The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 1153, “The Mortgage Choice Act,” legislation that would make two adjustments to the Truth in Lending Act definition of points and fees regarding title fees charged by affiliates of the lender. The bill aims to make more loans eligible for qualified-mortgage status by excluding points and fees paid for affiliated title charges and escrow charges for insurance and taxes. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, explained ...

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the CFPB wrongly interpreted the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act will have a huge impact on the mortgage market and the regulatory landscape, industry attorneys said. In a closely-watched case involving PHH Mortgage and its captive mortgage reinsurance unit, the court upheld the notion that the plain language of RESPA permits a bona fide payment by one settlement service provider to another if ...

QM Portfolio Lending Legislation Would Cost CFPB $1 Million to Implement. Enacting H.R. 2226, the Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act, introduced last April by Rep. Andy Barr, R-KY, would cost the CFPB $1 million, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. “Using information from the CFPB, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2226 would increase direct spending by $1 million in 2019 for the agency to issue rules to implement ... [Includes four briefs]

Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton said that home prices have been reasonably strong over the past five years or so, but a new construction lag is what’s really contributing to the lack of affordable housing.He also said there’s been a noticeably higher rate of home price growth than in average or median family income. Layton said, in the long-term, the U.S. has produced 1.5 million housing units a year, both multifamily and single-family. And with a small population growth adjustment, Layton said it should be about 1.6 million a year now. “I believe it has noticeably declined in the financial crisis and it has never returned to that level again,” he said in a phone interview.

With $269.01 billion in flow MI business for the year, private MIs recorded a modest 0.6 percent increase from 2016.

Once consummated, the merger will allow Nationstar to shelter its earnings for years to come…

Under the new AQB standards, only an associate’s degree in a field related to the appraisal industry will be required…

Suffice to say, Fannie and Freddie are two cash cows that only a crazy person would eliminate, unless that crazy person doesn’t like money…

The credit box in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lending continued to widen – at a glacial rate – during 2017, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of mortgage-backed securities disclosure data. The easing trend seemed to lose momentum slightly in the fourth quarter, as more government-sponsored enterprise business landed in the middle-risk categories. For the full year, 12.13 percent of GSE purchase loans were in the highest-risk ... [Includes two data charts]

Look for more sales of mortgage-origination platforms this year, said Jeffrey Levine, a managing director at Houlihan Lokey and co-head of the firm’s financial institutions group. He noted that in recent years, merger-and-acquisition activity has been concentrated on transfers of legacy mortgage servicing rights. But as interest rates have risen, buyers and sellers are focused on origination franchises. Independent companies that have origination assets and servicing also look to be in play ...