Originations

Freddie Mac posted net "comprehensive" earnings $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter, but must turn around and pay the U.S. Treasury a $1.7 billion dividend, which means it ultimately lost money during the period.

Keeping up with the relatively recent estimate tolerance requirements from the last wave of GFE reform can still be a challenge, and with the next round expected to make those requirements even tighter, companies are likely to redouble their efforts to make sure they have an efficient and accurate means of producing documented data to back those estimates.

Recently my wife and I made the decision to consolidate our landline telephone service with our cable television and Internet service; the former came from a provider who does not offer the other two services in my market.

The common themes of control, consistency and transparency targeted by the various new regulations are creating an increased need for more loan channel-agnostic mortgage operations and systems, according to one expert.

More banks can be expected to finally begin dumping their non-performing loans this year, affording investors their first real chance at acquiring commercial real estate assets at bargain prices, according to a new report.

Old Republic International Corp.'s liquidity is "moderately tighter than previously expected," warned Fitch Ratings. This places greater uncertainty on ORI's ability to fund a potential debt acceleration.

Pressure from housing groups this week succeeded in thwarting a Senate amendment to a transportation bill that would have raised guarantee fees on Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loans to pay for Gulf Coast reclamation projects.

On the heels of the much-anticipated release of Apple’s third-generated iPad, an Austin, Texas-based mortgage technology upstart believes the impending launch of its iPad application will be the catalyst for tablet adoption by loan originators.

Suddenly, it appears that mortgage banking is hot. Okay, maybe hot is not the best word, but in the past few weeks two residential-related IPOs have hit the market: Nationstar Mortgage, and Home Loan Servicing Solutions. Both are specialty servicers (of sorts), though the latter is really just a shell corporation created to unlock MSR value for Ocwen Financial Corp. (Or maybe I'm being too critical?)

Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc.'s initial public offering opened this morning on the New York Stock Exchange at $13.58 per share, which is below its pricing late yesterday at $14 per share. At 11:20 am the stock was trading at $13.89 per share.

It may be the best of times to be a commercial, multifamily banker and the worst of times to be a servicer of securitized multifamily loans.

Moody's Investor Service this week went "negative" on the mortgage insurance industry, citing the sector's weak financials and calling its future "unclear."

The average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage set a new record low and the average 30-year FRM rate slid a bit to a point not far from its bottom in Freddie Mac's closely watched primary market survey.

Mortgage Marvel, which operates a site where consumers are able to shop for mortgage loans and rates while at the same time maintaining their privacy, has made some upgrades to its functionality.

I just read a blog that stopped me in my tracks. It was called, "What If I'm Not Awesome Enough?" I'm going to paraphrase here, but I wanted you to know that awesome is not the primary thing that homebuyers are looking for!

As servicing fraud schemes rise in which scammers are taking advantage of distressed borrowers, it is important for lenders to step up their efforts in detecting and preventing these false scams from taking place.

Sen. Chuck Grassley took the Justice Department to task Wednesday for its fair lending settlement with Countrywide Financial Corp., saying it will have minimal economic impact for affected borrowers.

Analysts and company executives are optimistic about Ellie Mae's 2012 prospects after the loan origination system vendor beat internal projections and Wall Street estimates for the fourth quarter and full year 2011.

Investors are lining up to get their hands on the thousands of government-held foreclosed homes, either to fix up the houses for resale or to hold the properties as rentals. But in a sort of if-you-can't-beat-them-join-them scenario, some builders are putting up brand-new houses as rentals.

Axia Home Loans, Bellevue, Wash., a $1 billion a year producer, has hired Keith Frachiseur as its new president.