Originations of VA mortgages in the first quarter of 2015 increased by 5.8 percent compared with the previous quarter and were up 86.0 percent from the first quarter of 2014.

But the combined Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act disclosures may not be as bad as many seem to fear.

“The short-term outlook remains dismal,” said Quincy Tang, a managing director and head of U.S. residential MBS at DBRS.

The changes allow eligible non-borrowing spouses with older Home-Equity Conversion Mortgages the potential to remain in their home following the death of the last surviving HECM borrower.

The VA maintained a sizeable lead in first-lien mortgage refinancing over FHA and private mortgage insurers in the first quarter of 2015 but yielded to both in purchase originations.

The slowdown in securitization is partly due to the lag between origination and MBS issuance, but there are other factors not related to timing...

Some 90 lenders contributed mortgages to the Redwood MBS, led by First Republic Bank with an 11.7 percent share.

Lenders provided a few constructive suggestions while voicing frustration regarding state regulators’ data collection efforts.

Following a four-month trial and nine days of deliberations, a New York jury acquitted Abacus and two of its senior officers...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency needs to be more forthright about its plans to expand the credit-risk transfer activities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. In a letter sent to FHFA Director Mel Watt this week, the six senators said the agency’s public guidance on the program “lacks specificity, metrics and long-term direction.” Watt and other FHFA officials have talked about risk transfers by the two government-sponsored enterprises, but most of the description of the program is somewhat vaguely outlined in the agency’s strategic plan and the so-called 2015 scorecard. The bipartisan group, which includes Sens. Mark Warner, D-VA, and Mike Crapo, R-ID, urged...