In a sign that Senate leaders are continuing their work on comprehensive housing finance reform, representatives of the mortgage lending industry were given an opportunity this week to opine on the exact features such a package should have, and they took full advantage of it. Gary Thomas, president of the National Association of Realtors, speaking before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, offered a baker’s dozen of specific proposals for elements of a future finance system, including an “efficient and adequately regulated secondary market,” which he said is essential to providing affordable mortgages to consumers. Also, the government-sponsored enterprise system “with private profits and taxpayer loss” must be replaced...

The audit of the FHA's MMI fund should be ready by Christmas, not Thanksgiving.

Moody’s believes the servicers’ transitions into mortgage originations was positive, but raised concerns about declining refinance opportunities, competition with banks and the potential for nonprime originations.

“Our concern is whether companies have the resources internally to ensure that such arrangements are working as they should,” said one Ginnie Mae official. “Is the issuer adequately protecting itself and Ginnie Mae?”

Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-PA, brought the agency's breaches to the public’s attention during a hearing on CFPB reform legislation.

According to a copy of an early prospectus provided to IMF, lenders originating loans for the security include Nationstar Mortgage, Stearns Lending, Freedom Mortgage, Fifth Third Mortgage, Real Estate Mortgage Network and RMR Financial.

Citadel, which raised $200 million earlier in the year, has funded $18 million so far this year, but 40 percent of that has come in October. Eventually, it hopes to securitize its production.

At press time, there were reports circulating that one mid-sized nonbank planning to enter the correspondent acquisition market had pulled the plug and laid off staff. The firm is expected to talk to IMFnews Thursday morning.

CFPB chief Richard Cordray believes "the QM space has been drawn quite broadly" and estimates that more than 95 percent of the loans made in the current market will be deemed qualified mortgages.

According to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, the GSEs took in $16 billion from buybacks during the first six months of 2013. At the same time, lenders succeeded in getting $7 billion in repurchase requests withdrawn.