Origination

With more than a third of mortgage originations in the first quarter of 2012 and a strategy targeting 40% down the road, Wells Fargo has benefited from solid if not always stellar execution in mortgage production and servicing as well as from the stumbles of key competitors, leaving it well out in front of the pack.

Amalgamated Bank has started a full-service home mortgage division that will originate loans, not only on one-to-four family properties, but also condominiums and co-ops.

CitiMortgage, a top 10 ranked correspondent buyer of mortgages, has an “exclusionary” list of lenders that it will no longer conduct business with.

Lenders facing legal challenges with respect to possible violations of the “ability to repay” standards in the qualified mortgage rule likely will face significant loan repurchase requests from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as rescissions in coverage by mortgage insurers.

Fidelity National Financial’s ServiceLink division acquired DRI Management Systems, while simultaneously rebranding DRI’s default servicing workflow platform.

CoreLogic and FICO jointly created a new consumer credit risk score that is expected to enable growth in the mortgage lending market.

If you’re wondering why there haven’t been more jumbo MBS deals this year just look at the math. Wells Fargo, for instance, has an average cost of funds of 50 basis points.

First Tennessee Bank, Memphis, ended June with $2.7 billion of warehouse lending commitments on its books, an all-time high for the bank.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released its Loan Estimate form, which will eventually replace the good faith-estimate disclosure that borrowers receive three days after applying for a mortgage.

While consistency in branding your business and yourself is important, every so often that image could use a makeover. Your image has become out of style or out of date and people no longer respond.