Originations

ATLANTA—Headhunters are looking for any experienced, competent compliance person to help lenders deal with the new regulatory and business environment, an executive with Wolters Kluwer Financial Services said in an interview during the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention here.This is because the changes are putting an incredible compliance burden on the individual lender, said Edward Kramer, executive vice president, regulatory programs.

The most difficult thing about being a public relations professional is correcting a client’s perceptions about the field of PR itself.PR people are depicted in the movies as “spin doctors,” stretching the truth or lying outright to present their clients in the best possible light.That characterization couldn’t be further from the truth, and not because the portrayals are exaggerated and phony, but rather, because they proceed from the false assumption that a PR agent’s work is just about “selling” his client.

Tuesday's elections handed the Republicans control of the House of Representatives — and therefore the Financial Services Committee — which means GSE reform moves to the top of their agenda.

Mortgage application volume fell 5% last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, as refinance applications showed a decline for the third straight week, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

What Trepp LLC calls the first decline in commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquencies in over a year suggests that the industry is in a “choppy” market where there is no specific improvement in fundamentals market-wide but some select trophy loan resolutions are moving forward.

Flagstar Bank has closed its $400 million public offering, which included nearly 116 million shares of common stock priced at $1 per share. At the same time, the company said it is selling $474 million of non-performing first mortgage loans at a loss.

The number of vacant homes for sale declined 2.4% in the third quarter from the same period a year ago, according to the Census Bureau, but the housing market still suffers from a glut of 1.93 million vacant homes, which is exerting downward pressure on values.

It's important for seniors to plan for all the changes that come with retirement, but one personal finance expert says an area that deserves special attention is how their spending must change in order to keep them financially stable throughout their golden years. But among his suggestions for seniors to help manage spending is to consider getting a reverse mortgage.

Ally Financial Inc. on Wednesday reported a third-quarter profit of $269 million, its third consecutive quarter in the black, driven by strong results in both its mortgage banking, and automotive finance units.

Freddie Mac posted a $4.1 billion loss in the third quarter — after paying a $1.6 billion dividend to the U.S. Treasury — but also saw its overall "serious" delinquency rate fall to 3.8%.

The National League of Cities and its constituency group, Women in Municipal Government, are asking that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose creation is currently underway, have an office of elderly affairs. This is because seniors are being targeted for financial exploitation, they declared.

Investors had a strong positive reaction to The Radian Group's announcement of a third quarter profit of $112 million as they drove the company's stock price up nearly 15% on Tuesday morning.

The U.S. homeownership rate remained unchanged at 66.9% in the third quarter, but the foreclosure crisis is hitting minorities harder than whites, according to new government figures released Tuesday morning.

First Horizon National Corp. of Memphis late Monday disclosed that it has been subpoenaed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency because of six securitizations involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

State-licensed loan officers and mortgage brokers know they must pass criminal background checks, but beginning Monday, Nov. 1 they began facing yet another test: a state authorized check on their credit.

PHH Corp., the nation's seventh largest mortgage banking firm, posted an $8 million loss in the third quarter, after marking down the fair value of its mortgage servicing portfolio by $191 million.

During my free time before the Mortgage Bankers Association convention last week in Atlanta, I had the opportunity to visit the new World of Coca Cola, a museum that is a tribute to the company's mostly successful marketing campaigns.

WASHINGTON—The government has tried HAMP and various other programs to deal with the housing crisis without much success. But there is one “easy” solution that the Obama administration hasn’t tried yet, according one lender: extending the $729,750 conforming loan limit across the entire nation to all MSAs.

Mortgage bankers originated $319 billion of Federal Housing Administration-backed single-family loans in fiscal 2010, a 12% decline from the previous record year.

There has been another five basis point decline in the Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index between August and September, but the index is still higher than its record low set 11 months ago.