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.

According to one servicing advisor, large banks – including Wells Fargo – have been quietly selling excess servicing rights through private securitizations.

One mortgage recruiter noted that job losses in somewhat rural communities can be a big problem for workers. “Sometimes they’re the largest employer in town and there’s nowhere else to go,” he said.

The CFPB issued a bulletin and interim final rule last week on three issues related to its mortgage servicing rules, one of which involves home-retention efforts after a borrower dies. According to new CFPB Bulletin 2013-12, starting Jan. 10, 2014, a servicer must have policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that, upon notification of the death of a borrower, the servicer promptly identifies and facilitates communication with a successor in interest of the deceased borrower with respect to the property that secures...

It may be hard to believe, but there are some companies considering early compliance with the CFPB’s mortgage servicing rules which take effect on Jan. 10, 2014. But one top official from the bureau urged taking a cautious approach. Answering some questions about the effective date of the bureau’s mortgage servicing rules during a webinar sponsored last week by the Mortgage Bankers Association, Marta Tanenhaus, senior counsel with the CFPB, reminded participants that “no servicer is required to comply with the rules before Jan...

FHA automation, delegated underwriting and lenders’ willingness to assume the liability risk for quality control allowed FHA lending to proceed with little disruption during the 16-day government shutdown that ended this week. Lenders said they expected no disruption in the origination or closing of FHA loans provided the shutdown did not drag on for an extended period. Individual FHA borrowers with loans in process that required specific actions by FHA staff experienced some delay. Lenders, like Wells Fargo, worked with those customers on a case-by-case basis to ...