The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the city of Chicago have reached a face-saving settlement in a longstanding legal dispute over whether Fannie and Freddie, as entities under federal conservatorship, are subject to the city’s vacant-building ordinance. Under the terms of a settlement reached earlier this month but announced last week, the two GSEs will voluntarily register vacant properties with the city but won’t be subject to a $500 registration fee. The FHFA will also no longer seek to recover registration fees or penalties already paid to Chicago.

Market fundamentals appear to have blunted the expected impact of Homeowner Bill of Rights laws enacted by three states in 2013.

The investigation by the New York Department of Financial Services of nonbank servicers including Nationstar Mortgage and Ocwen Financial has put a halt to servicing sales.

U.S. Bank's mortgage originations in the first quarter of 2014 declined by 71.2 percent compared with the first quarter of 2013.

Walter, through its affiliate Green Tree Loan Servicing, is a top 10 ranked servicer, according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance.

DBRS suggests it's likely that most of the U.S. population won't be able to qualify for a mortgage any time soon...

The FHFA and Chicago settled a legal battle that started in November 2011 regarding maintenance and fees for vacant properties.

Fitch said OneWest found a new buyer for 12,000 mortgages in 39 non-agency MBS that didn’t receive consents as part of the planned transfer to Ocwen.

During a recent webinar on MSR strategies, industry attorney Larry Platt of K&L Gates said he knows of “certain sales that have been held up for quite some time.” He noted: “You really can’t get a handle on what the cause of it is.”

The MBA said applications for purchase-mortgages with high loan balances have increased in recent months while applications for lower-balance mortgages has declined…