Origination

The government's authority to issue new flood insurance policies expires at the end of May and the Federal Emergency Management Administration is urging Congress to pass a two-year extension of the National Flood Insurance Program.

Servicers are trying to determine the best strategy to reduce their portfolios of foreclosed/bank-owned properties, and renting them out to investors has become a popular play.

Just how healthy is the warehouse lending business today? The answer boils down to this: If you can't obtain a line of credit in the current market, then something must be wrong with your shop.

Randall Craig, a Toronto-based social media marketing expert, said marketing campaigns using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and the like, can be measured through the following four approaches.

Only time can tell which of the new loan solutions to the housing crisis will eventually succeed, but the search is still on. And at least one option introduced by Carpe Aquam Capital LLC of Marlton, N.J., has already earned the attention of policy makers and bankers alike.

Fueled by record revenue from mortgage banking, Washington Trust Bancorp. in Westerly, R.I., reported a record $8.4 million profit in the first quarter, an increase of 24% over the same period in 2011.

The mortgage industry will be saddled with high legal costs if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau provides a low bar for attorneys to challenge a lender’s adherence to the bureau’s “ability to repay” underwriting standards, according to the Consumer Mortgage Coalition, which represents some of the nation’s largest banks.

The Agoura Hills, Calif.-based risk mitigation firm has integrated Google Maps satellite images into FraudGuard to help lenders decrease loan processing time and quickly identify external issues with properties.

Getting REO to market quickly can help optimize its selling value, but rushing the presale valuation process too much could prove counterproductive, according Carl Streck, principal at MountainSeed Appraisal Management.

Sometimes I go in circles. I do marketing, my phone rings, I get busy, I stop marketing. I close loans, I realize my phone isn't ringing as much so I start all over. My new goal is to go in a straight line.