State regulators are showing no sign of slackening their focus on "fair servicing," with mortgage processors seeing more examinations focusing on disparate-impact theories.

Grapevine: A few days ahead of a scheduled bankruptcy auction, New Residential Investment Corp. has swooped in and made a "stalking horse" bid. Meanwhile, a big promotion at Fannie Mae and a record month for Guaranteed Rate.

The company agreed to pay $32.5 million in damages to settle False Claims Act allegations tied to FHA underwriting. it admitted no wrongdoing while agreeing to stay in the program.

It's no secret that Ginnie Mae officials are losing sleep over nonbanks dominating the government MBS market. With liquidity a primary concern, the agency is ready to consider "non-traditional" investors in its MSRs. But there's a catch: They may have to commit as much as $1 billion.

It may be the industry's best-kept secret: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is actively pursuing fair lending cases, according to compliance experts speaking at an ABA conference this week. Whether any charges will be filed is a different matter.

It's common knowledge in the industry that the Treasury Department is working on a recap-and-release plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. To pull off such a massive undertaking the government will need an investment banker. But who?

The bureau's latest regulatory agenda includes plans to address the fate of the qualified mortgage "patch," but drops items regarding the use of disparate-impact theory in fair lending laws.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week fined mortgage servicer BSI Financial Services, Irving, TX, just over $230,000 for illegal mortgage servicing practices. A new consent order from the agency lays out the details.

States proposed standards in 2015 to increase oversight of nonbank lenders and servicers but didn’t act to finalize them. The new chairman of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors is making the issue a priority.