Although table-funding transactions fell slightly in terms of market share in the first quarter, prospects are looking up for mortgage brokers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 78,500 men and women were employed as full-time mortgage brokers in March, the highest reading since the summer of 2008, when the housing and mortgage markets were in a free-fall. Trade group officials who represent brokers report they are seeing more wholesalers engaged in table funding ... [Includes one data chart]

With minimal disruption to the mortgage finance system, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could be transformed into gsecuritization cooperativesh that would serve as gthe best possible structureh to deliver private capital and promote stability to the mortgage market, an expert told lawmakers last week. Testifying before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairsf Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment, Andrew Davidson, president of Andrew Davidson & Co., noted that Freddie began as an originator-owned cooperative whose goal was to grant its members access to the securitization market. Davidson suggested that senators look to the past as they grapple with a future role for the GSEs.

Mortgage underwriting standards have loosened slightly recently, though nowhere near levels seen during the subprime boom. Federal regulators are concerned that not enough lending is being directed toward borrowers with lower credit scores. In November 2012, the average credit score on newly closed loans was 750, according to Ellie Mae. Average scores have largely declined each month since then, to 742 in April. During that time, credit scores on conventional mortgage originations declined by ...

A Rhode Island software developer says it has taken mortgage application processing to another level with a new system that ensures loan approval and a “money-back” guarantee to the borrower if the application falls through. At the heart of the system is software called The Complete 1003, which generates a highly detailed application form to supplement the standard mortgage application form lenders use to collect a borrower’s financial information. The Complete 1003 is designed to ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week directed servicers to inform homeowners reeling from the damage inflicted by the tornados that swept through Oklahoma and other states that they may be eligible for a temporary reprieve on their mortgage payments. The GSEs’ disaster relief policies are targeted to borrowers with homes in jurisdictions President Obama has declared to be Major Disaster Areas where federal Individual Assistance programs are being made available to affected individuals and households.

Limiting the maximum amount of cash-out refinances to 80 percent of the current value of a home could significantly decrease defaults, according to new research by the Federal Reserve. Such limits on refis are already in place in Texas, with the Fed economist suggesting that the restrictions could be put in place nationwide, along with recourse provisions, in an effort to limit defaults. Steven Laufer, an economist at the Fed, looked into mortgage performance on a sample of properties in Los Angeles County ...

CashCall, a leading refinance and consumer lending specialist, is streamlining and automating its mortgage loan processing with a mobile smart application geared towards tech-savvy consumers. The California-based lender says it has been using state-of-the-art technology in its mortgage operations and has now upped the ante with Kofax Mobile Capture and Kofax Transmission Modules. These products enable borrowers to use their hand-held mobile devices to capture, send and parse mortgage documents ...

A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, overturning a lower court ruling that the counties and state of Michigan were entitled to collect local real estate transfer taxes from the two government-sponsored enterprises. This week’s unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said the lower court is not in a position to second-guess Congress by creating exemptions to tax statutes. “The statutes at issue here plainly state that the defendants are exempt from ‘all taxation,’” the court ruled. In June 2011, Oakland and Genesee counties each filed suit claiming Fannie and Freddie recorded deeds and other conveyances without paying the Michigan Transfer Tax.

Freddie Mac this week issued $1.04 billion of mortgage-backed securities backed by modified loans.The notes are being pooled into new Freddie Mac “Fixed-Rate Modified Participation Certificates” with new "MA-MD" prefixes. The GSE bought the majority of these loans out of participation certificates when they were at least 120 days past due. A Freddie official said that it will not sell the new bonds in the open market and instead will hold them on balance sheet.

Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’ conservatorships have caused the government’s involvement in the mortgage market to “balloon to unhealthy proportions” since the two GSEs entered government conservatorship in 2008, creating far-reaching effects on the private sector, crowding out potential capital and blocking real market competition, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.The fix, the MBA suggests, calls for the Federal Housing Finance Agency to require the two GSEs to accept loans with deeper levels of credit enhancement in exchange for reductions in guaranty fees and other loan-level charges.“By requiring the GSEs to offer programs such as up-front risk sharing between lenders and the GSEs, the FHFA would be taking a big step in the right direction,” said MBA President and CEO David Stevens. “Ultimately, this would put private capital, not taxpayers, in the first loss position and would allow lenders of all sizes to compete, driving down costs for borrowers.”