Is Ed DeMarco unimpressed with Fannie and Freddie's return to profitability? “…we should keep the recent reports of positive net income in perspective,” he told the audience of the Bipartisan Policy Center this week. “Much of it has been related to one-time adjustments..."

The market for servicing sales has been strong for most of 2013, but could get even better between now and year-end as the megabanks look to dump their “legacy” problems and small shops sell mortgage servicing rights to boost earnings in a weak origination market. “It used to be that Bank of America, Wells, and JPM were the buyers [of servicing],” said Tom Piercy, managing member of Interactive Mortgage Advisors, Denver. “Now they’re the sellers. It’s a totally different environment now.” A year ago ...

Roughly 4,100 people have registered to attend the annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association, which launches Sunday night in Power City USA.

A senior executive at Residential Finance Corp. confirmed that the company’s chief financial officer Nick Hahn left the lender/servicer last month, but has since been replaced.

But there was good news from Cole Taylor Mortgage as well. The company’s servicing portfolio is up to $16 billion in receivables.

Marc Savitt, president of National Association of Independent Housing Professionals, a broker/appraiser trade group, noted that the short-term outlook for the sector looks difficult.

Flagstar has finally admitted that it's close to selling a ton of MSRs. But if you want details, don't hold your breath.

Addressing the annual convention of the American Bankers Association, the CFPB chief stressed that his agency is proceeding full speed ahead with the January implementation of its mortgage rules.

CashCall, a refi specialist that sells most of its production to Fannie Mae, is shedding a large chunk of its staff.

Thanks to the government shutdown, the FHA backlog includes processing endorsements for home-equity conversion mortgages.