Ever since Taylor Bean & Whitaker went down in flames a few years ago, the market for loans backed by mortgage servicing rights has been dormant with the nation’s largest banks pulling out of the business and vowing never to return. But now that MSRs are considered a “hot” investment with nonbanks such as Nationstar Mortgage, Ocwen Financial and Walter Investment Management gobbling up billions of dollars in receivables the past few years – and at bargain basement prices – banks, Wall Street firms, and other players are eyeing the market for a major comeback. According to servicing advisors and warehouse firms, there are...

A new final rule from the Department of Housing and Urban Development may make it harder for lenders to defend against allegations of racially discriminatory policies and even more difficult to structure an effective compliance program under the Fair Housing Act, according to legal experts. Issued last week, the rule provides that HUD or a private plaintiff can establish a so-called disparate-impact liability under the FHAct, even if there is no intent to discriminate. The agency said the rule establishes no new law – since HUD and appellate courts have upheld the disparate impact theory in fair housing cases for decades – and aims to standardize the minor variations for determining liability under the statute. The rule establishes...

FHA Commissioner Carol Galante fended off attacks by Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee this week, saying that the actual performance of the FHA single-family program over the course of FY 2013 and steps the agency takes during this period will determine whether the agency will need more cash to pay claims. In her first congressional appearance since her Senate confirmation in late December, Galante tried to assure critics that the FHA may not have to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to boost its claims-paying ability if the proposed budget President Obama releases next month does not show a shortfall. In last year’s proposed 2012 budget, the president anticipated...

With the White House budget delayed until sometime in March, there is renewed speculation that the Department of Housing and Urban Development will not ask for a draw from the Treasury Department to bolster the cash-starved Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund of the FHA. In testimony this week before the House Financial Services Committee FHA Commissioner Carol Galante said underwriting changes and premium hikes have decreased the likelihood that the MMI will request additional cash. But she could not say for certain, noting that if a draw is needed it will not come until the end of fiscal 2013. Mortgage insurance professionals and consulting firms that work on HUD issues have estimated...

It remains to be seen how or whether a newly signed law in Illinois to fast-track certain foreclosures will impact a proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to levy extra guaranty fee charges on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages originated in five slow-foreclosure states, including Illinois, but experts say other states may be inspired to follow suit. Last week, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, D, signed into law SB 16, which among other provisions, would allow servicers to expedite the foreclosure timelines for abandoned or vacant homes from about 18 months to as little as 90 days. Although the bill was...

President Obama, during his State of the Union address, urged Congress to get the HARP 3.0 refinancing program off the ground.

Fannie Mae is working on a plan to sell billions of dollars of nonperforming loans in the second quarter.

Officially, the GSE net-worth minimum is set at $2.5 million, but some in the industry think it will double eventually.

The CFPB said mortgage lenders can ask the agency "important" interpretation questions on the many rules that it finalized this year.

Fortress Investment Group has raised $1.6 billion to buy mortgage assets, including servicing rights.