Origination

Synovus Financial Corp., Columbus, Ga., said it plans to cut 850 jobs and close 39 branches in 2011 as part of ongoing cost cuts at the depository.

Property valuation technology developer Veros said its VeroSELECT valuation management platform has been updated to interface with the Uniform Collateral Data Portal, the still-pending technology platform the government-sponsored enterprises will use to accept appraisal data on mortgages they purchase.

Credit Union Mortgage Association (CUMA) has closed its first HarmonyLoan, a mortgage that allows consumers to reset their interest rate with the click of a mouse, foregoing additional closing costs and lengthy processing.

Some yearend bank deals give new meaning to the abbreviations M&A and CRE: More Anxiety about Crummy Real Estate loans.

Just a few weeks before the start of this year’s Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention in Atlanta, Bank of America delivered the devastating news that it would be exiting the wholesale channel. Yet, our panel of experts gathered during the show was relatively bullish on the future of the third party origination business. They believe there is a need for the mortgage broker to fill a niche in the market that the banks will not or cannot meet.

Linda Smith-Ellsworth has been through quite a few business cycles, but remains a top producer through her dedication to her clients.If you have been a part of the mortgage business since 1969, you have seen more than a few up and down cycles. For Linda Smith-Ellsworth, who was on our top producers list for 2009 at No. 21, 2010 has been a year of rebuilding.

WASHINGTON—The National Community Reinvestment Coalition alleges that lenders are blocking blue-collar workers and minorities from getting Federal Housing Administration loans by erecting high credit score thresholds. But the industry has a message for the nonprofit: “We’re just trying to protect ourselves.”

A number of commercial real estate experts are predicting 2011 will be a year of recovery for that business, continuing on trends that developed at the end of 2010.

Modifications of securitized commercial real estate loans more than doubled in 2010 from the previous year, according to a new report from Standard & Poor's.

Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke said he is dismayed by the persistence of high foreclosure rates, declining home values, and the futility of government efforts to engineer a recovery in the housing market.