Given the complexity of the 3 percent points-and-fees cap for qualified mortgages under the ability-to-repay rule and the imperative of getting it right, mortgage lenders could still find themselves outside the compliance box if they ignore the fair lending implications of their business practices. “Fair lending is definitely something we have to take into consideration in every decision we make and every rule we come across,” said Ginger Moore, the compliance officer at PrimeLending, during a webinar last week sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance. One example is...

Three months ago, CashCall President Paul Reddam said he was open to offers on his refinance shop, but that was before a jump in interest rates signaled a downturn in refi lending. At the midway point in 2013, CashCall ranked as 26th in mortgage originations, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, and refi loans accounted for virtually all of its business. These days Reddam isn’t returning telephone calls and competitors and investment bankers that specialize in mortgage acquisitions say that of late, they’ve heard little about CashCall’s situation. “I’m getting resumes from some of their employees,” said one mortgage CEO who is based in the same Southern California market as CashCall. “We’re seeing a lot of resumes from refi shops.” This executive, who focuses on purchase lending and spoke on the condition his name not be used, said...

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and mortgage-backed securities trustees representing investors in non-agency MBS sued the city of Richmond, CA, this week to stop it from further implementing a plan to use eminent domain authority to seize and purchase performing underwater mortgages. Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank, acting as trustees for a group of investors that includes BlackRock, Inc., Pacific Investment Management and the government-sponsored enterprises, filed the lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco at the behest of certificate holders. The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the “Richmond Seizure Program” unconstitutional and in violation of California laws, and to order city officials to end the program. Securitizers and investors are...

“It is difficult to project how many HARP-eligible loans will ultimately be refinanced,” the FHFA IG writes in a new report.

Two Harbors revealed that it is advanced talks to purchase a potentially significant portfolio of mortgage servicing rights later this year.

For the first time in six years, the four surviving private MIs reported a combined profit on their domestic MI business during 2Q13.

The SEC said the deal has taken nearly $70 million in losses – the greatest loss rate of any comparable securitization from Bank of America. An additional $50 million in losses are expected.

In its earnings release, Freddie said it will not capture its deferred tax asset (DTA) valuation allowance which now stands at $28.6 billion.

Who says that wholesale lending through loan brokers is dead? Carrington Mortgage and other firms are expanding in the sector.

Though the end of July, Freddie has issued roughly $302 billion of single-family MBS compared to $500 billion for Fannie.