In return, FHFA's pending lawsuits will be dismissed with prejudice and Bank of America and its affiliates will be released from all securities law and fraud claims, as well as certain other claims related to the non-agency RMBS in dispute.

Fannie and Freddie issued $44.6 billion of single-family MBS in February, a 5.1 percent decline from January and a stunning 62.0 percent drop for the first two months of 2014 when compared to the same period in 2013.

The government’s plan to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is wrongheaded and would result in lower housing prices, economic harm and higher unemployment. So says well-regarded bank analyst Richard Bove of Rafferty Capital Markets.

Nonbanks had an average of 400 loans per full-time employee in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to Fitch, up from about 300 loans per full time employee in the second half of 2012.

In a recent interview with IMFnews, Carrington Executive Vice President Ray Brousseau stressed that the privately held nonbank will carefully and manually underwrite the loans, which will be sourced through loan brokers.

Addressing CFPB officials at the American Bankers Association’s government relations conference in Washington, one community banker from Oklahoma reported survey findings that one-third of respondents in the state are no longer offering residential mortgages.

The extended time on market for short sales does not appear to be due to a lack of demand, as short sales completed in February averaged 3.1 offers, based on a three-month moving average.

According to a new research note from Sterne Agee, 65 percent of Altisource’s reported revenue is tied to Ocwen or Ocwen-related companies. “This is a highly symbiotic relationship," writes Stern Agee analyst Henry Coffey.

One executive familiar with PHH Mortgage said he anticipates that other senior officers may leave shortly. The firm's departing CAO was with the lender for just over a year.

Little else is known about Commerce. The press statement notes that the lender has a “vision of moving forward with a reviving market by offering products backed by a team of professionals with the upmost integrity and knowledge of the industry.”