Originations

WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve’s new rules on loan officer compensation are expected to force mortgage companies to review the way they conduct business and compensate their employees.“It’s going to make a lot of people restructure their mortgage departments,” according to Elizabeth Deal, executive vice president of a mortgage subsidiary controlled by the Independent Community Bankers of America.

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WASHINGTON—New figures compiled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. show that depositories—savings banks included—originated $133.8 billion of one-to-four family loans using retail outlets in the second quarter, a 10% gain from the first quarter.It marks the first increase in bank originations since the second quarter of 2009 when retail originations hit $222.4 billion during a refinancing boom.

To ease would-be buyers' concerns about the impact of foreclosures that haven't followed the letter of the law (as in the Robo-gate scandal), a Cape Coral, Fla., realty firm is offering free independent title searches prior to closing.

Money talks, at least in Las Vegas, where there have been a total of 101 sales of $1 million homes or more through the third quarter, according to Luxury Homes of Las Vegas.

This has been a brutal year for most home builders. Even the giants of the business have suffered. But not all of them, according to Housing Intelligence, the independent research division of the Hanley Wood publishing company.

Private mortgage insurers had their best month of the year in September in terms of new business. Meanwhile new defaults outpaced cures for the fourth month in a row, but the ratio is much higher than the levels of 12 months ago, according to the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America.

The Government National Mortgage Association has finalized plans to increase the minimum net worth requirement on its MBS issuers to $2.5 million, from $1 million.

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Residential origination fees were a surprise blessing for New York Community Bancorp last quarter, while its bread-and-butter lending to New York apartment building owners was weak at best.

With more borrowers filing legal challenges to foreclosure, many mortgage lenders have turned their back on using MERSCORP Inc., which operates an electronic loan registry, to bring foreclosure actions. Some lenders are even returning to the old-fashioned, paper-based system of physically recording mortgage assignments at county recorder offices to ensure an unbroken chain of title.

The mortgage insurance division of Genworth Financial lost $152 million in the third quarter, much wider than the $116 million loss in last year's third quarter as problems with its Florida book-of-business continued to worsen.

The Federal Housing Administration has rescinded a cap on the combined loan amount of first and second liens that some in the industry considered unnecessarily restrictive.

Investors sold off their shares in Flagstar Bancorp in droves, driving the company's common stock price down by 46% on Thursday. This is in apparent reaction to the company pricing a 110 million share common stock offering at $1 per share.

Consumers have stopped using their homes as personal piggy banks with cash-out refinancings falling to their lowest level ever in the third quarter, according to figures compiled by Freddie Mac.

The PMI Group Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif., took the worst hit of the four mortgage and title insurance companies that reported third quarter earnings today, with a loss of $281 million.

The Federal Reserve Board should exercise constraint in requiring escrow accounts on certain loans, according to state banking regulators, because it could impair the ability of community banks to originate jumbo loans.

Roy DeLoach is packing it in as CEO of the struggling National Association of Mortgage Brokers, but will serve as the trade group's chief (outside) lobbyist on real estate finance issues.

Flagstar Bancorp Inc., Troy, Mich., had a loss of $23 million for the third quarter, much improved over the $298 million loss for the same period last year, aided by an increase in mortgage loan originations of 39% and a 60% increase in gain on sale income.

Yeah, times are tough and you get deals where you can get them, right? But, ask yourself this question—does it take any more work to get a $150,000 deal closed—than it takes to get a $450,000 deal closed?