The Supreme Court will hear a case on whether national banks are required to follow state requirements to pay interest on funds in mortgage escrow accounts. A ruling in favor of national banks could lead to an unlevel playing field, according to state regulators.

Is the worst of the mortgage market decline finally in the rearview? Maybe. One positive: improving share values of the IPO class of 2020-2021. The best performer in the group: Guild Holdings.

The coming year should bring greater origination volumes to the home finance industry. But CEOs shouldn’t order that new Tesla quite yet. To get there, a spark is needed: 5.5% conventional rates, at least.

If the GSEs required stricter energy codes on new homes, savings on utility bills would cover borrowers’ costs within three years, a coalition of advocacy groups said in a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The company experienced a cyberattack Dec. 20 and took various systems offline to address the issue. System access started to be restored late last week and First American cautioned that sensitive data had been accessed.

Originations of home equity lines of credit and closed-end second liens declined somewhat in the third quarter. Home price appreciation was offset by rising interest rates. (Includes three data tables.)

The Financial Stability Oversight Council’s annual report included four recommendations to address concerns about risks from nonbank mortgage servicers.

Nonbanks regained market share among the top 100 mortgage producers in the third quarter despite a small decline in volume. First-lien lending at small banks and credit unions was up. (Includes two data tables.)

Housing industry trade groups are getting behind bipartisan legislation in the Senate which would prohibit consumer reporting companies from selling consumers’ contact information when they apply for a mortgage.

Community Home Lenders of America has sent a letter to federal mortgage regulators urging them to look into the potential mortgage financing fallout from the court ruling in Sitzer/Burnett v. NAR.