Mortgages

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is charting the course for new regulation on qualified mortgages, the new QM rule. Their goal is to dissuade lenders from partaking of mortgage loan programs that involve undo risk taking by imposing more stringent underwriting principals to potential loan applicants, including requiring that borrowers show they have the ability to repay a loan.

There is a dichotomy that has developed in the warehouse lending marketplace, said one industry consultant. There are more of these lenders around than a few years ago. But they are looking to make credit available only for loans that fit their overlays.

The nearly three-year-long legal battle between Ellie Mae and DocMagic may be close to a resolution, according to recently filed court documents.

An executive at Redwood Trust—the only active jumbo MBS issuer out there—said the firm has been able to expand its business despite challenges, including the government’s continued domination of the market.

What the heck ever happened to Uncle Sam’s subprime (real estate) lender, Springleaf Financial? Good question.

Stearns Lending Inc. this week hired former Bank of America and MetLife executive Brian Hale as its new chief executive officer.

Stearns Lending Inc., one of the nation’s largest wholesale funders, this week hired former Bank of America and MetLife executive Brian Hale as its new chief executive officer.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is calling for a merger of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s mortgage bonds both as a “first step” in transitioning into a single security.

Mortgage originations will fall to their lowest level in five years in 2012, according to the latest forecast by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Genworth Financial—which has been losing market share to rivals Radian and United Guaranty—this week made the decision to reduce its mortgage insurance rates for borrowers with loan-to-value ratios equal to or less than 95%.

Lenders, for the first time, are facing the possibility of paying "actual damages" as a result of the “qualified mortgage” definition, an attorney warned attendees at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference in New York.

The first bulk sale of 2,500 Fannie Mae REO properties will sell at a discount to single assets, but has the potential to drive prices up after the first $10 billion to $20 billion in foreclosed homes are sold to institutional investors and converted to rentals.

It’s been five years since Uncle Sam placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship and private investors all but abandoned the housing finance sector.

Demand, as a rule, leads to innovative business strategies. It is pressuring specialized vendors and other third-party servicers to strategize their business improvements so they can fill the gap created by the banks.

Insiders agree that certain types of solutions can serve as an antidote to the still pervasive mortgage loan repurchase challenge.

Mergers and partnerships are driving the special servicing market expansion as some servicers exit the market or sell their mortgage servicing rights and others get into the game through new alliances.

Nationstar, which recently sold stock to the public, is continuing negotiations to buy Residential Capital Corp./GMAC from Ally Financial through a prepackaged bankruptcy agreement.

Even though distressed sales and listings have been declining at a steady pace since late 2010, there is still a long road to recovery for the Florida housing market.

The head of Ginnie Mae said the agency is trying to “triage” its application problem after finding out that over the past year it could approve less than half of all applicants—and that several of those who received a green light have yet to issue any securities.

Jay Sidhu has stepped down as the chairman of Atlantic Coast Financial because he believes the Jacksonville, Fla.-based lender was failing to “mitigate or significantly reduce risks facing the bank.”