Originations

With all the attention to the new appraisal independence requirements in Section 129E of the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) that became effective in April of 2011, it can be easy to forget that more Dodd-Frank-based appraisal regulations are coming.

The latest round of never-before-seen lows in long-term mortgage rates and rate-indicative Treasury yields is bumping single-family residential loan volumes up another notch.

Capacity constraints in the mortgage banking industry have been holding down prepayment speeds despite the pickup in HARP refinancings in the first quarter.

Wil Armstrong, CEO of Blueberry Systems and chairman of Cherry Creek Mortgage, discusses how origination technology can help lenders' retained servicing strategies.

Are the instructive lessons of the past sufficiently integrated into current industry business models and strategic planning?

Orrstown Financial Services has been hit with a lawsuit alleging that it misled investors about its financial strength during its March 2010 stock offering.

The final wholesale tally is in for 2011and the nation’s top ranked wholesalers – in terms of volume – were: Provident Funding Associates ($19.8 billion), Wells Fargo ($18.1 billion), U.S. Bank Home Mortgage ($7.3 billion), MetLife Home Loans ($6.6 billion), and Fifth Third Mortgage ($6.1 billion).

Credit unions are working to protect their net interest margins without adding undue interest rate risk and CFOs expect their attention in the second half of the year will remain on squeezing what they can from investment portfolios.

Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Ratings will rate the $1.1 billion CMBS conduit deal backed by 61 fixed-rate commercial mortgage loans that are secured by 80 properties.

The Supreme Court in Freeman v. Quicken Loans No. 10-1042 ruled that federal regulators cannot use RESPA as a price-setting statute to stop lenders and other settlement service providers from charging excessive fees or even “unearned” or bogus fees for which no service is provided.

Although the U.S. soccer team lost to Brazil the other night we can thank the interest rate gods that investors, world wide, keep buying our Treasury bonds, driving prices up and bond yield downs. In the past I've joked about a 30-year fixed rate loan at 2% and I'm starting to believe that it could happen.

Amherst notes that lending standards in FHA/VA programs have remained “roughly constant” with more activity gravitating toward the two programs.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has served official notice that it is seeking comment on a range of issues—including the cost of potential litigation—and whether debt-to-income ratios should be used to determine a borrower’s “ability to repay” a residential loan.

The expanded Home Affordable Refinancing Program kicked into full speed during the first quarter with volumes doubling to 180,000 units compared to the prior period.

The latest round of weaker-than-expected U.S. employment numbers has driven the long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury yield to yet another record low.

So folks who recall that the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach county market was one of the hardest hit during the housing crash might question the sanity of starting a total of 6,300 more apartments so soon after the debacle.

With all the troubling news coming out of Washington for lenders these days, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a much-needed win to the industry last week. In Freeman v. Quicken Loans, the U.S. Supreme Court held that no cause of action existed under RESPA for a lender’s retention of a marked up fee.

If you’re looking for a patch of brightness in the national job numbers that came out Friday morning look at the mortgage brokerage employment line: broker firms added 2,300 loan officers and other staffers to their payrolls in April.

The Government National Mortgage Association approved 35 issuer licenses last year and hopes to approve about the same this year, according to agency president Ted Tozer.

Is the Government National Mortgage Association actually making progress in clearing its backlog of issuer applications? Answer: It all depends on who you ask.