Mid-range credit scores – from 700 to 739 – accounted for 21.3 percent of Fannie and Freddie business last year.

ICBA also suggested extending QM exceptions to more community banks by raising the threshold number of loans small lenders can originate each year.

So, how come Freddie has conducted a handful of NPL sales thus far and Fannie Mae has not?

Some banks have already been doing loan closings themselves...

Few lenders are counting on a reduction in the current “ongoing” GSE fee, which increased from 13 basis points in 2009 to 40 bps in 2013.

Mortgage companies repurchased or provided indemnification to Fannie and Freddie on some $4.046 billion of mortgages during 2014.

Mortgages with credit scores exceeding 740 continued to dominate the conventional conforming market in 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last year. High-score borrowers accounted for 62.0 percent of loans securitized through the two government-sponsored enterprises in 2014. They accounted for an even bigger 66.2 percent of purchase-mortgages loans ... [Includes one data chart]

A company called NotaryCam is raising eyebrows – and hopes for the future of e-mortgages – with the deployment of what it claims is the world’s only notary service that securely and legally notarizes documents online within minutes via live web conference from anywhere in the world. Requiring just a standard webcam, NotaryCam, based in Alexandria, VA, can produce a digital version of notarized documents within minutes. And with browser-to-browser ...

Third Federal Savings & Loan in Cleveland is wooing first-time homebuyers with an offer of a $1,000 credit to spend as they wish if they close a purchase mortgage with the lender. There is no catch, said David Reavis, marketing manager for Third Federal. “There are no points and fees on the back end to cover the credit,” he said. “Third Federal is paying for it. We think the combination of a competitive rate and the $1,000 in the form of a check is an attractive offer that will ...

Total VA volume for the entire year was $112.0 billion in purchase and refinance loans.