Originations

A report due next week on the Federal Housing Administration's financial health is expected to show that the agency's reserve fund has significantly improved over the past year.

Mel Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has set off a political tempest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau slapped Franklin Loan Corp. with a $730,000 fine on Thursday for allegedly incentivizing loan officers to guide customers into mortgages with higher interest rates.

CRM companies are rolling out products to help originators get in contact with and convert purchase leads.

Fannie Mae has entered into deals with JPMorgan Chase and other companies that transfer some of the credit-loss risk on mortgage-backed securities to investors. Not only do these deals reduce the danger that taxpayers could be forced to cover the GSEs losses, they may help make mortgages more affordable.

An originator census helps lenders understand the makeup of their origination teams, giving them insight into exactly how their team is working and how it stacks up against other teams in the industry.

For the fifth year in a row, Quicken Loans is rated No. 1 by consumers in terms of customer satisfaction, according to a J.D. Power survey.

Mortgage rates fell slightly compared to last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Community banks, on average, increased the size of their loan portfolios by 15% in the third quarter from a year earlier, though the numbers reveal a slowdown from prior periods.

Applications for new home purchases picked up in October, particularly for higher-priced properties, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Nonbank mortgage lender loanDepot has reached an agreement to acquire Mortgage Master.

The Rural Housing Service has said it will stop accepting new mortgage applications for one week in an effort to clear through its huge backlog.

A new multifamily investment product will for the first time allow Freddie Mac to buy and guarantee bonds backed by multifamily loans that were originally underwritten by private entities.

One-third of the nation's counties now have access to e-recording software, according to the Property Records Industry Association,

Bank of America, which paid more in legal settlements tied to the U.S. housing collapse than any other company, will avoid easing mortgage standards even as regulators seek to expand lending, Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan said.

The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case related to the use of disparate impact theory to charge organizations with discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.

Mortgage applications declined for the third consecutive week as fewer borrowers are choosing to refinance due to rising interest rates.

A renewed interest in subdivisions that stalled during the recession is likely the main reason the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission reported doubling of refunding volume in land-secured Mello-Roos bonds from fiscal year 2011-12 to 2012-13, according to government consultant Larry Kosmont.

Home values in major metro areas across the country continued to climb in October, according to Quicken Loans.

Reverse mortgage lenders welcome new protections that will screen out seniors who don't have the capacity to meet their obligations to pay property taxes and hazard insurance.