Titan Capital Solutions announced this week that it has 65 correspondent jumbo lending clients. The firm is a subsidiary of Titan Lenders and started accepting applications from jumbo correspondents in the first quarter of 2013. TCS said it offers mortgages with balances of up to $1.0 million and allows credit scores as low as 690 and loan-to-value ratios as high as 80 percent. Morgan Stanley has reached an agreement in principle with the Securities and Exchange Commission ... [Includes seven briefs]

Issuance of mortgage-backed securities with a Ginnie Mae guaranty fell in the fourth quarter, with most issuers showing significant decreases from the previous quarter. Ginnie Mae issuances saw a hefty 28.0 percent decline quarter over quarter, with the top five issuers -- Wells Fargo, Chase Home Finance, PennyMac, Freedom Mortgage and Quicken Loans -- recording substantial decreases during the period. There is speculation that slower FHA refinancing activity, FHA policy changes and the premium hike that took effect in June last year might have caused the decline in Ginnie Mae issuance. Ginnie Mae data showed monthly issuance peaking in June at $41.0 billion, progressively dropping over the next few months and finally settling at $22.3 billion at the end of December. Ginnie Mae MBS issuances totaled $393.2 billion in 2013, down 2.4 percent compared to 2012 business. The FHA share of issuances was ... [including one chart]

Ginnie Mae has expressed concern about a new FHA policy accepting electronic signatures on most mortgage documents and will seek input and feedback from issuers. In a memo to participants this week, the agency said electronic documents "present unique challenges to implementation." In a Jan. 30 mortgagee letter, the FHA announced that it would begin accepting electronic signatures on most loan docs, including loan disclosures and loan servicing/loss mitigation documents. The FHA said it will accept electronic signatures only on "authorized" docs but delayed their use on notes until Dec. 31, 2014. This delay reflects considerations that are necessary in connection with electronic notes (eNote) and electronic mortgages (eMortgages), said Ginnie Mae. An electronic signature is a signature that is applied or affixed to a document by electronic means. Scanned images of paper docs that bear a physical or "wet" signature are not ...

Commenting on Fairholme's court victory, one GSE observer quipped: “Game on.”

For the full year, Freddie posted net earnings of $48.7 billion, but executives at the GSE promised those profits will never, ever be achieved again.

Fear and loathing when it comes to mortgage servicing sales? Maybe now, but not in 2013.

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance this week suggested a change to proposed Reg AB2 disclosure requirements in an effort to protect the privacy of borrowers whose loans are included in MBS and ABS.

In the fourth quarter of 2013, Redwood issued one jumbo MBS totaling $325 million and completed whole loan sales of $648 million. Officials at the real estate investment trust said Redwood plans to issue a jumbo MBS in March or April.

Under the terms of the credit facility, PennyMac can sell RBS “newly originated mortgage loans that it purchases from correspondent lenders.”

So, mortgage firms are reducing “overlays” and expanding credit to borrowers in need. Right? Not necessarily.