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.

The preliminary findings are not pretty: 55 percent of lender/servicers lost money in 4Q compared to just 4 percent for the first nine months of 2013.

Some mortgage brokers see the switch to a mini-correspondent as their only way to stay in business due to provisions in rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The ATR survey was sent to 53 mortgage-originating entities, mostly mortgage bankers with some independent mortgage brokers and other originators. No credit unions or savings and loans responded.

What does the seller of the MSRs think about what's going on with the DFS? A spokesman for the nation's largest lender and servicer told IMFnews: "Wells Fargo has not been a party to any discussions with the New York Department of Financial Services regarding Ocwen."

An increase in the purchase-mortgage share in new jumbo mortgage-backed securities will benefit investors in the deals, according to Moody's Investors Service. However, the loans are more difficult for lenders to originate than refinance mortgages, and it remains to be seen if investor demand will be high enough to prompt issuance of jumbo MBS. The share of refis in jumbo MBS declined as interest rates rose in 2013. Moody's said the trend is expected to continue this year and noted that ...