The desire of the private mortgage industry to make a clean break from the past and repair its tarnished image caused the demise of the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America and fueled the creation of a new trade association that would strongly represent the industry’s interests in Washington, DC, and among the states. Conversations with various industry participants show significant support for the new trade association, U.S. Mortgage Insurers, which now represents six of the seven active firms in the industry. AIG affiliate United Guaranty has declined...

Whether a servicer was a bank or a nonbank doesn’t appear to have played much of a role in terms of performance in the non-agency portion of the Home Affordable Modification Program, according to the latest assessments by the Treasury Department. Six servicers were found to need “moderate” improvement: three banks and three nonbanks. HAMP incentive payments in the future could be withheld if the firms don’t improve their performance. The needs-to-improve list includes Bank of America, CitiMortgage, Nationstar Mortgage, Ocwen Loan Servicing, Select Portfolio Servicing and Wells Fargo. The other major HAMP servicer, JPMorgan Chase, was found to have largely satisfied HAMP performance requirements, based on assessments for the fourth quarter of 2013. Among the seven largest HAMP servicers, only nonbanks had...

Freddie Mac has begun reviewing servicing-related violations of its program rules, issuing notices of defect for certain violations, mostly related to the conveyance of properties to the GSE with title problems.

One warehouse executive, requesting anonymity, said usage rates for the fourth quarter and the first two months of 2014 “have been very low.” He gave a range of 20 percent to 50 percent.

In asking for the SCOTUS review, the DOL argues that the court of appeals erred in holding that an interpretive rule that alters the agency’s previous interpretation of a substantive regulation must be promulgated through notice-and-comment rulemaking.

"I'm pulling my old firm out of the mothballs," Glen Corso told IMFnews.

Springleaf is no longer making new real estate-backed loans, but it continues to shed legacy mortgages.

Well, at least GSE junior preferred shares are holding their own. Also, Five Oaks Investment is approving correspondents for its new jumbo flow-program...

The FHFA said the government-sponsored enterprises’ uniform mortgage documents prohibit PACE financing with lien priority over the mortgage.

“Cheap is the goal now,” said Chuck Klein, a managing partner at Mortgage Banking Solutions, Austin, TX. “I’m seeing many mortgage-banking firms that want to buy, and they’re looking at either smaller firms or branches.”