Mortgage bankers have been complaining loudly about escalating compliance costs since the CFPB opened its doors in 2011. Some smaller nonbanks have cited those rising costs as one reason they might be forced to merge with better capitalized institutions.

One ad on the radio sounds like The 60 Plus Association is doing the Lord’s work for the pension funds of fire fighters and policemen. After all, public pensions owned GSE stock prior to the crash and lost a bundle.

Whether by legislation or by regulation, a group of House Democrats want Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to give unemployed homeowners a break by issuing a foreclosure moratorium. Last month, Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-PA, filed H.R. 4255, the Stop Foreclosures Due to Congressional Dysfunction Act, which would require the Federal Housing Finance Agency to establish a six-month moratorium on GSE-guaranteed mortgages held by homeowners who have lost their emergency unemployment compensation “due to congressional inaction.” The bill requires that borrowers must have been in good standing prior to losing their unemployment benefits in order to be eligible for the temporary forbearance.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s oversight of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s pre-foreclosure inspection process can and should be enhanced by strengthening quality assurance and controls, according to a new audit by the agency’s Office of the Inspector General. The FHFA-OIG audit found potential fraud in property inspection reports ordered by the two GSEs. Among the findings: the property inspection reports – which are used for foreclosures – contained inaccurate information that conflicted with corresponding photographs.

PHH Mortgage has been on the auction block for well over two months now and at least three nonbank buyers have looked at the firm, according to industry advisors close to the company. However, it remains to be seen whether a deal can get done during a year in which residential production could plunge by 30 percent or more. Industry advisors have identified as possible buyers Carrington Mortgage and Ocwen Financial. Both are growth-oriented nonbanks that have been selective buyers of servicing rights and production assets the past few years. At least one other potential buyer has been mentioned...

The nonbank servicers under scrutiny from regulators have rankings at similar levels to banks, according to an analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. And while there have been concerns about loss mitigation activity by nonbank servicers, they use loan modifications more than banks. Nationstar Mortgage, Ocwen Financial and Walter Investment Management’s Green Tree Servicing were among the 17 servicers that received a rating of at least three stars from Fannie Mae for their performance in 2013, the government-sponsored enterprise disclosed last week. Twelve unnamed servicers received ratings below three stars. Green Tree (four stars) and Nationstar (three) maintained...

Loss-mitigation activity by major bank servicers has decreased significantly in the past year, coinciding with servicers’ completion of loss-mitigation requirements under the $25 billion national servicing settlement. Eight major banks and thrifts completed 72,466 loan modifications in the fourth quarter of 2013, a 49.5 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a new report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The servicers completed 60,765 foreclosures in the fourth quarter, down 42.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012. The declines in loan mods and foreclosures by banks have outpaced...

Hisey, a former Fannie Mae executive, has been given the title of chief strategy and external affairs officer, a newly created position at the nonbank lender/servicer.

Bank of Hawaii is recruiting for a group executive to head its mortgage banking division. Korn Ferry has been hired to conduct the search.

At least 46 vintage non-agency MBS took principal forbearance-related losses in March, according to industry analysts. The losses are a concern for investors because they were taken without warning, based on forbearance that happened well before March. Most of the deals taking retroactive forbearance losses in March were issued by Bear Stearns from 2005 through 2007 and were largely serviced by JPMorgan Chase, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays Capital. Write-downs on the deals were as high as 6.8 percent for a single month. “When a servicer recognizes losses on loans previously modified with forbearance, it could significantly impact...