Originations

The HAWK program could help participating lenders differentiate themselves from the flock. But the proposed mortgage insurance premium discounts for borrowers who receive counseling are too modest, industry members say.

Easier credit comes with relief from charge-offs on old building loans.

Mortgage applications fell last week as rising borrowing costs led to less purchases and refinancing.

Several federal agencies and 49 state attorneys general struck a $968 million settlement Tuesday with SunTrust Mortgage over charges that it violated laws governing mortgage origination, servicing and foreclosures.

Julian Castro pledged to recapitalize the FHA insurance fund and work with Congress on GSE reform but equivocated when a Senator asked about cities condemning underwater mortgages.

The program was previously available to first-time homebuyers only.

When the qualified mortgage rule took effect in January, many predicted the rule would stifle lending to low-income and minority borrowers. But a credit crunch never materialized, thanks to exemptions given to federal mortgage agencies.

Builders broke ground on 1 million homes in May, indicating the industry is picking up this quarter after a weather-induced slump to start the year.

Smaller banks face a tricky choice with jumbo loans: hold them and face rate risk, or sell them to a bigger bank and risk losing a customer. An unusual arrangement between the FHLB and a REIT could offer community banks a better route.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recognized a distinction in terms of the treatment of persons working for a company based upon their classification as employees or contractors.

Reasons for the lackluster performance range from the severe winter to rising home prices (which put mortgage payments out of reach for some buyers) to tight credit to stagnating incomes.

Confidence among homebuilders rose in June by the most in almost a year, a sign the residential real estate market is stabilizing after reeling from severe winter weather earlier this year.

The Bank of New York Mellon is planning to enter the reverse mortgage business.

Applications for mortgages to purchase new homes decreased 8% in May compared to April, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Friday.

Among the revelations: A large number of single-family homes built in 2013 weren't sold that year; single-family units, surprisingly, kept getting bigger; cash sales remain higher than before the recession.

The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank reaches agreement with Redwood Trust so member institutions can sell loans to the private-label issuer.

An insurer tied to Apollo Global Management bought a stake in AmeriHome Mortgage Co., a lender taken over this year by a group including former Countrywide Financial Corp. executives, according to three people with knowledge of the investment.

Fidelity National Financial and First American Financial are pitching lenders additional technologies and services that complement their core title businesses. CoreLogic, by contrast, is diversifying its clientele beyond mortgages.

The CFPB believes that the answer to all of these problems lies in taking the paper completely out of the transaction and closing electronically.

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