Even in the depths of the financial crisis, the mortgage industry was producing more new loans than it did during the first quarter of 2014, according to new Inside Mortgage Finance estimates. Mortgage lenders generated just $235 billion of new home loans during the first three months of this year. That was down 23.0 percent from the fourth quarter’s estimated $305 billion in originations and it was off 58.0 percent from the first quarter of 2013. It was...[Includes one data chart]

He cited one example where a $40 billion MSR package can be sold to one buyer that agrees to board the servicing files in increments of say $5 billion a month.

So, what does this mean for the industry? Answer: That the Mortgage Mutual Insurance Fund likely will return to health even faster and that maybe there’s room for FHA to cut premiums.

Attorney Richard Andreano noted that the rule’s bonus provisions remain confusing for many lenders.

However, he suggested that Altisource is reevaluating some of the pricing on its services. Some 6,705 properties were sold via Hubzu in the first quarter of 2014.

The CFPB will work with participants to test many eClosing features, including those that may enable consumer understanding, incentivize early document review and facilitate error detection.

Despite the ugliness of the first quarter, there are signs that loan production may finally be firming up.

The score card was the brainchild of former Acting FHFA director Edward DeMarco, who is retiring from the agency at the end of April.

As for details, a spokesman for the company said Ellie isn’t talking about the topic at this time. In an email exchange with IMFnews, mortgage technology consultant Tony Garritano of Progress in Lending called the whole episode “very bizarre”…

The bureau is expected to announce a pilot project to improve the mortgage closing process from A to Z for all stakeholders – not just consumers – an initiative likely to rely heavily on the industry’s technological capabilities.