Under the new policy, corporations must provide the DOJ with all relevant facts about individuals involved in corporate misconduct if they hope to get leniency or credit for cooperation in the investigation.

A few weeks back when the poll was first launched the results were more optimistic, but...

What do Fannie/Freddie officials say about the walk-out? They were amused at the effort but declined to comment on-the-record.

Originations of jumbo mortgages rose sharply during the second quarter of 2015, including loans in high-cost housing markets that are eligible for agency mortgage-backed securities, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. During the second quarter, the market produced a whopping $127.6 billion of home mortgages that exceeded the $417,000 benchmark conforming loan limit, a 33.1 percent increase from the first three months of the year. Jumbo mortgages accounted for 28.7 percent of second-quarter originations, the highest ratio since “emergency” high-cost limits were set back in 2008. Most of the jumbo production was...[Includes three data tables]

Now that interest rates have stopped falling – at least, for now – the servicing acquisition market has shifted into high gear with talk of a steady stream of both flow and bulk transactions through the remainder of 2015. “This could turn out to be one of the best quarters of the year for sales,” said Mark Garland, president of MountainView Servicing Group, Denver. “If it’s not the best, it could be close.” Tom Piercy, managing member of Interactive Mortgage Advisors, noted...

Institutional investors are beginning to have major doubts about certain mortgage stocks, reducing their positions in companies such as PHH Corp. and Ocwen Financial as they struggle to present convincing evidence that better days are ahead – especially with 2016 just months away. Ocwen, in particular, has been savaged by investors over the past 18 months, its share price falling from an all-time high of $60 to $5.66. This past summer, Ocwen’s share price stabilized somewhat before getting clobbered early this week after disclosing that it expects to post a loss for all of 2015. For many investors it has...

The Senate this week approved by unanimous consent a narrow bill to reverse hefty pay hikes for the chief executive officers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A similar bill cleared the House Financial Services Committee this summer with heavy bipartisan support, and the White House has signaled it has no objections to the measure. But the Senate steered clear of more controversial proposals regarding the two government-sponsored enterprises, including language sought by Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, barring the Department of Treasury from selling its senior preferred stock in the GSEs without approval from Capitol Hill. According to reports, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, put...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to explore more front-end risk-sharing transactions while continuing to issue their popular debt offerings that pay investors based on the performance of reference pools of newly originated mortgages. Redwood Trust has done front-end risk-share deals with both Fannie and Freddie. The most recent was a transaction with Freddie in the third quarter, which covered a $1 billion pool and Redwood absorbing the first 1 percent of credit losses on the delivered loans. “Redwood expects...

The real estate finance industry is not opposed to more simplified mortgage disclosures for consumers. But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rule as it’s now written will cost the industry billions of dollars every year, one industry official warned. The rule, intended to harmonize and integrate the disclosures required under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, is slated to become effective on Oct. 3, 2015, a scant two weeks away. “If left and implemented as is, TRID will require...

The Department of Justice has announced a new, far-reaching policy regarding individual accountability for corporate misconduct – a change that could significantly affect the way mortgage lenders and securitization participants cooperate with the agency in criminal and civil investigations. A product of a DOJ working group, the new policy is the culmination of the DOJ’s gradual shift towards demanding greater individual accountability and addresses criticism, since the 2008 financial crisis, about the lack of individual accountability in corporate settlements with the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly mortgage-related civil lawsuits. Under the new policy, corporations must provide...