Originations

The parting words of advice from one mortgage company executive, when asked about risk management, are to handle what he sees as the industry's expanded definition of this term by prioritizing loan quality and negotiating the cost of doing business whenever possible.

Bank of America issued just $7.9 billion of GNMA-backed MBS in the fourth quarter, a 71% plunge from the same period in 2010, according to new figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

If the U.S. economy needs more stimulus, resuming the Federal Reserve's mortgage-backed security purchase program "would probably be the best course of action," according to San Francisco Fed President John Williams.

On Feb. 16, a federal grand jury in Tucson returned a four count indictment against Rex Adams for Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, and False Statement to Influence a Financial Institution. At the time of the allegations raised in the indictment, Adams worked as a manager and loan officer for a mortgage broker in Tucson.

MetLife, New York originated $2.8 billion in agricultural mortgages last year, similar to what it did for 2010. This is on top of the $13 billion of commercial mortgages the life insurer originated in 2011.

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions told leaders of the Senate Banking Committee last week that the credit union industry, which is emerging as one of the most important players in the home loan market, is opposed to any mortgage reforms that would include elimination of the federal guarantee on loans sold on the secondary market currently through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

A mortgage rescue scheme conspirator has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a scam that affected at least 1,800 distressed homeowners in Phoenix.

PennyMac's Stanford L. Kurland has taken his share of criticism for helping to start the financial crisis. Now he is singing the praises of the government's latest attempt to fix it.

The National Association of Home Builders is exploring several ideas to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the secondary market, including one option that would give the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks the green light to securitize safe and sound conventional mortgages.

For Jeff Bell, the mortgage sales business is "easier than people make it. I think it is easy to know the market, the products and the competition. And you need to stay in touch with people and be honest with people."

My posting last Monday talked about gathering testimonials. Now I want you show you how to take those testimonials and utilize them in your business. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Negative equity and home price volatility have turned home price protection into a desirable yet unattainable option since protecting local housing markets from future devaluation is a challenge few insurers are willing to take on.

Michigan First CU, Lathrup Village, Mich., believes a growing number of credit-challenged borrowers are becoming good credit risks as they find new employment.

Here's a taste of a story appearing in the Monday edition of National Mortgage News: Brian Simon, CEO of Caliber Funding, in a recent interview predicted that his company could grow originations by threefold or fourfold in 2012.

Commercial real estate property owners might not have enough equity to refinance their properties as loans originated in 2007 become due throughout this year, warns one expert.

Aurora Loan Services, Denver, on Friday finally made it official - the troubled mortgage firm will no longer accept new loan registrations or locks, but will continue to service its current mortgage customers.

Last week's blog focused on clarifying the rules for producing branch managers. This week, we will discuss some creative compensation strategies. My preferred way of compensating producing branch managers is to set them up on a traditional profit and loss model, but treat the "profit" as a fixed amount of basis points per loan amount. In other words, all expenses remain deductible.

Online-only mortgage lender Quicken Loans said it has openings for 1,400 positions, primarily in its downtown Detroit office, including 300 technology jobs.

For the first time in more than 20 years, market research and analytics firm Mortech LLC did not conduct its annual lender survey and will not publish its annual mortgage industry trends and analytical report.

It's all about opportunity. Bank of America and Ally Financial recently tossed their correspondent lending divisions overboard. On the surface, some may look at these exits and shout, "The sky is falling." But the smart money knows that such departures spell opportunity.