Origination

JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo & Co. each reclassified more than $1 billion of mortgages as nonperforming loans at the urging of regulators in the first quarter - even though the loans are still in good shape, their executives said.

Citigroup, which exited the wholesale channel a few months back, funded $14.3 billion of home mortgages in the first quarter, a steep decline from the prior period.

It seems strange how fast things have changed for businesses in the online era. In 1998, a romantic comedy featuring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan called "You've Got Mail" had the message that big businesses like chain bookstores are putting their independently-owned competition out of business (a message that could have been about dozens of other industries as well).

With profit margins on harp 2.0 refinancings sky high, Wells Fargo & Co. has been putting caps on the loan-to-value ratio it will accept from third-party lenders.

Wells Fargo & Co. on Friday reiterated its plans to slash costs over the next year -- but executives gave themselves new wiggle room to rethink those cuts later.

Mortgage lenders issued $29.2 billion of GNMA MBS in March, up 5% from the prior month as securitizations of jumbo and multifamily loans surged, according to new figures released by the government.

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet. But would the Highlands of Olney development sell as well if it were peddled as "K2"? Probably not. And therein lies the reason most builders believe naming their subdivisions ranks right up there in importance with quality construction. They also find the chore to be a traumatic event that one builder once compared to "trying to name your firstborn"

The 'qualified mortgage' rule that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working on is expected to limit the kind of mortgages that lenders can make – but may also curb the size of the loans they originate as well.

Over the past two months National Mortgage News has been reporting on a mysterious warehouse lender called eWarehouseOne. Late this week we learned that Anthony J. Simich, a division vice president for the firm - and one of few employees there who actually returns phone calls and emails - resigned.

Rock-bottom home loan rates persisted through the first quarter, goosing origination volume and setting banks up to post another round of strong mortgage banking results.