Origination

Home sales in California fell 13.7% in February from a year earlier, the seventh monthly decline in a row, as housing inventory increased, according to the California Association of Realtors.

The best thing to happen to the business over the last three decades was the development of the secondary agencies' automated underwriting engines. The worst? There are several strong contenders….

The vendor thinks it can meet lenders' needs by creating a system which manages the various tasks that must be completed to move a loan through the origination pipeline.

A court hearing this week could force housing officials to clarify a longstanding gray area in the reverse mortgage business: When the borrower dies, can the lender foreclose on a surviving spouse not named in the loan?

Housing starts were little changed in February after declining less than previously estimated a month earlier, indicating the homebuilding industry is stabilizing after bad winter weather curbed construction.

Barry Habib sees a window for mortgage originators to capitalize on low (and possibly even lower) interest rates and a shortage of homes.

The bill released by Sens. Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo would create a reinsurance fund to recoup losses on securities, establish a common securitization platform for the secondary mortgage market and open access to the secondary market for smaller lenders through a cooperative.

Mountain America Credit Union closed its first e-signed FHA mortgages, among the very first paperless loans executed under a policy enacted in January.

• Paperless FHA
• Servicing Roundtable
• Lender Outsourcing
• Appraisal Regulations

For lenders who use the administrative exemption or who have exempt branch managers, the new regulations will impact the base salary needed to maintain exempt status once regulations develop.