Meanwhile, new revelations about regulatory problems in California are likely to make Ocwen’s disposal of servicing rights problematic.

For short sellers, Ocwen Financial is the gift that keeps on giving.

Despite Cordray's proclamation, loan production fell by 35 percent last year, but all that was tied to refis plunging. Right?...

Patrick Flanagan, Cove’s CEO, was once the president of New Century Mortgage, a now-defunct subprime giant

“I only saw about 5 percent of my buyers face-to-face last year,” said one Texas-based loan officer.

S&P believes the gap in execution between whole-loan sales and securitization has started to narrow.

The national director of retail sales at a top-20 ranked lender is out in the cold. Details to follow...

The strong growth in issuance of jumbo mortgage-backed securities seen since 2010 stumbled in 2014, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Some $9.79 billion in jumbo MBS were issued last year, down 25.4 percent from activity in 2013. Issuance has been constrained by bank portfolio demand for jumbo mortgages. The spike in interest rates in 2013 led to nine months of very low issuance. Rates have since fallen and a number of new jumbo MBS issuers have entered the market, but quarterly volume has struggled to reach the levels seen in early 2013. Those looking for a silver lining could...[Includes one data chart]

Jumbo lenders continue to loosen underwriting requirements in an effort to compete for volume. Some lenders are even offering jumbos with loan-to-value ratios as high as 95 percent, while three years ago a 70 percent LTV ratio was the norm. “We’ve seen a fairly rapid loosening of standards on jumbo loans,” said Michael Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, during an event hosted this week by the Urban Institute. “They’re still tight, but now you can get a 5 percent down jumbo loan. And minimum credit scores have been coming down.” The MBA’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index has shown...

Ocwen Financial agreed to a $150 million settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services in late December. Officials at the nonbank said Ocwen’s focus will shift to non-agency servicing and originations in 2015. The settlement includes a number of provisions beyond the monetary penalty. To acquire mortgage servicing rights – the fuel for Ocwen’s dramatic growth in recent years – Ocwen must receive approval from the NYDFS and meet performance benchmarks. The NYDFS will also appoint...