The key factor is that some mortgage originators, the megabanks especially, are keeping conventional loans in portfolio that might otherwise be securitized by Fannie and Freddie.

According to Inside Mortgage Finance, among the top 15 jumbo originators eight are nonbanks.

The data to be reported under the CFPB’s proposal likely will inflame the current fair lending regulatory environment.

New Penn also reorganized its origination channels, consolidating wholesale and correspondent, while adding a mini-correspondent business line.

A proposed FHA administrative fee as high as 4 basis points to fund quality assurance enforcement and technology upgrades also went down in flames.

Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest nonbank lender, recently offered a lender-paid mortgage insurance “sale” through loan brokers, committing $100 million to the effort and wrapping up the promotion in roughly 60 hours. According to Tod Highfield, vice president of loan production at Quicken, the sale wasn’t designed to hit any volume targets per se, but was meant to heighten the firm’s profile among certain segments of the origination market, namely brokers, credit unions and community banks. The offer was pitched...

Democrats in Congress and consumer advocates remain concerned about tight underwriting standards for mortgages, particularly due to overlays established by lenders. However, at a hearing this week by a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, there was a lack of consensus on what causes underwriting overlays. “Instead of matching the creditworthy borrower at the lower end of the distribution with affordable loans, these borrowers are being cut out of the market entirely,” said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, chairman of the Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, suggested...

But there's one little wrinkle: the GSEs cannot pass the cost of funding the HTF onto lenders…

The FHA temporary waiver was issued in November of last year and now has been extended to Aug. 31, 2016.

Compared to two years ago, staffing levels at the CFPB have increased a whopping 55 percent. Of course, Congress has no say over the agency’s budget.