Adam Levitin, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, is critical of efforts to align the QRM rule with the QM. “Skin in the game is meant to be a systemic stability regulation, but it has instead been pegged to a consumer protection regulation,” he said.

Roughly 96 percent of mortgage bankers earned money in the third quarter. But that wasn't the case in 4Q, according to Richey May & Co.

Add default servicing to the list of things JPM's Jamie Dimon doesn't like about the mortgage industry.

In a rambling, 6-page letter sent to the GSE’s board, Fairholme Managing Member Bruce Berkowitz claims Fannie Mae’s equity securities are now valued by the market at $36 billion.

Among the components of the CFPB's ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule, the 3 percent cap on fees and points was by far of greatest concern, a recent survey by the National Association of Realtors found. According to the NAR, 60 percent of survey respondents indicated that they were "very concerned" about the 3 percent points-and-fees cap. Also on the list of high concerns were the limitations on the annual percentage rate relative to the average prime offer rate for the general QM standard and the FHA's QM standards.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is proving to be a burden to small banks throughout the country and threatens to cut off a variety of product offerings for many of the borrowers they serve, according to a new study by George Mason University's Mercatus Center. "Our initial analysis suggests that Dodd-Frank is having significant effects on small banks and their customers. A large majority of small banks view Dodd-Frank as more burdensome than the Bank Secrecy Act, a regulatory regime that banks widely regard as very burdensome," said the study, which was prepared by a trio of academics, including senior research fellow Hester Peirce, former senior counsel to Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

“Revenues at some of these firms are going to take a nosedive over the next year or so,” said Anthony Garritano, founder of the Progress in Lending Association, an industry think-tank.

The year’s top five FHA lenders – Wells Fargo, Quicken Loans, JPMorgan Chase, Freedom Mortgage and Bank of America – combined for 21.9 percent, or $46.0 billion, of total agency production, down 34.6 percent quarter over quarter.

HomeStreet might participate in or sponsor non-agency MBS going forward.

In an interview with IMFnews, Habib confirmed his resignation, but declined to say anything further about the company’s future.