Originations

Navy Federal Credit Union unveiled two new ARM products: a 3/5 and 5/5 conforming (or jumbo) loan with start rates as low as 2.875% (2.943% APR).

Applications to refinance returned to highs last seen in February as a new round of record-low contract rates helped drive new business upward by 1.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending June 1.

City councils in New York, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh have passed ordinances this year requiring banks that hold city government deposits to provide detailed accounts of their lending practices in low-income communities.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is giving the 17 or so participants in its “small business” review panel five additional days to offer comments on the agency’s mortgage banking compensation proposals.

As head of the Mortgage Bankers Association, David H. Stevens spent the last year warning that excessive and ill-considered regulation could drag down the mortgage market. As the new head of SunTrust Mortgage, he'll have to face that regulation head-on.

Fannie Mae selected its general counsel, Timothy Mayopoulos, to be the GSE’s new president and chief executive, effective June 18.

On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed a bill that literally overhauled every corner of the financial industry—Dodd-Frank became an immediate game changer. Among other it contains an obscure provision that may fail to catch people's attention.

Property valuation compliance requirements are challenging lenders and servicers as much as home price fluctuations.

As Fannie Mae's July 1 deadline approaches, lenders and servicers must meet the GSE's requirement to satisfy homeowners association claims in order to preserve their first lien position.

An effort is gaining momentum to require banks to lend more in low-income neighborhoods in order to gain municipal business.

Loans included in commercial mortgage-backed securities had an 8.85% delinquency rate at the end of March, compared to 8.56% at yearend.

Applications for FHA-insured mortgages dropped by nearly 25% in April as the Federal Housing Administration implemented a premium hike announced in early March.

Stonegate Mortgage, which currently controls $2 billion of mortgage servicing rights, hopes to almost double that amount by yearend.

Some mortgage bankers are hoping for a Romney White House with the first order of business being the death of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Of course, even if Romney wins that doesn’t mean he will be able to jam a bill to kill the agency quickly through the House and Senate.

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Home prices—including distressed sales—increased in April for the second consecutive month (by 2.2%), the first time this has happened in almost two years.

The Government National Mortgage Association approved 35 issuer licenses last year and hopes to approve about the same this year.

Regulators issued guidance Monday on how they plan to coordinate supervision of banks and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets.

There are basically three things a salesperson must accomplish. First, the salesperson needs to find someone interested in his/her product or service. Next, the salesperson must convince the prospect/client to allow him/her to satisfy that interest and need. Last, but by no means least, the salesperson has to ensure that the transaction closes and funds. This third part to the equation is usually a good predictor of long-term success.

Marion Sandler, the co-chief executive at Golden West Financial in Oakland, Calif., for more than four decades, has died at the age of 81.