Origination

While U.S. lawmakers wrestle with the tax advantages of homeownership, their counterparts in France are doing something about it.

The new chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association called on members of the industry's widely diverse factions to pull together or face the prospect that others will control their destiny.

John Robbins, the ageless former chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, is partnering with holding company Bexil Corp. to develop Bexil American Mortgage, a new residential lender that will focus on both retail and wholesale channels.

About 1,500 protesters are expected to picket the Mortgage Banker Association's annual convention in Chicago Monday afternoon as part of the growing anti-Wall Street movement.

A growing number of community banks are entering the warehouse lending arena for two obvious reasons: the returns are good and it appears the risks are low, at least for now. In general, underwriting standards are so tight that the probability of a loan default is the smallest it's been in decades.

To the naked eye, it looks as if Bank of America is shrinking its Home Loans division. In mid-September, rumors emerged that its retreat from warehouse lending is imminent, and perhaps absolute, as part of a multiphased austerity program laser focused on mortgage lending.

The GSE regulator told House Democrats at a closed door meeting that the Federal Housing Finance Agency is committed to making meaningful changes to a special program that will allow more borrowers with high LTV loans to refinance at lower mortgage rates.

Helios AMC, a commercial real estate special servicer which is sponsored by Ranieri Partners, has acquired real estate advisory firm The Situs Companies. The combined entity will retain the Situs name. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Fitch Ratings found delinquencies on loans underlying commercial mortgage-backed securities declined for the second month in a row in September as its numbers bore out what the company has identified as a trend toward improvement in the hotel sector.

I was recently working with one of my executive coaching clients, the president of a professional services firm. We had an enlightening coaching conversation that revolved around whether wisdom can be developed or learned.