Origination

The Mortgage Bankers Association is calling for a merger of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s mortgage bonds both as a “first step” in transitioning into a single security.

Mortgage originations will fall to their lowest level in five years in 2012, according to the latest forecast by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Genworth Financial—which has been losing market share to rivals Radian and United Guaranty—this week made the decision to reduce its mortgage insurance rates for borrowers with loan-to-value ratios equal to or less than 95%.

Lenders, for the first time, are facing the possibility of paying "actual damages" as a result of the “qualified mortgage” definition, an attorney warned attendees at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference in New York.

It’s been five years since Uncle Sam placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship and private investors all but abandoned the housing finance sector.

Insiders agree that certain types of solutions can serve as an antidote to the still pervasive mortgage loan repurchase challenge.

Mergers and partnerships are driving the special servicing market expansion as some servicers exit the market or sell their mortgage servicing rights and others get into the game through new alliances.

Nationstar, which recently sold stock to the public, is continuing negotiations to buy Residential Capital Corp./GMAC from Ally Financial through a prepackaged bankruptcy agreement.

The head of Ginnie Mae said the agency is trying to “triage” its application problem after finding out that over the past year it could approve less than half of all applicants—and that several of those who received a green light have yet to issue any securities.

Jay Sidhu has stepped down as the chairman of Atlantic Coast Financial because he believes the Jacksonville, Fla.-based lender was failing to “mitigate or significantly reduce risks facing the bank.”