Origination

Insiders agree that certain types of solutions can serve as the best antidote to the still pervasive mortgage loan repurchase challenge.It is fueling a renewed drive to design tools that infuse all aspects of the mortgage production chain into coherent systems that are more efficient and transparent throughout the life of the loan.

Here's a fact you may not be aware of: properties governed by homeowner associations are the most rapidly growing form of housing in the U.S. today. Nearly 80% of new home construction is connected with an HOA or community association, according to the Community Associations Institute, the trade association representing HOAs.

A federal official Tuesday afternoon told a group of New York-based third-party origination professionals angered by new proposed compensation and pricing restrictions that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would listen to their concerns and could still possibly change the proposals in line with them.

Capital Trust, a real estate investment trust that invests in commercial real estate loans and securities, said it is exploring "strategic alternatives" for the New York-based company.

Builders broke ground on more single-family homes in April than expected and the government revised upward its estimate of construction activity in March and February.

Quicken Loans Mortgage Services, a unit of Quicken Loans that provides services to banks, credit unions and mortgage originators, said it is going to add more than 75 people by the end of the year.

The other day a mortgage recruiter made a blunt statement to us: “Wholesale lending is really hot right now.” Of course, given what’s happened to the mortgage business the past few years and all the blame being placed on brokers for crappy loan quality, such a statement might be taken with a grain of salt.

A 13% increase in refinance applications led to a 9.2% seasonally adjusted increase in overall application volume for the week ended May 11, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

When Residential Capital Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week it left behind a trail of unsecured creditors with claims totaling well over $1 billion, according to court documents.

John Robbins has created mortgage production platforms from scratch before, most notably with American Residential Mortgage and American Mortgage Network.