We understand that a nonbank called Supreme Lending has been hiring quite a few of WJB’s former staff.

Mortgage lenders posted a sizable increase in home-equity loan originations last year, but the overall market fell to its lowest level since 2004. A new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking shows an estimated $182.6 billion in home-equity lending last year, mostly through home-equity lines of credit and, to a lesser extent, closed-end second mortgages. That was up 19.1 percent from a revised estimate of $153.3 billion back in 2014, somewhat slower than the 33.5 percent increase in first-lien originations in 2015. Home-equity originations declined...[Includes three data tables]

Loan performance for mortgages modified more than five years ago has been relatively stable even as the loans face higher scheduled interest rates. Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said payment shock has been limited and servicers appear to be postponing increases for some borrowers. Loans in the Home Affordable Modification Program have a fixed rate as low as 2.00 percent for the first five years, then the interest rate typically increases in steps of 1.00 percent per year until reaching the average market rate that was in effect at the time the mortgage was modified. Many proprietary mortgages, which outnumber HAMP, have similar features. Non-agency mortgages with a total unpaid principal balance of about $33.0 billion experienced...

Opendoor, an online real estate start-up, unveiled a new service this week that lets sellers trade-in one home for another one instead of watching it sit on the market or being forced to juggle two mortgages. The San Francisco-based company launched the program in Phoenix and Dallas with a goal to make buying and selling a home “as simple as trading in a car.” Once sellers find a new home, they go to the Opendoor website, decide on their closing date, and the company will take it from there, including dealing with the new home’s real estate agent along with the title and escrow. To simplify the transaction, the company doesn’t...

California had one of the highest concentrations of FHA refinance loans, which accounted for 42.3 percent of the state’s total FHA business in 2015.

Some lenders report they have totally adjusted to the new TRID disclosures, while others continue to be plagued by errors and delays.

Redwood said its conforming operations generated a negative return of 22.0 percent in 2015.

FHA consultant Brian Chappelle of Potomac Partners told IMFnews, “I give FHA credit for trying to solve a problem it didn’t create but the DOJ is the elephant in the room.”

A day after the news broke that W.J. Bradley Mortgage has shut its doors, competition is heating up for some of its top loan officer and executive talent...

The mortgages have seasoned for an average of 14 months and have pre-TRID application dates.