Five Oaks will allow for cash-out refis for loans with balances of up to $1 million. The maximum allowable loan-to-value ratio is 65 percent, but the company may eventually go to 70 percent.

All seven active mortgage insurance companies reported a total of $31.34 billion of new primary insurance written during the first quarter, according to calculations from Inside Mortgage Finance.

“I think Nationstar is going through the pain and agony of the production decline,” said one advisor familiar with the company.

In case you didn’t notice, the price of Fannie and Freddie common rose about 5 percent Tuesday, after Watt spoke. In trading Wednesday, they were up again...

In a report released Wednesday morning, the servicing settlement monitor said Green Tree failed eight metrics tested in the second half of 2013.

Richard Smith, chief marketing officer for Ditech, said the mortgages that the company originates will close in Ditech’s name, not in the name of Green Tree.

If the CFPB is able to turn an enforcement action into a settlement, it’s far less likely to be challenged in court, the professor said.

“This decision is motivated by concerns about how such a reduction could adversely impact the health of the current housing finance market,” said FHFA Director Mel Watt.

On the M&A front, a new report from Compass Point Research & Trading estimates that if PHH Corp. finds a way to sell its mortgage and fleet divisions, the stock should be worth $30 a share.

In a wide-ranging speech – and in supporting documents – Mel Watt also vowed that the GSEs will continue to permit “compensating factors” when weighing a decision to guarantee mortgages where the debt-to-income ratio is north of 43 percent.