Origination

Ellie Mae created a new chief information officer position and hired David Robbins to fill the new role, the mortgage technology vendor announced.

There has been a relative increase in builder debt issuance this week and more may be on the way.

President Obama is urging Congress to pass a bank tax, funneling the money over to the Federal Housing Administration which will then refinance non-GSE borrowers who are under water on their loans.

December was the best month of 2011 in terms of primary new mortgage insurance written by the current membership of the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America.

Is the Obama Administration starting to listen to the mortgage industry - and in a good way? Well, don't throw a party quite yet, but two major mortgage developments this week suggest that perhaps the White House is starting to understand that you can't have a housing recovery without the cooperation of lenders and servicers that make the loans.

To facilitate "streamline" refinancings, the Federal Housing Administration will no longer rank lenders based on the performance of those loans in its Neighborhood Watch system.

Mortgage application volume fell by 2.9% for the week ended Jan. 27 from the previous week, even though mortgage interest rates declined for fixed-rate mortgages, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The two largest remaining private mortgage insurers took actions that at least give them a chance at a future, while for a third company its dim outlook for staying in this business got even darker.

Larry King has made a career (and millions of dollars) interviewing people. You can do the same thing-by interviewing experts, authors, speakers, and real estate agents from different parts of the country-yes, even agents in your lending area.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau still has to make a key decision before it can finalize a regulation that will determine what kind of loans -- and features -- mortgage bankers can offer consumers without facing potential legal liability of up to $100,000 per unit.