Originations

Productivity is reduced when loan officers, processors and underwriters ask borrowers for the same data.

As the market slows for post-downturn, private-label, residential mortgage-backed securities—known as RMBS 2.0—an industry group thinks it's time to start preparing for version 3.0.

Confidence among homebuilders dropped in May to the lowest level in a year, showing the residential real estate market may be slow to recover after an unusually harsh winter.

Some words of advice to pass on to your referral sources and clients about the post-underwriting checks now in place.

So, every week I write a column in this space, and often I get some interesting feedback.

Homeowners who took advantage of the refinancing boom aren't buying new houses, because it would mean taking on higher-rate loans. That's a problem for banks already reporting huge declines in mortgage revenue.

Mortgage applications increased during the week ending May 9, driven by a jump in requests for refinancings, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Clarifying if a gift card giveaway on my business Facebook page is a violation of the anti-kickback section of RESPA.

Carrington Mortgage Services has opened its fifth retail lending branch in Virginia as part of its effort to originate more loans to borrowers with lower credit scores.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's 10-year plan to build and preserve affordable housing units is credit neutral for New York City, according to Moody's Investors Service.

The government-sponsored enterprises just went a long way toward encouraging lenders to make more loans to borrowers with lower credit scores.

The agency is developing a new methodology for evaluating underwriting defects to give lenders a better handle on the risk posed by any given flaw in a loan file.

In a wide-ranging speech on Tuesday, new FHFA Director Mel Watt said he would not weigh in on the housing finance reform debate percolating in Congress, while also detailing what changes he plans to make at the agency, including encouraging more access to credit.

Home prices nationwide jumped by 11.3% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, according to an analysis released Tuesday by CoreLogic.

Following two years in which its big-bank peers paid almost $2 billion to resolve fraud accusations by the Federal Housing Administration, Wells Fargo has decided it isn't giving up so easily.

Freddie Mac, which along with Fannie Mae has forced home lenders to buy back tens of billions of dollars of flawed mortgages, said the companies are loosening rules that made banks more cautious about extending credit.

Loan applicants will have to answer the question "What makes a place feel like a home?" to be eligible for drawing.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. reported a decline in first-quarter profits driven largely by the early refinancing of agricultural securities.

The buyouts will lead to prepayments of 5% or more for some holders of mortgage-backed securities. The loans were originated from 2005 to 2008, the heyday of interest-only loans.

The Senate Banking Committee will renew its markup of legislation to overhaul the housing finance system on Thursday, after abruptly postponing the deliberations late last month.