Secondary

At least two bidders remain for the $30.8 billion of Freddie Mac mortgage servicing rights once owned by the now-defunct Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has hired a consulting firm to create contingency plans for taking Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank system into receivership.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to level the playing field so that all mortgage loan officers, whether they work at a bank or a mortgage brokerage, undergo similar training and meet the same standards for character, fitness and financial responsibility.

Mortgage brokers and bankers have been waiting anxiously for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to issue its loan officer compensation rule. This is the rule where the agency convened a ‘Small Business’ panel in the spring to weigh in on compensation and lender education issues. Needless to say, few in the industry came away happy with what was told to them by the agency.

Competition is heating up in the mortgage market as more lenders increase their production capacity, according to the chief financial officer of Fifth Third Bancorp.

Tom Wind, the executive VP of residential and consumer lending at EverBank and an industry veteran whose mortgage banking experience goes back over 20 years, believes the jumbo loan market is in growth mode. Overall housing market improvements and loan limit changes have opened the door to more growth, he said. “The jumbo business out there is starting to rebuild.

SunTrust Banks reported mortgage production income of $103 million for the second quarter, compared with $63 million in 1Q12 and a mere $4 million in 2Q11.

Cardinal Financial Corp. earned $10.2 million in the second quarter, with its mortgage banking division contributing net income of $4.4 million.

Stonegate Mortgage Corp. has hired Flagstar veteran Paul Wyner as senior vice president/national sales manager in charge of third-party residential lending.

First Horizon National in Memphis lost close to $125 million in the second quarter after it bought back scores of soured mortgage loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.