When rates take a noticeable dive – as they have the past few weeks – mortgage lenders contemplating a sale sometimes have a change of heart, opting to ride the new production wave. But this time around, that doesn’t appear to be the case. “Most every lender I speak to understands this to be a very temporary event prior to a relatively cold and uncertain winter,” said M&A advisor Rick Roque of Menlo Company. Over the past two months, Inside Mortgage Finance has found 10 publicly announced M&A transactions with several more likely signed that weren’t disclosed. Roque, who’s working on several deals, said...

Meanwhile, 84 lenders contributed to Redwood’s pending issuance, led by First Republic Bank with a 32.6 percent share.

Wells Fargo's origination market share keeps dropping, but is still more than double that of its closest competitor, JPMorgan Chase.

Once word leaks out that a mortgage company is a takeover target, many LOs start weighing their options, contacting competitors who tried to recruit them in the past.

The share price of Ocwen Financial recently fell to a 52-week low of $18.47, a 70 percent decline that has wiped out at least $5 billion in market equity.

The SIGTARP said that since the beginning of 2013 it has received complaints from “nearly 100” borrowers regarding issues with servicing transfers, and that 84 of the calls came in 2014.

Roughly a month ago, ClearVision founder Jon Maddox announced his retirement to Pacific Union senior management.

Guild's McGarry also said the company will not be closing on any more transactions in 2014.

Pacific Union Financial took in $100 million of profits. It’s not every day that a privately held nonbank tells the world what it’s earning…

Young doctors just out of medical school can be good non-QM credit risks. Of course, there's all that student loan debt to consider...