Origination

Alan Todd plans to join Bank of America Merrill Lynch in August as head of U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities research.

For Diane Clark, her relationship with her clients comes down to one statement: “I want to be their trusted advisor. I always want to be thought of as somebody that has integrity, is honest and is somebody they can trust.

Surviving mortgage originators are developing strategies to cope with the fact that many industry experts are predicting that for the first time in 14 years, there will be less than $1 trillion in loan volume.

Republicans are strongly considering using a rare procedural move to prevent President Obama from making a recess appointment to install a director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Six years ago, when the market was flying down the road in overdrive, economist Mark Zandi drew the ire of homebuilders when he predicted housing was about to drive off a cliff. Now, Zandi's singing a different tune. And the builders love it.

Fannie Mae reported a $6.5 billion loss for the first quarter, after posting an operating profit of $73 million in the prior period.

NexBank, Dallas, is starting a correspondent lending program aimed at community banks and mortgage brokers. The company already has a wholesale channel (started in 2008) and last year entered the warehouse lending business.

Improved liquidity in the warehouse lending market is leading to price competition and reductions in credit standards, according to panelists speaking at an industry conference in New York this week.

The return to operating profitability at Radian Group should be in 2012 but for rival PMI, it should take longer to return to profitability because it continues to operate with a thinner capital cushion than its competitors, separate reports from FBR Capital Markets analyst Steve Stelmach declare.

CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif., reported net income of $23 million for the first quarter, which included a $25 million pretax gain on the sale of DealerTrack Holdings common stock and a $14 million increase to its tax provision related to a deferred-tax asset reduction because of the Dorado acquisition.