“It is time to shrug off the naysaying consultants and lawyers who breed a culture of fear and hypothesized problems to hype their services,” Cordray added.

Fairholme is feeling the heat from investors over poor performance, with Berkowitz noting the fund’s returns have “put us in the dog house.”

Meanwhile, Fairholme’s case against the government is still pending and Berkowitz said from a legal standpoint, “We’re getting closer to the finish line…”

Roughly 88 percent of lenders plan to grow their origination business this year, and many – 67 percent – will either increase the number of retail branches or add loan officers.

Thanks to falling interest rates, some warehouse managers are starting to hear their telephones ring with requests for new credit.

Several groups of traditional insurance companies have substantially increased their borrowing capacity from the FHLB system as well.

Compared to an estimate released at its annual convention in October, the trade group's production forecast is up 12.3 percent.

Baldwin noted that experienced mortgage bankers have grown to expect seasonality, but that doesn’t mean they have to like it…

Currently, employers are required to pay overtime for all employees who make $23,660 or less annually.

“I personally called their line. I didn’t see much difference, to be honest with you,” said Impac executive Joe Tomkinson.