Originations

SEFCU, Albany, N.Y., the one-time State Employees FCU, said it has purchased Home Funding Finders, a mortgage banking company in nearby Latham. No price was disclosed.

Ranking Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee are encouraging the GSE regulator to continue pursuing claims against Wall Street firms that sold private-label MBS to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Low interest rates are provoking a refinancing boom, as they always do. The trouble is, it is such a quiet boom many people are not hearing it.

According to the Harvard Joint Center's latest report on housing, the number of households in America is expected to grow over the coming decade. The study projects an average growth of anywhere from 1.25 million to 1.5 million households per year, depending on immigration. This rate of growth in household formation would well outpace the last five years, when growth was less than 1 million households per year.

One aspect of the new good faith estimate disclosure that may be adding to closing costs is that it requires each closing cost component to be listed separately.

Most maturing loans already in special servicing are either delinquent or in foreclosure, according to the latest Fitch Ratings weekly newsletter. The rating agency says this trend is likely to continue into 2011, when 2,198 fixed-rate commercial mortgage loans (representing $26.5 billion) mature, with 17% already in special servicing.

Nothing But Awful Economic NewsUSA Today decided that this news was worthy of the headline in the Money Section today. My response?I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t matter. The economic news aside, you must figure out a way to make a living for you, your family and your business.

Of the 40,000 mortgage originators registered with the California Department of Real Estate, only 15,000 have completed the process to comply with the SAFE Act, Dale DiGennaro, president of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals told attendees at the group's meeting in Long Beach, Calif.

Residential home sales plummeted 30% in July from June, according to the RE/MAX National Housing Report, which provides an early reading of actual closings.

Chicago Bancorp has entered a strategic alliance with Millennium Bank, Des Plaines, Ill., in which the former will provide the latter's customers with mortgage services.

The new Federal Reserve rule on compensation means new rules for some mortgage originators, explained Ken Jones, vice president of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals.

The average 30-year fixed rate during the week ending Aug. 19 once again dropped to another low as it has continued to fall at a pace that could theoretically benefit even borrowers who got loans relatively recently.

Regulatory changes continue to largely drive automation for those on the production side, especially when it comes to documents, according to executives at DocMagic Inc., Carson, Calif., which does business as Document Systems Inc.

What do you do when a client tells you that they already been pre-approved by another lender and they are just shopping around for rates?

Every once in a while I get a slew of questions and comments centered on the family members of the seniors. And yes you guessed it, those questions and comments are about the kids.

Citizens Financial Group has named a former marketing and business development executive from SunTrust Mortgage Inc. as president of its Home Lending Solutions business.

Small banks and credit unions that rely on table funding to originate mortgages will be treated just like "mortgage brokers" under the new compensation rule issued by the Federal Reserve Board.

The refinance share of total application activity in the latest available Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly index report rose above 80% as it hit a high not seen since January 2009.

It's no secret that loan repurchase requests have been hammering the mortgage earnings statements of the nation's megalenders. From Bank of America to Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, all have suffered to varying degrees.

A recent Bank of America securitization that appears to be the first of its type raises the question of the value of investing in "scratch and dent" reverse mortgages, a specialized part of this government product-dominated market that a select investor base is said to have an appetite for.