Also, new single-family MBS production by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plummeted 15.6 percent from February to March as the GSEs posted their lowest quarterly production total in 14 years.

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...

New single-family business volume at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to decline in early 2014, hitting the lowest quarterly total in 14 years during the first three months of the year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. The two government-sponsored enterprises issued a total of $129.2 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities during the first quarter of 2014. That was down 29.1 percent from the already weak production of the fourth quarter and off 63.7 percent from the same period in 2013. The first-quarter 2014 total marked...[Includes two data charts]

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase both had huge drops exceeding 40 percent on mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Johnson-Crapo is wide open on what entities could issue the new MBS and even allows single firms to be loan originators, aggregators, issuers and bond guarantors.

In the pre-crash days, newly created MSRs were selling at 6 and even 7 times the servicing fee. “I even saw prices of eight,” said Chuck Klein, managing partner for Mortgage Banking Solution.

Borrow short and lend long? Is there a problem with that? Don't tell that to Jamie Dimon of JPM.

The tranche set to receive an 'A' rating on STACR 2014-DN2 has a lifetime expected default rate of 9.43 percent, according to KBRA.

A group called The 60 Plus Association has released TV and radio ads in seven states targeting Senate Banking Committee Members who are sponsoring GSE reform legislation. The group claims the bills “allow the government to take over the mortgage industry in an action 'disturbingly similar' to Obamacare.”

Servicing deals, both flow and bulk, continue to hit the market.