Industry experts are concerned that significantly raising the standard federal income-tax deduction could make the mortgage-interest deduction less valuable and hurt the housing market. The Republican “blueprint” for a massive overhaul of federal income taxes proposes boosting the standard deduction from $12,600 to $24,000 for joint filers. This could mean fewer taxpayers would itemize their deductions and claim the MID. The Community Home Lenders Association opposes...

The share of renters who expect to purchase a home is declining, according to a survey conducted for Freddie Mac. Even though many renters reported optimism about their financial situations, saving for a downpayment and other factors present hurdles to financing a home purchase. Some 41 percent of renters surveyed said they expect to purchase a home, down from 45 percent in September. Freddie also found that the number of renters who say they are working toward homeownership fell from 21 percent in September to 15 percent in March. Most renters said...

We understand that some surprising names are beginning to show up at auctions for nonprime, non-agency whole loans...

The largest civil money penalty imposed by the board was $604,000 as part of a settlement with Ocwen Loan Servicing...

On a loan count basis, Michigan represents the largest chunk of the portfolio at 37.1 percent.

Moody’s believes servicing acquisitions by Ocwen will be limited by franchise uncertainty, capital constraints and a highly competitive market…

On Impac’s wish list: buy others, grow servicing and make more non-QM loans…

Average DTI ratios on prime non-agency MBS range from 30.0 percent to 33.0 percent in any given quarter.

A reason to go digital? According to one study, the mortgage market consumes almost 2.2 billion sheets of paper annually, which is equivalent to more than 260,000 trees...

While the market for nonprime MBS was relatively strong during the first quarter, Moody’s said some investors have shied away from the sector.