A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week involving the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and foreclosures in certain states could prompt legislation from Congress.

The housing-finance reform outline from Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-ID, got its first airing on Capitol Hill this week with most witnesses giving it a thumbs up while cautioning the devil is in the details.

Industry groups over the past few months have repeatedly asked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to revise its rule regarding how loan originators are paid and make the is-sue a “top priority.”

It was clear at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2019 Tech Conference this week that the industry’s trend toward digitalization is in full swing.

Mortgage originators licensed by state regulators produced fewer loans in 2018 than they had in the previous year but still took more market share away from depositories. A new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of call-report data from banks, credit unions and the National Multistate Licensing System found that state-licensed nonbanks accounted for 54.8% of mortgage originations last year. That was up 1.8 percentage points from 2017. [Includes two data charts.]

Freedom Mortgage, one of the largest non-bank lender/servicers in the nation, is ready to issue $250 million worth of debt at an eye-popping cost of 10.75%. Now comes the big question: What will it do with the cash?

Home mortgages that fail one of the basic tests to be classified as a qualified mortgage have become an increasingly large part of the agency market over the past few years, a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis reveals. [Includes one data chart.]

President Trump late Wednesday issued a memo ordering the Treasury Department to end the decade-long-plus historic conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and design a plan to overhaul the nation’s secondary mortgage market.

LendingHome recently issued a $219 million asset-backed security with fix-and-flip loans originated by the firm; Reliant Bancorp, Brentwood, TN, launched a correspondent purchase program for non-qualified mortgages in March; Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions expanded its office space in Dallas and Atlanta.

Four more expanded-credit mortgage-backed securities are set for pricing before the end of the first quarter, along with a prime non-agency MBS.