Mortgage originators reported a sharp increase in home-equity lending during the second quarter of 2016, although it wasn’t as robust a gain as the 34.2 percent surge in first-lien originations. Lenders generated an estimated $53.5 billion in home-equity business during the second quarter, an increase of 18.9 percent from the first three months of the year. It was the strongest quarterly production number for the HEL market since the financial crisis. Halfway through 2016, home-equity lending was up 15.9 percent from last year and tracking toward $200 billion in annual production. Although home-equity lending has strengthened over the past few years as house prices have recovered to pre-crisis levels, the outstanding supply of home-equity debt continues...[Includes three data tables]

The CHOICE Act also would make changes to the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, including replacing the single directorship with a five-member board or commission.

Ocwen gets an upgrade, but there are doubters...

“Are there bargain hunters out there?” asked one servicing executive. “To some extent, yes.”

It’s not clear how many of the consumers with unauthorized accounts had mortgages with Wells, though the megabank and its peers have put an emphasis on cross-selling financial products to jumbo customers.

The GSE conundrum in perspective: "The mortgage finance system is working so consumers are somnambulant; media occasionally write about it, but don’t get fired up; courts don’t seem to be upset over unprecedented Treasury bullying and revenue abuse..."

Meanwhile, many mortgage companies that specialize in production are posting strong profits…

Another reason for the cut in fees: rural housing delinquencies and foreclosures are at record lows.

It's hard out there for a hedge fund (suing the government regarding the GSEs)...

Tennessee Lender Agrees to $70 million Settlement to Resolve Alleged FHA Violations. Franklin American Mortgage of Franklin, TN, has agreed to pay the federal government $70 million to resolve allegations of failing to comply with FHA requirements. Specifically, the direct endorsement lender allegedly engaged in improper underwriting of FHA loans between Jan. 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2012, which later resulted in submission of claims and substantial losses to the FHA insurance fund. Franklin entered into a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Inspector General. As part of the settlement, Franklin acknowledged “it engaged in certain conduct in connection with its origination, underwriting, and quality control of certain single-family residential mortgage loans insured by FHA.” The settlement was neither an admission of ...