Warehouse commitment levels remained flat at $50.0 billion in the first quarter as a tepid origination market early in the year reduced the need for new lines, according to exclusive survey figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. But with the first quarter firmly in the rearview mirror, warehouse executives are reporting a robust spring/early summer with new customers coming on board and nonbanks tapping more of the lines already committed to them. “We’ve had...[Includes one data table]

Wells Fargo, the nation’s top-ranked mortgage lender, appears to have escaped unscathed from the scrutiny the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau directed toward a former loan officer, an investigation which resulted in an $85,000 fine and a one-year ban from working in the mortgage industry. Last week, the CFPB announced a consent order with David Eghbali, formerly an LO for Wells’ Wilshire Crescent branch in Beverly Hills, CA, from November 2007 through July 2015. The bureau accused him of referring a substantial number of loan closings to a single escrow company, New Millennium Escrow, Inc., which allegedly shifted its fees from some customers to others at his request. “In exchange for the flexibility to shift fees from some loans to others, respondent [Eghbali] referred...

A dispute over rule interpretation between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and its inspector general regarding the use of gift funds and premium pricing in downpayment assistance has FHA lenders concerned about potential liability and unnecessary legal costs. Last week, HUD Deputy Secretary/FHA Commissioner Edward Golding sought to allay lender concerns by refuting the IG’s position on lender use of downpayment assistance programs sponsored by state housing finance agencies. In a memo to the industry, Golding upheld...

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase recently launched programs to deliver low-downpayment mortgages to Fannie Mae that differ from the government-sponsored enterprises’ recent expansion into high loan-to-value financing. Both banks introduced new 97 percent LTV programs they believe are easier to use than the GSE initiatives and, for certain borrowers, a better choice than FHA financing. Wells Fargo’s “yourFirstMortgage” requires a minimum of 3 percent downpayment for fixed-rate mortgages. The company will consider FICO scores significantly lower than other similar high-LTV programs, to as low as 620, along with debt-to-income ratios up to 45 percent. Factoring in nontraditional uses of credit such as rent, utility bill payments and tuition is...

Mortgage servicers appeared to have received some protections in November when amendments to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act were signed into law. However, the rule proposed by the Federal Communications Commission to implement the amendments contravenes the law, according to one FCC commissioner. The TCPA allows for one errant call to a cell phone number that hasn’t provided consent before liabilities under the law are triggered. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 amended...

Two of the deals offer a range of $50 million to $100 million per month in GSE servicing rights and have a bid deadline of early next week.

Ten trade organizations and community groups this week sent a letter to FHFA Director Mel Watt imploring him to suspend the quarterly GSE dividend paid to the Treasury Department...

Chimera retained about 15.0 percent of all three of the non-agency MBS...

However, another industry participant noted: “It is our understanding that the TRID compliance exams have begun..."

The banking industry sold $145.3 billion of home mortgages during the first quarter, a 5.1 percent decline from the previous period.