Senior lawmakers in the Senate said they remain “bullish” on moving legislation to the floor sooner rather than later in 2014.

Officials close to the matter said the MI policy briefing was cancelled due to Senate approval of a new permanent director to the agency, Mel Watt, a former North Carolina Congressman.

Purchase-mortgage originations continued to grow during the third quarter of 2013, with a significant share of the loans coming from loan correspondents, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. Lenders generated an estimated $218.0 billion in purchase mortgages during the third quarter, the highest three-month volume since the third quarter of 2007. That was up 17.2 percent from the second quarter and it brought year-to-date production to $583.0 billion, up 30.4 percent from the same period in 2012. Refinance production continued...[Includes four data charts]

Warehouse commitments extended to nonbanks fell 16 percent on a sequential basis in the third quarter to roughly $20.5 billion, according to new figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. Compared to the same period a year earlier, commitments tumbled even more: 20 percent. The drop in commitments mirrored, somewhat, the fall-off in residential originations, which declined almost 19 percent in the third quarter. However, commitments measure how much credit a warehouse lender is willing to provide – not how much it actually provides. Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest warehouse lender, had...[Includes one data chart]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may formally address the treatment of affiliate fees in the points-and-fees calculation for qualified mortgages under the agency’s ability-to-repay rule, which takes effect in just a few weeks. Until such a decision is made, industry representatives have put together some guidance on how to exclude such fees from that 3 percent cap. “There has been significant industry confusion concerning the extent to which affiliate fees are included in the points-and-fees calculation, particularly when only a portion of a fee is retained by an affiliate,” the Mortgage Bankers Association said early this week. The trade group has put together a document outlining its understanding of the CFPB’s definitive guidance, based on discussions with bureau staff, on the treatment of affiliate fees in both the qualified mortgage and the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act points-and-fees calculations. “Please keep in mind...

The appraisal requirements required by the Dodd-Frank Act apply to higher-priced mortgages that don’t meet qualified mortgage requirements.

“The CFPB’s treatment of balloon loans was a step in the right direction, and demonstrated recognition of the unique nature of community banking and a different approach to regulating them,” the CSBS says in a new white paper.

Industry trade groups feared a 10 basis point increase in the g-fee from a budget deal.

The changes are part of an extensive overhaul aimed at boosting the rural housing market, increasing the availability of rural home loans and spurring the construction of new homes in rural areas.

Investors hunger for yield. And what better place to get it than in the new breed of subprime mortgages.