FY 2013 Actuarial Report to Congress on the State of the MMIF Delayed. Release of the FY 2013 actuarial audit of the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund will be delayed because of the recent government shutdown, according to a government source. No other details were provided. The FHA recently notified Congress that it would seek a mandatory appropriation of approximately $1.7 billion to bolster its capital reserves for expected future losses. FHA officials said the draw does not suggest anything dire but is simply a matter of ...

Among the nation’s top five lenders in 3Q, Quicken suffered the largest volume decline on a sequential basis. Wells Fargo was a close second.

During a Q&A session at the convention, MBS co-inventor Lew Ranieri said there is no “viable” alternative to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, noting that if the two disappear banks will not rush to put 30-year fixed rate loans on their books.

Bill Erbey, the company's founder and chairman, downplayed concerns that Ocwen is growing too quickly.

SunTrust is about to leave the wholesale/broker channel. Who's next?

Mortgage originations in the third quarter of 2013 fell to their lowest level since the end of 2011, pulling down industry earnings and expectations for next year. According to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis, lenders generated an estimated $460.0 billion in new home loans during the third quarter. That was down 18.6 percent from the second quarter, when production had rallied slightly. Compared to the first nine months of 2012, origination volume this year was...[Includes two data charts]

It’s a done deal that the Federal Housing Finance Agency will make “across the board” reductions in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits that will take effect in May 2014, but factions in the housing and mortgage industries are already drafting contingency plans if the cuts are too deep. “I would say if they are significantly – 5 to 10 percent – reduced, then you will see new legislation,” said one industry lobbyist who’s been tracking the issue for well over a year. In other words, if the national loan limit falls...

The future of the mortgage market is assuming a much more prominent position in policy discussions among Congressional lawmakers, particularly in the Senate. But while there is real reason to expect progress on a legislative solution to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and a privately funded secondary market this year, Capitol Hill insiders warn that the endgame should be measured in years, not months. Speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention in Washington this week, former House Financial Services Committee Senior Counsel Michael Borden and former Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Staff Director Dwight Fettig agreed it’s a virtual certainty that a final reform bill will not materialize during the 113th Congress. “I think we’re...

Although Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are working through the pile of potential repurchases related to pre-conservatorship loans, lenders remain concerned about buyback risk – even under the more lender-friendly policies that went into effect this year. “The representations and warranties framework we have in this industry absolutely does not work,” said Brian Fitzpatrick, president and CEO of LoanLogics, during a panel session at this week’s annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association. The new reps-and-warranties framework devised by the Federal Housing Finance Agency in January provides...

Early Thursday, EverBank disclosed that it is selling $13.4 billion of Ginnie Mae servicing rights, while transferring $6.9 billion in subservicing to Walter Investment Management Corp.