Origination

In February and January of this year mortgage firms hired 5,500 workers. That’s good news for the industry and shows that residential finance is on the rise again after several rough years of dealing with record delinquencies, sagging home values, tougher regulations, and the general perception that “renting is good.”

Mortgage companies added 2,800 full-time employees to their payrolls in March after hiring 2,700 in February, according to government figures released Friday morning.

When MetLife Bank NA jettisoned its mortgage subsidiary back in January most of the firm’s loan officers moved to Wells Fargo and other banks. For the LOs affected, moving to a nonbank lender wasn’t a practical option.

When MetLife Bank NA jettisoned its mortgage subsidiary back in January most of the firm’s loan officers moved to Wells Fargo and other banks. For the LOs affected, moving to a nonbank lender wasn’t a practical option.

Mark Goldhaber, the government affairs chief for Genworth Financial, announced his retirement from the firm after 24 years, and immediately launched a new consulting business, Goldhaber Policy Services.

On top of the regulations imposed by the CFPB, by Aug. 13, all mortgage banks will need to become compliant with Federal Anti-Money Laundering ("AML") regulations. "FinCEN," the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, created through the Patriot Act in response to the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks, requires lenders (including non-depository institutions) to comply with AML regulations.

Nonbank trade groups are calling on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to narrow the definitions it will use to determine which nonbanks will be subject to federal supervision.

Davis Henderson, the Canadian technology company that acquired online point of sale vendor Mortgagebot for a staggering $232 million last year, completed the acquisition of loan origination system vendor Avista Solutions for $40 million, the company announced Thursday.

Going paperless makes sense because it cuts costs and grows business.

Ellie Mae nearly doubled its revenue in the first quarter of 2012, turning net income of $3.6 million, compared to a net loss of $800,000 in the year-over-year quarter.