Mortgage professional hiring and new job appointments for the week ending April 10.

The chance to earn higher compensation and the ability to offer more mortgage products is causing a growing number of loan officers to go out on their own.

Mortgage professional hiring and new job appointments for the week ending April 3.

Pretax profits fell by 28.4 basis points in the fourth quarter for independent mortgage bankers due to rising operating expenses, according to accounting firm Richey May's quarterly trend report.

Creating a partnership with referral sources by being dependable, honest and knowledgeable will turn a floundering business into a success.

The mortgage application and closing process is once again facing an overhaul. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will soon require lenders to provide customers with integrated disclosure forms, which aim to clarify costs associated with real estate transactions. As with any new process, the switch poses a number of challenges for lenders — and could even put business at risk during implementation. Here are five pitfalls to look out for in the process.

Mortgage professional hiring and new job appointments for the week ending March 27.

The concept that lenders need to have systems in place to affirmatively detect and redress problems before consumers are affected is very real and lenders should ensure their systems are up to the task.

Lenders must carefully ensure that all potential motivations for advice, recommendations, and referrals are provided to borrowers, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has positioned itself to utilize Unfair Deceptive or Abusive Acts Practices claims as an enforcement tool.

When charging fees to borrowers with weaker credit histories, lenders should take great care to describe everything correctly and ensure such fees are not excessive.

Intense scrutiny is rarely focused on condemnation clauses in security instruments, but they will set the tone for potentially drawn out litigation as the parties work through the complexities specific to condemnation.

Many ask whether there is any such thing as a “safe” marketing services agreement for mortgages. The answer, unequivocally, is yes.

Mortgage professional hiring and new job appointments for the week ending Jan. 30.

Freedom Mortgage will hire 500 additional employees to accommodate an anticipated increase in Federal Housing Administration refinance and purchase transactions.

Lenders should ensure they are not paying for referrals prohibited by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act when they purchase these from another company. Here's one way they can.

Mortgage lenders are hoping the new Republican-controlled Congress will be more receptive to making changes to the "qualified mortgage" rule.

Will you make changes to the way you do business to get what you want, or have you grown complacent with what you have?

Mortgage employment slowly edged up this year, but will it continue to track the recent hiring boom in the national economy? Some industry observers believe so.

Here are some easy ways to introduce your loan origination group to your clients.

Increased fixed costs and poor business intelligence are hurting independent mortgage bankers' bottom lines.