Despite the potential seriousness of the allegations, the CFPB did not identify any lenders by name.

Jumbo mortgage production last year grew its share of total originations to its highest level since well before the financial collapse that launched the era of the “agency jumbo” loan. Mortgage lenders cranked out a total of $291.1 billion of home mortgages with loan balances exceeding the old conforming loan limit of $417,000. Like everything else in mortgages, jumbo production was down from 2013, by 22.4 percent. But total mortgage originations fell...[Includes three data charts]

Real estate agents have significant influence when it comes to which lender a homebuyer will choose, according to new research by Campbell Surveys, based on a national survey sponsored byInside Mortgage Finance Publications. Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys, said real estate agents recommend specific mortgage providers for 55 percent of their mortgage-financed transactions, on average. When agents recommend mortgage providers, homebuyers use one of the recommended mortgage providers 68 percent of the time, on average. “We can therefore impute...

Subservicing vendors increased their contracts by 23.1 percent in terms of dollar volume over the past year and now process an estimated $1.12 trillion of home mortgages, according to exclusive survey figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. When it comes to market share, subservicers control 12.3 percent of all U.S. housing receivables. According to interviews with industry executives, compliance costs are...[Includes one data chart]

The U.S. Supreme Court this week dealt a heavy blow to the mortgage industry, holding that the Department of Labor’s most recent regulatory interpretation is valid, meaning mortgage loan officers are eligible for overtime pay. The DOL went back and forth, through formal rulemaking and regulator interpretations, on whether loan officers should be exempt. At one point, it said lenders did not have to pay LOs overtime because they fit in the so-called administrative exemption. But in its most recent position, a 2010 opinion letter, the agency said loan officers are not exempt from the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act, including overtime pay. The Mortgage Bankers Association challenged...

The days of it being a seller’s market for mortgage banking franchises appears to be over, with current owners are increasingly unwilling to part with their companies at reduced prices. As one merger-and-acquisitions specialist put it, “It’s just hard getting deals done these days.” It looks like a case of supply and demand – and, of course, cash. At the very least, sellers want to receive book value for their companies plus some type of “earn-out” that could last up to 10 years. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance over the past week, the ratio of buyers to sellers has...

A major snag on getting deals completed is the "earn-out" agreement.

Industry participants continue to call for changes to how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau operates its consumer complaint database. A proposal in December to renew the CFPB’s Consumer Response Intake Form drew criticism from the Mortgage Bankers Association and others. “CFPB and industry data both show that a small fraction of consumer complaints warrant any action beyond an explanation,” Stephen O’Connor, a senior vice president of public policy and industry relations at the MBA, said in a comment letter to the CFPB. The Office of Management and Budget approved...

HUD is seeking authority for the FHA to require, in certain instances, institutions with less expertise in servicing to hand off that function to a specialized servicer...

Most people who are not in straight-jackets believe the chances of GSE reform by 2016 are pretty much zero. Just in case you were wondering and needed a reminder…