Originations

David Zugheri, founder of Houston-based Envoy Mortgage discusses B of A’s exit from correspondent mortgage lending.

Washington's inability to come to grips with the nation's debt issues and other economic woes is costing jobs and holding back the economy, the president of the Mortgage Bankers Association charged in a speech Tuesday

A House Financial Services subcommittee is slated to mark up an FHA reform bill Tuesday that establishes a minimum annual mortgage insurance premium and extends the agency's indemnification requirements to all approved lenders.

Sometimes opening an appraisal report can feel like being on a bad 70s game show. Door #1 opens to reveal your prize and it's a car, not a coffee cup. Everything's great for two seconds. Then you learn that the car may have a problem that could render it worthless. Then again, it may not. What do you do? Cut your losses and choose Door #2, or invest more time and bank on Door #1?

The White House's restructuring of the U.S. auto industry appears to have worked - for now. If you saw yesterday's Super Bowl you witnessed an awe inspiring commercial from Chrysler featuring everyone's favorite 'punk' killer Harry Callahan, a.k.a. Walt Kowalski, a.k.a. Clint Eastwood.

In the current mortgage origination paradigm, detail is very important. Documentation and organization is what helps to get a loan file through the process. Bruce Salik of Prospect Mortgage states it is his organizational skills that help to set him apart from the competition.

Origination News is now collecting data for its annual survey of top loan producers, the results of which are scheduled to appear in the April issue.

The Obama Administration is not happy with HARP 2.0 program changes that the GSEs are implementing because it doesn't create enough competition between servicers to refinance borrowers with high LTV loans.

Driven by large increases in multifamily and industrial production, commercial loan originations rose 13% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The biggest issue facing the mortgage business this year is regulation. Nobody likes it. Most people would see some as inevitable. What would be too much?

Wells Fargo is not only the country's largest originator of home loans. It's also the largest servicer of commercial and multi-family mortgages.

Wholesale lending is back! OK, not exactly. Citigroup announced its exit from the channel this past week and some trade journals - not knowing their stuff - seemed to think it was the biggest story since the Hindenburg disaster. Wholesale only accounted for 9% of Citi's production.

Federal banking agencies seem to be making little progress in promulgating regulations that will set the ground rules for a revival of the private label MBS market.

Barbara Desoer, the president of Bank of America's home loans division who was once considered a possible successor to former Chief Executive Ken Lewis, will retire at the end of February, B of A said Friday.

Less than 5% of originations backed by the Rural Housing Service last year were refinancings, but the agency is trying to change all that with a new streamline refi pilot program, unveiled this week by the White House.

Genworth Financial posted earnings of $107 million in the fourth quarter - compared to a $161 million loss a year ago - but its mortgage insurance division continued to struggle.

It's good news for the nation (and a certain president in particular) that the U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January. (Of course, when the numbers get revised next month...) And I'm sure the president's GOP revivals have already tried to deflate the job gains, noting that the decline in unemployment to 8.3% is tied to so many people leaving the workforce.

The housing market is going through changes that challenge middle-market companies including mortgage servicers. It has been proven in past economic downturns that companies that invest heavily in the right kinds of marketing and strategic planning are the ones that will capitalize the most on the situation and likely thrive when the market turns around.

The mortgage industry needs to push back-hard. For the better part of the last four years, politicians have been pounding on banks and lenders as the source of all that ails our economy. The most recent example was the State of the Union address, where still more regulation, oversight and government involvement with lending practices were promised.

Mortgage companies have added at least 3,000 full-time employees to their payrolls since September -- to keep up with refinancings -- but held off on hiring in December, according to new government figures released Friday morning.