Origination

Mortgage companies trimmed their payrolls in February by 1,600 full-time employees after laying off 10,100 loan officers and support staff in January.

As the industry copes with the “new normal,” mortgage lenders have three goals in mind when it comes to how they invest in information technology—compliance, managing economic cycles and expanding market share.

An appellate court in Washington late Thursday night granted a stay delaying implementation of the Federal Reserve's loan officer compensation rule until April 5.

The new loan officer compensation rules which takes effect today, April 1, have prompted the nation's two largest residential originators to overhaul how they pay their retail LOs by tying pay to sheer volume -- to a greater degree than ever before.

Industry veteran Tom Wind is stepping down as managing director of J.I. Kislak Mortgage, Miami Lakes, Fla., after just four months on the job, according to industry officials who have been briefed on the matter.

It’s no secret that mortgage technology providers Calyx Software and Ellie Mae are fierce competitors. It’s not uncommon for the two vendors to battle for the same lenders’ loan origination system business and the two companies have a long and complicated history, including a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Calyx that settled out of court by Ellie paying Calyx an “undisclosed sum” in late 2005.

Ally Financial Inc. has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering to sell common stock held by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The cure/default ratio for the nation's private mortgage insurers was 112.2% in February, the first time there has been more new cures than defaults since May 2010, according to data collected by the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America.

Two brokerage trade groups are expected to file an appeal in Washington by close of business Thursday, challenging a ruling that paved the way for the Federal Reserve Board to proceed with its loan officer compensation rule.

Average mortgage rates tracked by Freddie Mac’s survey all climbedslightly for the second week in a row but they remain below year-agolevels.