The resulting lender, which will keep the Ethos name, plans to start originating qualified mortgages in the second quarter of 2014 and non-QMs by the end of the year.

Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, cited a letter from a mortgage banking constituent who said his company is being forced out of the residential lending business because of the cost and complexity of regulatory compliance.

New York regulators want to know whether the additional costs will be passed onto consumers. Ellie Mae is not commenting.

In general, many mortgage firms that make loans on vacation homes want a downpayment of at least 20 percent.

Meanwhile, Ocwen’s board recently increased the maximum bonus amount for senior level executives to $3 million per year from $2 million.

Ocwen's stock has been floundering of late, but its payroll is headed north on a rocket.

Mortgage banking is an ugly business right now, but lenders are hoping that the first quarter will prove to be the nadir and that better times are ahead.

Despite the results, four of the top 10 depositories sold more loans into the secondary market in 2013 than they did the year prior.

“Not only will FHA continue to go after the big banks, but they’re going after the mid-sized banks as well,” said Andrew Henscel, whose firm defends originators.

If you’re disappointed by the sluggish mortgage market where you are, you can take some comfort in knowing that the grass isn’t much greener anywhere else. A new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of first-quarter mortgage activity by state shows that most areas of the country produced at least 40 percent fewer mortgages in early 2014 than during the same period last year. California, still the biggest housing market of all, saw a 67.2 percent decline in mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That was a couple ticks worse than the 63.7 percent nationwide. In contrast, the market was down “only” 44.9 percent in Texas, the second-largest source of agency mortgages. Third-ranked Florida was also in a little better shape than the overall market, though business was down 53.6 percent from the first quarter of 2013...