Origination

A report due next week on the Federal Housing Administration's financial health is expected to show that the agency's reserve fund has significantly improved over the past year.

Mel Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has set off a political tempest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau slapped Franklin Loan Corp. with a $730,000 fine on Thursday for allegedly incentivizing loan officers to guide customers into mortgages with higher interest rates.

CRM companies are rolling out products to help originators get in contact with and convert purchase leads.

Fannie Mae has entered into deals with JPMorgan Chase and other companies that transfer some of the credit-loss risk on mortgage-backed securities to investors. Not only do these deals reduce the danger that taxpayers could be forced to cover the GSEs losses, they may help make mortgages more affordable.

An originator census helps lenders understand the makeup of their origination teams, giving them insight into exactly how their team is working and how it stacks up against other teams in the industry.

For the fifth year in a row, Quicken Loans is rated No. 1 by consumers in terms of customer satisfaction, according to a J.D. Power survey.

Republicans are unlikely to push the ball forward on reform of the federal housing agencies, but Congress has a number of other opportunities to make changes that will encourage mortgage lending.

Mortgage rates fell slightly compared to last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Community banks, on average, increased the size of their loan portfolios by 15% in the third quarter from a year earlier, though the numbers reveal a slowdown from prior periods.