One of PHH’s largest private label clients is Merrill Lynch, which is owned by Bank of America.

The most significant bill up for debate Wednesday is the Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act, introduced by Rep. Andy Barr, R-KY, which would deem all loans held in portfolio to be qualified mortgages under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule.

CSP watchers say the GSE platform is starting to look like an orphan under director Mel Watt. But will Watt mention the project in his first public speech next week?

Sixth-ranked Freedom Mortgage Corp. bucked the overall trend with a 19 percent increase in TPO deliveries to the agencies.

Redwood Trust officials said its next jumbo MBS likely will be issued late in the second quarter.

“They’re either going to shut their doors, merge or sell out to someone else,” one M&A advisor told Inside Mortgage Finance. “We could see 2,000 firms disappear.”

Of late, nonbanks are showing an increasing interest in buying delinquent loans out of Ginnie Mae pools.

Based on what Freddie's Layton said, one might think that going forward, the GSEs might barely break even. Maybe that’s why the GSEs – and not necessarily Mel Watt – want to hike their guaranty fees…

Purchase mortgages accounted for 44.4 percent of California’s first-quarter 2014 production, compared to 52.0 percent nationwide.

Agency securitization of loans originated by correspondents and mortgage brokers fell 27.9 percent during the first quarter, but there are a number of companies moving in to take up the slack as big-name banks trim down their third-party originator programs. Wells Fargo and Chase remained the biggest sellers of TPO loans to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, but their volume was down 41 percent from the fourth quarter ... [Includes one data chart]