The Basel III accords may never happen, but if they do, some large servicers will have to reduce their MSR footprint.

Navy Federal, which is headquartered in one of the hottest housing markets in the nation, saw residential fundings almost double in the first quarter.

When it comes to jumbo MBS deals, Redwood Trust is on a tear this year.

Sometimes the most significant thing to come out of an encounter with a newsmaker is not what he says but what he hears. Such was the case last week when CFPB Acting Deputy Director Steven Antonakes addressed attendees at the American Bankers Association’s government relations event in Washington, DC, and took questions afterwards. During the question-and-answer portion after his prepared remarks, one attendee told Antonakes that small banks in Oklahoma are exiting the mortgage business in a number of small communities over fears of potential...

The CFPB has issued two compliance guides for small entities that had to do with its escrow rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the ability-to-repay rule, both issued in January. The bureau said its goal with the guides is to provide an overview of the rules in a plain language and frequently asked question format, “which makes the content more accessible and consumable for a broad array of industry constituents, especially smaller businesses with limited legal and compliance staff.” The consumer agency also emphasized that...

Late last week, the CFPB issued another proposal to address questions regarding “qualified mortgages” and mortgage servicing that have come up since the agency first issued rulemakings on those topics in January. The new proposed rule addresses five topics, including debt-to-income ratio. Under the ability-to-repay rule, a lender may make a qualified mortgage, a loan for which certain features are prohibited and fees that can be charged are limited. The rule provides for different types of QMs, the main type requiring that...

The CFPB has proposed clarifying and technical amendments to its Jan. 10, 2013, final mortgage escrow account rule, which lengthens the time for which a mandatory escrow account established for a higher-priced mortgage loan (HPML) must be maintained. The rule also established an exemption from the escrow requirement for certain lenders that operate predominantly in “rural” or “underserved” areas. The proposed amendments clarify the determination method for the “rural” and “underserved” designations and keep in place certain...

Banking regulators acknowledged problems with the foreclosure reviews conducted by the nation's megabanks and have agreed to evaluate the use of independent consultants in regulatory actions.

Expect quality control to be the single most critical component at the top of a long list of requirements for prospective lenders seeking to do business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to agency officials and experts during an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar this week. The two government-sponsored enterprises are ready, willing and able to do business with new seller/servicer partners, if they are prepared to demonstrate, in a transparent and painstaking way, they are an opportunity to Fannie or Freddie and not a risk, National Union Mortgage President and CEO Bill Cosgrove told webinar attendees. “It’s really all about quality control. Every area of your organization has to be...

Issuance of non-agency MBS quadrupled in the first quarter, according to new figures compiled by Inside MBS & ABS. Firms selling securities include Ocwen and Nationstar.