Originations

Lenders and loan officers are increasingly using social media to scout for customers, raising a host of compliance concerns, from preventing unauthorized use of brands to monitoring employee communications.

Prices for single-family homes climbed in 74% of U.S. cities in the first quarter, fewer than a year earlier, as the nation’s housing rebound cools.

Successful originators are not doing anything new or different, but are using tried and true techniques when it comes to building their business.

JPMorgan Chase said it will lay off more than 150 employees in its Garden City, N.Y., mortgage division, as part of a previously announced broader downsizing.

D.R. Horton said it paid $210 million for the homebuilding operations of Crown Communities, the largest residential developer in the Atlanta area, where new-home demand is still recovering from the recession.

Affordable housing is one of the sticking points keeping the secondary mortgage market reform bill from advancing in Congress.

Mortgage originators have been slow to adopt this tool which can assist in educating potential clients about your products and services.

Arizona has revised its education requirements while Virginia has introduced a new category of loan officer.

Taylor Capital in Chicago is no longer looking to sell its mortgage banking operation.

HSH.com, a New Jersey-based publisher of consumer loan information, released an online tool to help consumers calculate the cost of a mortgage.

Atare Agbamu promised his elderly clients that reverse mortgages were regulated to protect them and their spouses and heirs. Then he came across a HUD letter to lenders indicating otherwise.

PHH Corp. swung to a net loss in the first quarter, driven by losses in the mortgage banking business that it is considering selling.

The regulator's Office of the Inspector General says it should have issued formal guidance to Fannie and Freddie over their dealings with the MIs.

GoLoansOnline.com, a Houston-based mortgage lead generator, will pay $225,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers about the terms of their loans.

The government-sponsored enterprises remain profitable, but executives are raising fresh concerns about their ability to withstand a recession because of restrictions on raising capital.

Mortgage credit availability dipped slightly in April, even while lending standards loosened for large adjustable-rate loans, according to an index published by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Proposed reforms for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae seem to be bogged down in the House and Senate. It might be time for legislators to start thinking about different solutions.

Mortgage rates for 30-year loans fell to a six-month low, reducing borrowing costs for homebuyers as the property market cools amid a slow economic recovery.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will pay the U.S. Treasury Department a combined $10.2 billion by June 30, an amount reflecting the profits the U.S.-owned mortgage financiers reported for the first quarter.

Even if private securitization deals are smaller or fewer, Clayton's loan review and due diligence services should be in hot demand as memories of the crisis linger, Radian reckons.