Once a “flexibility” intended to help lenders deal with the pandemic, the desktop appraisal is about to become a permanent fixture of Freddie’s Loan Advisor and Fannie’s Desktop Underwriter.

While rising interest rates will dry up the pool of borrowers eligible for refinancing, there are still consumers who can lower their costs. Freddie Mac expects cash-outs to take up a larger share of refis in the short term.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced $51.4 million in grants to 177 housing counseling agencies and the addition of four members to its Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee.

Early reporters of fourth-quarter results are giving the mortgage industry a glimpse of what’s to come for everyone else: weak or negative origination growth. Message: The party can’t last forever.

It’s not easy to bring multi-state enforcement actions, yet regulators from 44 states signed consent orders with 441 loan officers who lied about having completed required annual continuing education courses.

The Biden administration and Congress need to address some major risks to the housing-finance system, according to the Government Accountability Office. The administration is still developing plans and there’s little urgency in Congress.

Hunting for new sources of revenue, several regional banks are planning to offer credit lines to nonbank mortgage shops. The collateral: MSRs.

The mortgage industry has resigned itself to no administrative end to the Fannie and Freddie conservatorships. It’s still unclear what happens to the GSEs’ capital requirements.

Fannie Mae failed to implement new NPL reporting requirements in 2018, as required by its regulator.

Mortgage servicers have begun working with states on their new federally funded homeowner assistance programs.