FHFA chief Mel Watt noted: “In Treasury’s view, it’s a legislative decision” to change the terms of the bailout agreement.

G-fees range from 50 to 55 basis points. Prior to the housing bust, some seller/servicers had g-fee payments as low as 12 basis points.

The Mortgage Choice Act was passed by the GOP-held House in June, but failed to move through the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Ruth Lee, executive vice president of TCS, expects a big year in the scratch-and-dent market, thanks to the GSEs.

Prospect Mortgage is the top contributor with a 9.1 percent share, followed by Ditech Mortgage (8.6 percent) and Skyline Financial (7.1 percent). All three are nonbanks.

Roughly $164.77 billion of securities backed by commercial mortgages were issued last year, down just 0.6 percent from 2013, which was a banner year.

The firm noted that employment and income fraud peaked in the fourth quarter of 2013 and has declined ever since.

In some cases, loan officers who work for net branch operators can earn 225 to 250 bps per deal.

Last year, the mortgage industry cautioned HUD against assessing a fee to fund certain risk management improvements in the FHA program.

Any monkeying with the GSE charters must get past two of the most powerful lobbying groups in all of housing finance...