The CFPB just made life a little harder for lenders that provide Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, otherwise known as reverse mortgages. Last week, the bureau put out a report warning older borrowers about taking out such a loan in order to bridge the gap in income while delaying Social Security benefits until a later age. “A reverse mortgage loan can help some older homeowners meet financial needs, but can also jeopardize their retirement if not used carefully,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “For consumers whose main asset is their home, taking out a reverse mortgage to delay Social Security claiming may risk their financial security because the cost of the loan will likely be more than the benefit they gain.” ...

Campaign for Accountability, a self-styled watchdog organization, recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the CFPB to find out what actions the agency has taken to hold Clayton Homes and its mortgage lending subsidiary, Vanderbilt Mortgage, accountable for alleged predatory lending practices.Clayton Homes, based in Maryville, TN, is one of the nation’s largest mobile home sellers, and is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Said Campaign for Accountability Executive Director Daniel Stevens: “Clayton Homes appears to have been preying on some of our most vulnerable citizens. As the company expands its footprint to reach more Americans, it is imperative to know whether the government found any wrongdoing and, if so, what actions were taken.” The watchdog group...

“Before a loan closes there will need to be [property] reinspections,” said Pete Mills, senior vice president of residential policy and member engagement for MBA.

Mortgages in the deal were originated by a variety of lenders, none of which were identified…

The day before, Cherry Creek Mortgage issued a statement saying it would extend health care benefits to cover same-sex couples “effective immediately.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw a modest uptick in production of single-family mortgage-backed securities in July, as 2017 activity remained slightly above last year’s levels. The two GSEs issued $71.84 billion of MBS last month, a 3.7 percent increase from June. That brought year-to-date volume to $479.77 billion, including securitization of modified loans, a slim 1.1 percent increase compared to the first seven months of 2016. The GSE market continued to shift dramatically from refinance loans to purchase mortgages. Refi loans accounted for just 33.4 percent of Fannie and Freddie business in July after ending 2016 with 55.4 percent of GSE business.

The CFPB is loosening regulations amid rumors that agency Director Richard Cordray may soon depart to run for governor of Ohio…

Are loan officers headed for extinction? There certainly will be much less of a market for them in the future if the new online platform, No Originating Loan Officer, being rolled out by 360 Mortgage Group, a privately-owned mortgage banking firm based in Austin, TX, takes hold across the industry. On the other hand, fewer humans in the mortgage lending mix may mean fewer opportunities for errors, cutting compliance corners or engaging in steering and other discriminatory practices that ...

The end of a long-term decline in interest rates will trigger a resurgence of the second-lien market and alter the mortgage market in other areas as well, according to a working paper published by the Urban Institute. How much mortgage rates will rise is unclear, but the 35-year secular decline in interest rates is over, author Laurie Goodman maintained in her preliminary study, “The Impact of Higher Interest Rates on the Mortgage Market.” Goodman, co-director of UI’s Housing Finance ...

The volume of purchase mortgages being originated isn’t as strong as it could be because of the amount of home sales completed solely with cash, according to economists at Freddie Mac. The cash share of home sales is declining, but it remains well above historic levels. The economists projected that about 6.2 million homes will be sold this year. With the cash share of home sales around 20 percent, Freddie projects that $1.38 trillion in purchase mortgages will be originated this year. If the cash share was at the norm of 10 percent, an additional $172.0 billion in purchase mortgages would be originated in 2017, according to the government-sponsored enterprise. Before the financial crisis, about 10 percent of home sales were...