Thanks to sustained low interest rates, auctions of mortgage servicing rights are scarce these days, but not impossible. Investors are still interested but they're cautious. Meanwhile, loan production continues to increase.

Quicken rarely talks about its presence in the wholesale/broker market, but the company recently named a new EVP Austin Niemiec in charge of the business. Meanwhile, some have pegged Quicken's wholesale volume at $5 billion a quarter. What's going on here?

Mortgage Grapevine: Rushmore is buying another origination platform, a sign that mortgage M&A could be on the rise again. Meanwhile, Fannie Mae is offering buyout packages to a select group of employees.

The use of automated valuation models is set to increase, prompting concerns and some optimism among industry participants. The Dodd-Frank Act directed federal regulators to address the use of AVMs but that hasn't happened yet.

Grapevine: A few days ahead of a scheduled bankruptcy auction, New Residential Investment Corp. has swooped in and made a "stalking horse" bid. Meanwhile, a big promotion at Fannie Mae and a record month for Guaranteed Rate.

It's no secret that Ginnie Mae officials are losing sleep over nonbanks dominating the government MBS market. With liquidity a primary concern, the agency is ready to consider "non-traditional" investors in its MSRs. But there's a catch: They may have to commit as much as $1 billion.

The FCC is allowing phone companies to more easily block illegal calls and unwanted calls. Mortgage servicers are concerned that legitimate calls to borrowers will inadvertently be blocked, which could cause problems.

It may be the industry's best-kept secret: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is actively pursuing fair lending cases, according to compliance experts speaking at an ABA conference this week. Whether any charges will be filed is a different matter.