Buoyed by improvement in FHA loan quality, some lenders have begun lowering the credit score requirements for FHA and other government-backed mortgages. Last month, Wells Fargo alerted FHA lenders of its decision to lower the minimum credit score for purchase home loans through its retail channel from 640 to 600. “We felt it was an appropriate time to do it given the improvement in FHA loan quality,” a spokesman explained. “The change applies to all FHA borrowers. Last year’s resolution of the FHA indemnification issue also prompted the change at Wells Fargo, according to a bank official. In addition, resolving the putback risk with ...

NRMLA Plans to Recruit Certain Borrowers to Offer HECM Testimonials. Seeing so much negative publicity against reverse mortgages, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association is planning to recruit borrowers who are willing to share with reporters their positive experiences with the product. The aim is to build a “repository” of borrowers who are willing to be interviewed by reporters on the merits of having a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loan. Media representatives typically contact the NRMLA for borrower interviews, and having a borrower contact list would ...

Speculators, in the form of “short-sellers,” are zeroing in on the mortgage industry, including some of the fastest-growing servicers of the past two years: Nationstar Mortgage, Ocwen Financial, and Walter Investment Management Corp. But one mortgage stock being shorted more than any of these is PHH Corp., the parent company of PHH Mortgage, the nation’s seventh largest originator. According to figures compiled by Standard & Poor’s, as of early February, speculators had sold short 17.2 million shares of PHH common. As a ratio of shares outstanding in PHH, this comes...[Includes one data chart]

Since Mel Watt was sworn into a five-year term as Federal Housing Finance Agency director on January 6, the former North Carolina Congressman has made no public appearances or policy statements except for canned comments attributed to him in routine FHFA press releases.

Fed chairman Janet Yellen told legislators: “I think it is really very important for Congress to put in place a new system to address GSE reform. I think we still have a system that has systemic risk."

Despite the news concerning a possible sale, PHH’s share price on Wednesday was trading up, but not by much. Its price is still more than $1 below its 52-week high of $26.76.

In a section entitled “Originations: Return to Profitability,” Nationstar mentions “right-sizing operations” to align with volume expectations.

Worried that New York State regulators will throw a monkey-wrench into Ocwen’s mortgage servicing acquisition plans? Don’t be.

Among the changes on the table are disclosing the loan term, total points and fees, the length of any teaser or introductory rate, and the applicant or borrower’s age and credit score.

New York regulator Lawsky raised concerns about the servicing cost-savings long touted by Ocwen, which are achieved via technology and employees largely located outside of the U.S.