Originations

The Federal Reserve Board has decided to make it easier for title companies and other affiliates of mortgage firms to operate under the agency's loan officer compensation rule which goes into effect April 1.

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and all of the Republicans on his panel are now demanding that the Federal Reserve Board withdraw its loan officer compensation rule which becomes effective in two weeks.

A Michigan jury this week ruled that Quicken Loans Inc., one of the nation's largest mortgage banking firms, does not have to pay nearly 350 plaintiffs over-time for extra hours they worked at the company.

At a time when many mortgage bankers are objecting to the idea of retaining 5% of the credit risk for mortgages they securitize, Union Bank in San Francisco says it has no problem with risk retention.

The average Freddie Mac survey rate for a 30-year mortgage dropped 12 basis points to 4.76% during the week ending March 17 in response to downward pressure on bond yields stemming from the Japanese crisis.

While regulators are moving toward requiring high downpayments for the majority of home buyers, there are still ways to aid first time buyers, according to Obama administration officials.

It’s been more than three months since Move Inc. launched its mortgage origination website Mortgagematch.com and already the site has seen some early success in attracting visitors. But it also has it has renewed debate about the role of online mortgage “shopping” tools that are both lead generators and lending portals.

Every successful loan officer has a "to do" list. But, consider what your life and your income would be like if you write down the things you will stop doing, the stuff that wastes your time and costs you money.

Servicer and technology provider Reverse Mortgage Solutions Inc. is expanding into correspondent and retail originations in its niche with hires that include a team that formerly worked for Bank of America before its exit from the business, a spokesman told this publication.

While change at the top of the Mortgage Bankers Association was expected eventually, the trade group's board didn't think it would happen this quickly.

Meredian Financial Corp., a Costa Mesa, Calif.-based mortgage lender and broker, is being sued by Minnesota attorney general Lori Swanson for charging state homeowners thousands of dollars to refinance their mortgages without actually providing consumers the promised services.

Home builders broke ground last month on the fewest homes in nearly two years and cut their requests for permits to start new projects to a five-decade low.

Despite monthly improvements in 2011, year-over-year new home sales are down 9%, according to the John Burns Real Estate Consulting monthly survey.

WASHINGTON—The latest Federal Housing Administration data shows the mortgage insurer had endorsed nearly 100 of the new HECM Savers by the end of December. That appears to be a slow three-month start for the HECM Saver, which some view as the future of the reverse mortgage industry. But industry officials insist the FHA monthly reports are a lagging indicator of actual originations.

Our industry is going thru some major changes. Just when you thought you had seen it all we are now faced with some additional changes related to loan officer compensation. To me it feels as if we have been kicked, beaten up and are now being spit on while we are lying on the ground.

Goldman Sachs is once again entertaining bids on its subprime servicing operation, Litton Loan Servicing, Houston, and has approached a handful of bidders about making an offer, according to industry officials.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is taking an enforcement action against what it calls a "large" lender that forced title agents to cover certain settlement costs that exceeded the amounts initially disclosed on the good faith estimate form.

If the benchmark 10-year Treasury is any indication, mortgage rates may be heading down again.

Eighteen short months ago it appeared that warehouse credit was drying up with nonbanks paying dearly for lines—if they could even find one.

A new estimate by the Treasury Department shows the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will cost taxpayers an additional $73 billion through 2021.