Originations

CU Members Mortgage said it signed 22 new credit union clients in the second quarter.

There is much discussion about how housing prices have stabilized lately, implying the housing market is progressing forward into recovery mode. Econ 101 says differently.

InCharge Debt Solutions has partnered up with Freddie Mac to open a resource center that provides educational and information assistance to struggling homeowners with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages to help them stay in their homes.

While the basic mortgage jobs picture has been flat, there are variations within it. Mortgage banking firms have lost 6,000 jobs, while mortgage brokerages have gained 6,000 jobs.

The economy is in the tank and thousands of people are out of work. In the U.S., given the slow recovery, the housing crisis continues.

The marketing world has lost another great as Barry Becher, one of the men behind the Ginsu knife commercials, passed away recently. Those famous (or depending on your point of view, infamous) television ads still contain a lesson for today's mortgage marketers.

Citigroup executives remain very guarded about the outlook for the housing market and they have no immediate plans to reduce their reserves for possible mortgage losses.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury’s yield matched its all-time low of 1.44%, putting more downward pressure on long-term mortgage rates.

Mary Armstrong, an unlicensed mortgage broker, Teresa Rose, a real estate agent, William Fountain, Armstrong’s assistant, and Justin Mensen were all charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to launder money.

Lenders Compliance Group is using Veros Real Estate Solutions' collateral integrity analysis product for prefunding and post-closing audits, early payment defaults, high default due diligence, as well as warehouse bank and portfolio reviews.

While Fitch believes that housing trends may see some stabilization, further weakening could result in a reversal in mortgage reserve releases or provisioning.

During a conference call one analyst suggested that Wells Fargo could originate $170 billion of single-family loans in the third quarter based on its conversion rate of applications-to-closed loans.

Warehouse providers tracked by National Mortgage News increased their commitments from 5% to 200% in the first quarter except for B of A which has drastically cut back on that line of business, shifting it over to its Merrill Lynch affiliate.

Well, well, well (or maybe it should be Wells, Wells, Wells), it’s been quite a week for the little guy. Citigroup started it all off when National Mortgage News published a story about its ‘exclusionary list’ for correspondents. Then Wells Fargo came along and tossed its broker network into the ocean. Oh, and then Wells finished the week off by confirming that it’s killing most of its Realtor joint ventures (mortgage companies). We understand that the survivors include one in Virginia and at least one in Hawaii.

Most medical professionals suggest an annual checkup for their patients (speaking of patience, be patient to see where this line of reasoning takes us). Sales management and sales teams should employ the same checkup process.

Programs help qualified homeowners prevent foreclosure because of unemployment, underemployment, catastrophic medical costs, divorce and other life-changing events.

With servicing multiples as low as they’ve been over the last 18 months, the head of Edison, N.J.-based Real Estate Mortgage Network Inc. has decided to take advantage of the situation, growing its portfolio by starting a correspondent lending division. The new unit will operate out of its new Irvine, Calif. wholesale fulfillment center.

Wells Fargo & Co. has completed a review of its Realtor mortgage joint ventures and plans to slash the number of these operations down to roughly 14 by early 2013.

A recent Fannie Mae multifamily DUS REMIC that had two additional types of tranches not normally included in past deals brought in a slightly higher percentage of new investors than usual.

Impac Mortgage is entering the reverse mortgage lending business on a retail basis in the Southwest with plans to expand it later on.