The legal table is set for a potentially pivotal court ruling on the mortgage industry’s use of marketing services agreements under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau submitted its “reply” brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in the agency’s dispute with PHH Mortgage. In its filing last week in PHH Corp., et al., v. CFPB, the bureau did not try to assert that all MSAs are unlawful or illegitimate, in and of themselves. “Parties to illegal kickback agreements are unlikely to put those agreements into writing. So those agreements may have to be identified based on circumstantial evidence and inference,” said the CFPB. “But RESPA Section 8(c)(2) clarifies when it is not proper to infer an illegal agreement. Illegality cannot be inferred merely because a party that received referrals makes payments to a party that made the referrals. “Moreover, such an arrangement is...

The private mortgage insurance industry did more business during the third quarter than it has in any period since the housing market came unglued in early 2008 and rolled to another solid round of financial results, according to an Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. But early indicators suggest the FHA and VA government insurance programs continue to provide stiff competition in the primary MI market. While neither government agency has released new business data for the third quarter, trends in the Ginnie Mae program suggest that the private MI share of new primary coverage drifted down to 33.8 percent in the third quarter, the lowest it’s been since the beginning of 2013. Mike Zimmerman, senior VP for investor relations at Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., said...[Includes three data tables]

The last nonbank mortgage lender to go public was Stonegate Mortgage, which brought its IPO to market two years ago.

Although the home foreclosure inventory is falling compared to a year ago, some metropolitan areas are seeing an increase in new filings, including Atlantic City.

“I didn’t see any bold, new assertions in here,” said one legal source. “I think the CFPB has its theory and they’re sticking to it…”

The third-quarter figure was the largest new insurance written total for the industry since 1Q 2008, when private MIs booked $72.17 billion of new coverage.

It's unclear how the Indianapolis-based Stonegate will compensate for the anticipated loss in originations once it closes the 47 branches.

Over the past 12 months, Florida had the highest number of completed foreclosures at 91,000.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, said he would not touch the mortgage interest deduction, but Dr. Ben Carson wasn't as friendly...

The goal of the program is to help stabilize neighborhoods that were hardest hit by the real estate downturn by letting local community organizations review and purchase foreclosed properties first.