The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made a few industry hearts skip a beat last week when it proposed loosening some of the parameters of the ability-to-repay rule for small lenders and for those providing credit to rural and underserved communities. Under the bureau’s proposal, small lenders could hold an unlimited number of mortgages in portfolio without sacrificing their “small creditor” status under the ATR rule. In and of itself, the change isn’t that big a deal. But what really captured some industry representatives’ imagination was the possibility that it might represent a liberalization of the bureau’s attitude toward portfolio loans in the context of the ATR rule and more concessions ahead. Under the CFPB’s proposal, the definition of “small creditor” would expand...

Two Harbors is a member of the FHLB system via a captive insurance affiliate. The Federal Housing Finance Agency is contemplating snuffing out this avenue of membership...

At yearend, PMFS serviced $106.0 billion of mortgages, ranking 15th nationwide, according to a new market analysis from Inside Mortgage Finance.

Two Harbors, a REIT, has been aggregating, on average, $300 million of jumbo mortgages per month.

In its 8-K filing with the SEC, Ocwen revealed that during 2014, state regulators commenced 46 examinations “of one or more of our areas of operation…”

Most importantly, the ATR proposal would exclude from that limit loans held in portfolio.

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.

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

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