Lenders continued to increase loan originator compensation in the first quarter of 2020. However, this party won’t last long as the industry braces for recession, job losses and tighter underwriting.

Wells Fargo has been the top lender in total home loan production since Countrywide hit the skids in the second quarter of 2008. But Quicken took the top spot in early 2020. (Includes two data charts.)

Mortgage bankers have been clamoring for liquidity help from the FHFA. This week, the agency delivered on the issue of the GSEs buying COVID-19-related forbearance loans, but then lenders read the fine print.

In a sign of hope for the non-QM market, Sprout Mortgage resumed offering expanded-credit products last week.

Economists at Fannie and Freddie are “relatively optimistic” about mortgage originations in 2020, despite the economic impact of COVID-19. But not if social distancing remains in place beyond May.

Regulators have acknowledged that the lack of legal clarity and the speedy implementation of the new forbearance requirements may set the stage for exploitation by unscrupulous or ill-informed servicers.

Temporary prohibitions imposed by Pennsylvania could shutdown mortgage originations, the MBA warned. Meanwhile, the trade group noted that servicing standards set by Washington, DC, differ from federal ones.

The CFPB is likely to extend the qualified-mortgage patch, but the question remains whether it will make changes to the current QM framework.

Warehouse credit flows downhill: from the financier to the nonbank lender to the consumer. But with the pandemic stoking new economic fears, some providers are tightening their standards, like market leaders JPM and FH.

According to independent mortgage bankers, aggregators are adding credit overlays and refusing to buy loans in response to post-closing forbearance risk.