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Inside Mortgage Finance

March 24, 2016

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Home Mortgage Debt Outstanding Up Again in 4Q15, But Ends Year Short of $10 Trillion Mark

The supply of home loan debt outstanding grew for a third straight quarter in late 2015, including an ongoing ride higher in un-securitized portfolio mortgages. The Federal Reserve reported that $9.986 trillion of home mortgages were outstanding at the end of last year, a 0.3 percent increase from the third quarter. The growth rate slowed a bit – the market grew by roughly twice that rate from March to September – but the fourth quarter put unpaid home mortgage debt up 1.0 percent from the end of 2014, the first annual increase since 2007. The single fastest-growing segment of the market continued...[Includes two data tables] Read More

Was W.J. Bradley’s Closure All Related to TRID Errors or Something Else? Are More WJBs Ahead?

Errors in TRID disclosures on jumbo mortgages played a key role in the recent closure of W.J. Bradley Mortgage, but the privately held nonbank may have had other problems as well, according to industry officials who claim to have intimate knowledge of the company’s operations. A thin capital base is one of those problems. An investor in the company and an investment banking official each told... Read More

The Shifting Sands of Subservicing: Growth for Cenlar, Nationstar Poised to Move Up, Ocwen Takes a Tumble

Firms that specialize in subservicing increased their contracts by 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter and by 21.3 percent from a year ago, according to a new tally from Inside Mortgage Finance. In general, the outlook for the sector is strong, but a handful of firms aren’t growing their business by very much. And one firm – Ocwen Financial – experienced a large decline in contracts during the period. At yearend, Ocwen subserviced...[Includes one data table] Read More

Watt Says Expect GSE Principal Reduction Decision In Next 30 Days, Looking for a ‘Win-Win’ Scenario

Within the next 30 days, the Federal Housing Finance Agency will put to rest its long-running deliberations over whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow principal reductions for certain distressed home mortgages. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that the agency has already made the decision to go ahead with the plan on a limited basis. But in remarks at a public forum in Washington, DC, this week, FHFA Director Mel Watt said the agency is still mulling it over. Watt said... Read More

Scammers Impersonating Title Companies Are Duping Borrowers to Wire Settlement Funds to Wrong Account

A number of home buyers have been duped by hackers in an e-mail and money wiring scam involving purchase mortgages, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC posted a warning about scammers “phishing” for settlement fees late last week. In a phishing scheme, fraudsters impersonate a business online in an effort to trick a consumer. “Hackers have been breaking... Read More

In New LO Comp Era, Indies Have Hiring Edge. Will Depositories Compete? Who Wins the Millennials?

When it comes to attracting and retaining top loan originator talent in the era of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, it looks like independent shops may be the game to beat. One key issue now is whether depository institutions will step up to compete for the top talent in the mortgage space. “If we look back to 2008-2009, the brokers fled as quickly as they could to the independents, the depositories, just everywhere they could, to be able to operate and manage their business,” Drew Waterhouse, managing director of Hammerhouse LLC, said during an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar late last week. As the playing field has become more level with all the different regulations that have been brought to bear since then, “you see... Read More

Congressional Republicans Introduce Legislation to Block Implementation of DOL’s Revised Overtime Rule

Republican members of the House and the Senate have introduced legislation that would nullify the Department of Labor’s much-anticipated white-collar overtime exemption rule now under review at the Office of Management and Budget. Introduced jointly by GOP members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the bill would stop the DOL’s proposed expansion of mandatory federal overtime pay in its tracks. The bill, Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act, would provide... Read More

House Committee Unanimously Approves Bill Allowing Private Carriers to Go Head-to-Head with Federal NFIP

The House Financial Services Committee recently voted to advance legislation that would provide a private flood insurance alternative to the federal National Flood Insurance Program for homeowners required to purchase flood insurance. H.R. 2901, the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act, passed by a unanimous vote of 53-0 and was sent to the House floor for consideration. A Senate counterpart bill, S. 1679, which was reintroduced by Sen. Dean Heller, R-NV, last year, is awaiting action in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Both bills were introduced... Read More

TRID’s Impact on Fannie and Freddie is Little or None; Customer Responsible for Any Violations

The impact of the TRID integrated-disclosure rule that took effect on Oct. 3 seems to have had little impact on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. For now, the government-sponsored enterprises are focused on whether sellers are using the correct forms, not whether there are mistakes. The GSEs have amended their contractual obligations with their customers to let them know that the customer is responsible for any potential or actual loss as a result of TRID violations. “So they’re basically turning what was a repurchase obligation into an indemnification obligation,” said... Read More

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