Mortgages

Cole Taylor Mortgage saw its revenues increase by 94% on a sequential basis in the first quarter while its mortgage servicing portfolio more than doubled in size, according to new figures released by the company.

March went out like a lion in Illinois, where existing home sales hit their highest level in four years during the month and the median price snapped a 20-month streak of declines.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry this week urged eligible borrowers to sign up for the OCC's foreclosure-review process, and suggested that homeowners who didn't like the results would still be able to sue their mortgage servicers later.

For more than a year, lenders have complained about the tough enforcement regime and controversial legal theories espoused by the Justice Department's fair lending unit.

Title agents are hoping the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will get tough on lenders that low-ball the initial costs they disclose to homebuyers and then surprise borrowers at the closing table with higher charges.

Remodeling activity will grow by a "healthy" 6% by year's end, according to an index that measures strength in the sector.

Until not too long ago eWarehouseOne had a policy: if a firm didn't pass the application review stage, the company would return the mortgage banker's money. At least that's what company vice president Anthony Simich told National Mortgage News last month.

Ally Financial is continuing talks with Nationstar about the REIT buying Residential Capital Corp./GMAC through a 'prepackaged' bankruptcy transaction, according to investment bankers familiar with the companies.

Freddie Mac's weekly average for the 30-year rate came in two basis points higher at 3.9%, while the average for the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM dropped seven basis points to a new low at 2.78%.

While Astoria Financial's first quarter net income fell by $17 million on a year-over-year basis, its reemergence in the multifamily/commercial real estate lending space is skyrocketing.

The White House budget office estimates that losses caused by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's reckless management and lending policies will shrink over the next 10 years and cost the U.S. Treasury just $28 billion.

Election time is like the Wild West: anything can, and will, happen. Yesterday our page views went through the roof when we blogged about GOP hopeful Mitt Romney floating the idea of getting rid of HUD. So far, Romney hasn't backed down from the idea (that we know of), but professionals who are serious about this industry know full well that killing HUD at this point in the recovery would cause housing to crater yet again.

New York Community Bancorp on Wednesday posted a 76% first-quarter jump in mortgage banking revenue from a year earlier, as the Westbury, N.Y., bank saw robust growth in multi-family and commercial real estate loans.

The 2.0 version of the HARP program is off to a strong start with the nation's five largest servicers gobbling up applications, HUD secretary Shaun Donovan told a Mortgage Bankers Association gathering Thursday morning.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reiterated support Wednesday for mortgage principal reductions at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week lifted an eight-year-old cease and desist order against the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, which pioneered the Mortgage Partnership Program back in the 1990s.

The changing origination landscape is making it more advantageous for midsize lenders to retain servicing rights, according to a panel at this week's SourceMedia Mortgage Servicing Conference in Dallas.

The federal government doubled down on fair-lending enforcement Wednesday when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it planned to pursue actions against lenders even when discrimination was unintentional.

Bank of America originated just $16 billion of first and second liens in the first quarter, a 72% decline from the same period a year ago as the closing of its correspondent channel weighed heavily.