Originations

Flagstar Bank FSB, a top 15 ranked residential lender, Wednesday afternoon acknowledged that it received a delisting warning from the New York Stock Exchange because of its low share price.

Real Estate Mortgage Network Inc., River Edge, N.J., has created an online consumer-direct mortgage lending operation under the name FinanceMyHome.com.

Alleviating fears in some corners of the reverse mortgage community, the Federal Housing Administration has put it in writing that the loan limit and maximum claim amount for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program will remain unchanged come Oct. 1.

Freddie Mac's third "K" multifamily mortgage deal backed by seven-year mortgages is in the works this week.

One Reverse Mortgage, Detroit, is the sponsor for the 3in4 Need More "Get Your Life Back" contest. The contest is for those who care for an aging parent or loved one and the winner receives week's worth of pampering, an in-home safety assessment, one-on-one care giving coaching and technology to support a range of care giving needs.

For the second week in a row, stock market volatility impacted the home purchase market, driving applications for these loans to their lowest level since December 1996 and resulting in the total number of applications received to fall by 2.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended Aug. 19, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

It will take less time than previously expected for the housing market to clear the supply of distressed homes on the market, but that so-called shadow inventory will still be around for nearly four years, Standard & Poor's Rating Services said this week.

Federal banking regulators have long kept state officials at arm's length, but the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is forging a close relationship with state attorneys general to enforce consumer-banking laws.

Demand for multifamily loans is pushing the Federal Housing Administration into the big leagues with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Commercial banks funded $106 billion of retail home mortgages in 2Q, a 21% decline from the prior period, according to new figures released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Gleacher & Co., which is exiting the equities business after a strategic review, is concentrating instead on efforts that include a continuing build-out of its conforming/jumbo origination unit aimed at complementing its fixed income sales and trading platform.

The Obama administration is looking at creating a major refinancing program to help the housing market and give the economy a jolt, according to industry officials.

As the FDIC continues to investigate the failures of banks like IndyMac and WaMu mortgage brokers are coming under more scrutiny for the loans they originated for those wholesalers.

Origen Financial Inc., a Southfield, Mich.-based real estate investment trust that manages residual interests on manufactured housing loan securities, lost $3.5 million in the second quarter, a 15% improvement over the $4.1 million lost in the same period last year.

The No. 1 tool in the marketing bag of tricks is the use of incentives. Discounts, teaser rates and the like have been used very effectively in the cable television vs. telephone company wars. Now, one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders, Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Va., said its application volume is up over 50% since the start of August because of its incentives.

New home sales came in at an annualized rate of 298,000 units in July, a slight decline from the prior month, and a sign that ultra low mortgage rates are still not moving sales off their Depression levels.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is asking Ameritrust Mortgage Bankers Inc. to indemnify the Federal Housing Administration for possible future losses on 10 loans and reimburse the agency $183,327 for actual losses on at least one mortgage.

Second quarter residential production came in lower than expected, but the recent weeks long dive in mortgage rates – and a subsequent increase in refinance applications – should boost third quarter originations significantly, according to a new forecast from Fannie Mae.

The American Bankers Association is urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to clarify the term "proxy" in the loan officer compensation rule which the trade group says is causing "serious difficulties" for banks -- and conflicts with federal pension laws.

Arizona regulators said the primary mortgage insurance subsidiary of The PMI Group, Walnut Creek, Calif., had a $320 million deficit in its policyholder position and that was one of the factors which led to the decision to appoint a supervisor over the company's operations.