Origination

The biggest issue facing the mortgage business this year is regulation. Nobody likes it. Most people would see some as inevitable. What would be too much?

Wells Fargo is not only the country's largest originator of home loans. It's also the largest servicer of commercial and multi-family mortgages.

Wholesale lending is back! OK, not exactly. Citigroup announced its exit from the channel this past week and some trade journals - not knowing their stuff - seemed to think it was the biggest story since the Hindenburg disaster. Wholesale only accounted for 9% of Citi's production.

Federal banking agencies seem to be making little progress in promulgating regulations that will set the ground rules for a revival of the private label MBS market.

Barbara Desoer, the president of Bank of America's home loans division who was once considered a possible successor to former Chief Executive Ken Lewis, will retire at the end of February, B of A said Friday.

Less than 5% of originations backed by the Rural Housing Service last year were refinancings, but the agency is trying to change all that with a new streamline refi pilot program, unveiled this week by the White House.

Genworth Financial posted earnings of $107 million in the fourth quarter - compared to a $161 million loss a year ago - but its mortgage insurance division continued to struggle.

It's good news for the nation (and a certain president in particular) that the U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January. (Of course, when the numbers get revised next month...) And I'm sure the president's GOP revivals have already tried to deflate the job gains, noting that the decline in unemployment to 8.3% is tied to so many people leaving the workforce.

The housing market is going through changes that challenge middle-market companies including mortgage servicers. It has been proven in past economic downturns that companies that invest heavily in the right kinds of marketing and strategic planning are the ones that will capitalize the most on the situation and likely thrive when the market turns around.

The mortgage industry needs to push back-hard. For the better part of the last four years, politicians have been pounding on banks and lenders as the source of all that ails our economy. The most recent example was the State of the Union address, where still more regulation, oversight and government involvement with lending practices were promised.