However, the late January 50 basis point reduction in FHA premiums should help.

The CFPB has done much to secure its “Tableau” system, but there are a few areas that need to be improved, according to an executive summary of a new report from the bureau’s Office of Inspector General. Tableau is a commercial, off-the-shelf tool deployed on the CFPB’s cloud computing – based general support system (GSS) that provides business intelligence capabilities, such as data analysis and integration, for multiple CFPB systems. “Overall, we found that the CFPB has taken a number of steps to secure the Tableau system in accordance with the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) and the agency’s information security policies and procedures,” the OIG said. For example, the OIG found that the CFPB has implemented risk ...

It’s Time to Scale Back Dodd-Frank, Industry Says. With a new Republican majority now in power and calling the shots on Capitol Hill, the industry consultants at The Collingwood Group recently asked mortgage industry officials what they thought the new Congress could do to bolster the housing market. Their answer? Rein in Dodd-Frank. “Although just fewer than 50 percent of respondents selected ‘repeal Dodd-Frank’ or ‘abolish the CFPB,’ the comments submitted clearly indicate that these industry insiders prefer a tempered approach with reasonable modifications to these two reactionary reform measures stemming from the crisis,” Collingwood said. “Many respondents stated that the Dodd-Frank Act should be revised to remove barriers to innovation and to reduce the cost of manufacturing a mortgage.” ...

One real estate agent said an unidentified lender offers preapproval letters to “anyone who walks in.”

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized $151.1 billion of refi loans during the first quarter, a 34.8 percent increase from the end of 2014.

The 90+ day delinquency rate on second liens was 0.27 percent at December 31, just about flat compared with the previous quarter.

At least three years have passed since Bank of America stopped selling new purchase-money loans into Fannie Mae securities, a drought that has benefitted at least one party: Freddie Mac. According to new figures compiled by Inside MBS & ABS, in the first quarter of 2015 BofA sold $9.57 billion of mortgages into Freddie securities, beating out Wells Fargo ($8.194 billion), which traditionally has ranked first in sales to both government-sponsored enterprises. Then again, there is...

Home-equity loan holdings by banks and thrifts have largely held steady in terms of performance while declining slightly in balance during the past year, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. Banks and thrifts held $982.99 billion in home-equity lines of credit, HELOC commitments and closed-end second liens as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2014. The holdings declined by 0.8 percent compared with the previous quarter ... [Includes one data chart]

Large bank servicers significantly reduced their use of principal reduction loan modifications in the past year, according to new data from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Principal reduction mods – which are largely limited to non-agency mortgages – were used in 6.5 percent of the loan mods completed in the fourth quarter of 2014 by eight large bank servicers tracked by the OCC. In the fourth quarter of 2013, large bank servicers employed principal reduction on ...

Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities issuance fell in the first quarter of 2015 with FHA volume slipping during the period, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending’s analysis of agency data.Ginnie MBS production in the first quarter totaled $79.8 billion, down from $80.6 billion in the 4Q14, despite a 29.3 percent increase from February to March. On the other hand, production was up 41.6 percent from a year ago.FHA-backed Ginnie MBS issuance dropped 3.1 percent in the first quarter from 4Q14, ending the period with $39.9 billion. Year-over-year volume rose 22.0 percent from the previous year. On the other hand, refinancing increased to $12.3 billion from $7.8 billion during the same stretch. VA securitization totaled $35.5 billion, up from $33.6 billion quarter-over-quarter, powered by refinance loans. Rural housing securitization totaled $4.2 billion in the first quarter, down from $5. 7 billion in 4Q14. Securitized FHA purchase loans rose 7.7 percent in March from February, while ... [3 charts].