Origination

JPMorgan Chase reported strong mortgage results for the first quarter, noting that residential applications rose 33% from the year ago period with chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon declaring that housing is "very close" to a bottom.

The risk for mortgage fraud in the areas of employment and income rose last year, according to Interthinx.

Many people call the mechanics of the selling process many things—a presentation, a sales script, prepared notes or whatever - "A rose by any other name..." I like to refer to the fact that the process of selling requires sales people to make presentations. It is crucial to recognize that it takes multiple presentations for most sales people to achieve effective results.

Mortgage Technology is pleased to begin accepting nominations for the 2012 Top 50 Service Providers. The nomination form is available on MT’s website. The final deadline for nominations will be 6 p.m. EDT Friday, May 4, 2012.

The need for sensible subprime residential lending (hard money, call it what you may) has never been greater, but I would venture that less than $1 billion of these loans were originated last year, and maybe that's a generous estimate. I know of a few mortgage executives who have tried in vain to raise private equity money but with no luck.

Mortgage rates on 30-year loans fell for the third consecutive week, easing fears that refinancings could slow dramatically.

The government controlled Ally Financial Thursday morning filed an amended S-1 statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying it hopes to sell $100 million worth of common stock to the general public.

I just read the latest National Association of Realtors report saying that in 2011, 37% of all homebuyers were first timers. That's down from 2010 but it's still one-third of the home buying market.

Errors in good-faith estimates can be costly for the lender because of the need to make payments when there are tolerance violations. Meanwhile, consumers are looking for the lowest costs possible when closing their loans. There is now a partnership that will bring both of those things to the table for lenders.

CoreLogic, once the largest shareholder of Ellie Mae’s stock, sold its stake in the loan origination system vendor.