Originations

I was in line at the local chain bookstore (not the one going out of business) with several books. The counter guy started to process the transaction and asked the question I heard him pose to the three people I watched check out in front of me.

A House Financial Services subcommittee Wednesday approved a bill that creates a five-member commission to steer the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau instead of a single director.

Government controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac posted its first true net profit in almost two years, earning $676 million in the first quarter — even after paying the U.S. Treasury a $1.6 billion dividend on the preferred stock it owns.

It is generally accepted that Fannie Mac, Freddie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration have become the most important sources of multifamily financing.

Genworth Financial earned $82 million in the first quarter, a 54% drop from the year ago, as continued losses at its mortgage insurance unit held back the company’s financial recovery.

PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., earned $49 million in the first quarter, up from $8 million in the same period last year, driven in part by a 77% increase in mortgage closings and a $68 million pre-tax gain on the sale of 50.1% of its appraisal business to CoreLogic.

After three consecutive months where the national commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rate was leveling off, the latest report from Trepp signaled the recovery is nowhere in sight.

Residential Finance Corp., Columbus, Ohio, has hired Daniel Jacobs, former 1st Metropolitan CEO, to head up its new retail branching operation, ProLending Network.

Warehouse lenders speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference in New York were bullish regarding their respective companies funding of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages.

One of the biggest questions Sue and I get from our subscribers at www.reversemortgagesuccess.com is “Please tell us what your 'best' reverse mortgage marketing strategy is?” or “If you could only do one thing to get new business what would it be?”

CRIF, the Italian financial services provider, this week continued its buying spree of credit union lending software companies with the acquisition of Cypress Software Systems.

Thanks to lower interest rates, mortgage applications increased 4% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending April 29, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Investigators keep finding skeletons in the closets of companies that participated in the mortgage boom. In a case the government filed against Deutsche Bank AG on Tuesday, the “closet” part is literally true.

Pacific Union Financial LLC, Walnut Creek, Calif., has launched a new correspondent division to purchase already funded residential loans from mortgage bankers, community banks, and credit unions.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is projecting a 28% jump in purchase money originations in 2011. And even though refi originations are expected to fall off the cliff, the MBA is still looking for a $1 trillion year.

The surge in refinancing, now down to a virtual trickle, was officially pronounced dead and gone at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual secondary market conference in New York.

The chief congressional proponent of the risk retention rule says federal regulators have gone too high in setting a 20% downpayment requirement on single-family loans that meet the “qualified residential mortgage” test.

The loan officer compensation rule, among other regulatory changes, is beating down the entrepreneurial spirit of the loan originator, but at the same time, LOs need to understand these changes and put them into their business plans, said a past president of the Arizona Mortgage Lenders Association.

Typically businesses and individuals set their goals at New Years, for any number of reasons. First, it is traditional (the New Year's resolution). But also for most companies and sales people, their fiscal year is the same as the calendar year and so they create their business plan to fit that time frame.

The Community Reinvestment Act has been a durable instrument for expanding lending in the United States. The question now is, is it exportable to other countries?