The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of the Inspector General has announced a second round of mortgage note sales for this year under the expanded Distressed Asset Stabilization Program. Separate sales of approximately 20,000 severely delinquent loans have been scheduled for June 26 and July 10 as part of HUD’s effort to reduce its bulging inventory of foreclosed residential properties and to target relief to areas hit the hardest by foreclosures. HUD estimates the total unpaid balance of the loans in this sale at ...

Regulation by Mortgagee Letter. The Department of Housing and Urban Development this week urged House lawmakers to grant it statutory authority to make temporary changes to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program through mortgagee letters while working to formalize the change through rulemaking. In a hearing before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance this week, Charles Coulter, HUD deputy assistant secretary for single-family housing, sought specific authority to limit the amount that may be drawn from ...

All three pistons in the mortgage origination engine slowed down during the first quarter of 2013, but retail production came closest to keeping the pace in a declining market, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. Lenders produced an estimated $310.0 billion in originations through retail offices, bank branches, call centers and online activities during the first three months of 2013. That was down 0.9 percent from the previous quarter, but because overall production slipped 4.8 percent, the retail share of the market surged to a record 62.0 percent. The wholesale channel – both correspondent and broker – accounted...[Includes four data charts]

Mortgage delinquency rates declined during the first quarter of 2013, according to an index compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance based on 19 lenders that service a total of $6.04 trillion in home mortgages. The overall delinquency rate index fell from 9.47 percent at the end of 2012 to 8.70 percent at the end of the first quarter. That was the lowest level since the third quarter of 2008. There were...[Includes one data chart]

Although loan broker employment continues to rise, the market share for table funding declined in the first quarter, according to exclusive survey figures from Inside Mortgage Finance.

The interim final rule authorizes the FHFA to review compensation of an executive officer at any of the GSEs.

Are investors making a big mistake by speculating in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac common and preferred?

Loan brokerage firms are continuing to hire, even though their market share declined slightly in the first quarter.

Essent, the number-five player in mortgage insurance, has received ratings from both S&P and Moody's.

One investor paid $100,000 per unit for a special class of Fannie Mae preferred.