thoughts that have been knocking around my head (and inbox) of late. So, here you go:
• We understand that a certain player in the jumbo market is talking to a certain third-party about a certain type of joint venture. Something certainly is going on but exactly what…we’re working on it.
• Hey, what ever happened to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s "mortgage compensation" proposal? It was supposed to be out in early August. It is now almost mid-August.
• Fannie Mae is working on doing a nonperforming loan auction. Has anyone seen the "request for proposal"? Send it my way.
• Fannie and Freddie have billions upon billions of dollars in loss reserves. When can they begin recapturing that money, taking it into earnings? And might the windfall be so huge that the federal takeover of the two will look foolish?
• The $500 million in cash that Fortress has raised to buy MSRs will be spent on: fill in the blank. Actually, see the story in the Monday paper edition of National Mortgage News. Don’t subscribe? Call 800-221-1809. The cost (cheap) gets you full access to all our exclusive online content.
• Smaller mortgage bankers are starting to grow their MSR portfolios nicely, according to the upcoming 2Q edition of the Quarterly Data Report. To order a sample drop a line to Deartra.Todd@SourceMedia.com.
• If mortgage industry workers (and all American workers for that matter) are spending so much of their time chatting online and looking for news and information on Twitter and Facebook when do they actually do their jobs? Think about it.
• Are application volumes so great that loan officers, processors and underwriters have not taken vacations this summer? Drop me a line at
• Should regulatory agencies such as the CFPB actually employ people with loan origination experience?
• Fannie Mae has hired three technology vendors to work on a securitization platform. Who might they be?
• Are mortgage bankers better off with a Republican or Democrat in the White House?
WASHINGTON NEWS: The CFPB has issued two proposed rules designed to make mortgage servicing more consumer friendly, giving borrowers advanced notice of interest rate adjustments and how to avoid costly forced-placed insurance. For the full story visit
THIS COLUMN IS FOR SALE: "What We’re Hearing" is the most widely read column in the mortgage industry. For advertising information send a note to
FOR THE DATA RECORD: Some of the fastest growing loan officers in the nation are listed in MortgageStats.com. For more information drop a line to
KEY INDUSTRY MORTGAGE SHOWS: On Sept. 13 and 14 SourceMedia/National Mortgage News will hold its annual Mortgage Regulatory Reform conference in Arlington, Va. Rep. Garrett is slated to give one of the keynotes.
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FINAL WORD: "Odds & Sods" is also the name of one of my favorite Who LPs. Enjoy the beach.
