Lenders are increasingly interested in outsourcing portions of the mortgage origination process, according to a new survey by the Stratmor Group. Industry analysts note that while outsourcing can help reduce costs, there are also risks, particularly for lenders considering outsourcing the entire origination process. Stratmor, a consulting firm that focuses on mortgage profitability, found that the majority of lenders are more interested in outsourcing loan production ...

There was widespread expectation that the latest round of seller-friendly changes to the government-sponsored enterprises’ representation-and-warranty framework would encourage lenders to liberalize their credit overlays. So far in 2015, the data aren’t showing it. In fact, the case could be made that credit trends are going the other way. The average credit score for purchase mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was...[Includes one data table]

Correspondent originators continued to produce significantly more purchase mortgages as a share of their total production than brokers or retail lenders, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of loans securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae during the first quarter of 2015. Some 55.9 percent of correspondent originations were purchase loans, compared to just 36.5 percent for retail production and 35.1 percent for ... [Includes one data chart]

A ruling late last week by the New York Court of Appeals will likely help provide certainty to non-agency MBS issuers regarding liability from breaches of representations and warranties while limiting claims from investors. The appeals court confirmed a lower court’s ruling in ACE Securities v. DB Structured Products, determining that the statute of limitations for claims of breaches of representations and warranties starts when a deal is closed – not when a potential breach is discovered. “Representations and warranties concern...

Ginnie Mae this week announced plans to reform its document-custody policies as part of a long-term effort to modernize the way it manages documents in order to minimize agency risks. Michael Drayne, Ginnie’s senior vice president of issuer and portfolio management, said the updates and improvements will apply to loan documents that serve as collateral for securitized pools of mortgages. Ginnie will follow...

VantageScore suggested that lending to "upsiders" and "minimalists" can be accomplished without increasing default risk.

The lender had $1.69 billion in mortgage originations in 2014, according to estimates by Inside Mortgage Finance.

Higher interest rates prompted declines in applications for both refinances and purchase mortgages.

“When someone tells you that the ATR rule is working, keep in mind it’s working because it actually stands on exemptions," said Rod Alba, senior regulatory counsel at the American Bankers Association.

The NCRC said Bank of America, Discover Bank, Synchrony and TD Bank, among others, have supported the program.