Origination

BOK Financial Mortgage, a part of the Tulsa-based Bank of Oklahoma group, has been using an unusual correspondent lending strategy that has been gaining traction as bigger players have left or pulled back from the business.

Late last week, I talked to one mortgage analyst who said some firms he’s looked at earned more money in the first quarter than they did all of last year. That’s great news for the mortgage industry, but of course this one anecdote does not apply to all.

MGIC Investment Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage insurer in terms of policies-in-force, posted a $20 million loss for the first quarter, an improvement over the $34 million it dropped in the year-ago period.

Raj Date, the deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said the agency wants to avoid creating "disincentives" for mortgage lenders and banks as part of the qualified mortgage rule.

It's nice to know there's one sector of the mortgage business that's hot. In fact, it may be overheating (does anyone want to say bubble?). It's the agricultural mortgage sector. Now, before you dismiss this niche as insignificant, read this.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau poked its thumb in the eye of residential loan officers originating mortgages for depositories.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shut the door on states issuing transitional licenses to bank loan officers who seek work for an independent mortgage banking or brokerage shop.

In the recently released CFPB enforcement guide, the newly formed agency clearly announced that it expected lenders to begin to institutionalize compliance to enhance monitoring, training and avoidance of errors and complaints. Federal agencies are already beginning to internalize this self-policing perspective.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development indefinitely debarred three Florida loan officers and a Pittsburgh title agent following their criminal convictions for defrauding elderly borrowers, mortgage lenders and the Federal Housing Administration.

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee have made it clear they believe the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is already too big and needs to be cut down to size.