Some in the industry, including the MBA, feel the certification language lacks clarity...

Almost 60 percent of the repurchases made in the first half of 2015 involved loans that were securitized by the GSEs in 2013 and 2014.

The rating service predicted that in the coming months, more lenders will be willing to offer non-QMs that allow for debt-to-income ratios above 50 percent and credit scores as low as 620.

In a statement, Stonegate said Cutillo will be “redirecting” his “entrepreneurial energy on a new endeavor going forward.”

The top five jumbo MBS servicers handle 83.3 percent of the loans, with Cenlar alone claiming a 38.4 percent share.

According to a new report from Compass Point Research & Trading, a gain-on-sale index the firm created has been contracting the past month...

The resignation of Stonegate Mortgage CEO Jim Cutillo didn’t do much for the stock price of the company Monday.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported big declines in mortgage repurchases and their inventories of unresolved buyback requests during the second quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis of disclosures filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Freddie reported a 19.1 percent drop in repurchases from the first to the second quarter of 2015, while Fannie’s decline was a more modest 3.9 percent. Together, the two GSEs reported $436.3 million in repurchased or indemnified loans during the second quarter, the lowest amount since Fannie, Freddie and other “securitizers” began reporting repurchase activity in early 2012. On a combined basis, Fannie and Freddie reported new lows in pending repurchases ($732.2 million) and disputed buyback requests...

Generally speaking, declining interest rates are welcomed by most mortgage market participants – unless the drop is both precipitous and unexpected, which is exactly what occurred over the past 10 days, thanks to the worldwide stock market carnage. As the weekend approached, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond was at 2.17 percent, but earlier in the week – while stocks sold off – the yield fell to as low as 1.90 percent. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac watchers are now wondering if given the steep (and unexpected) decline in rates, perhaps the two government-controlled mortgage giants will report large hedging losses for the third quarter.

Fannie Mae rolled out HomeReady this week, a revised affordable lending product to replace its MyCommunityMortgage program, which focuses on helping borrowers with low- and moderate-incomes obtain mortgage credit. With lender input, the GSE made a number of changes to make the product more efficient for both lenders and borrowers. Fannie will add it to Desktop Underwriter later this year. HomeReady expects to create business opportunities for lenders serving the changing demographics and the shift in borrower needs. “I think it will definitely give lenders some additional flexibility in being able to qualify moderate income and lower income borrowers that they don’t have today,” said Glen Corso, executive director of Community Mortgage Lenders of America.