"The ECB has a real problem on its hands," said Barry Habib, who runs MBS Highway, an analytics firm that offers lenders advice on when to lock rates.

Individual accountability is the regulatory catchphrase of the moment not only at the CFPB but at the Securities and Exchange Commission and state regulatory agencies as well.

Some in the industry are concerned that HAMP interest-rate resets, which begin later this year, could cause defaults on modified loans to increase, lowering the number of successful modifications under the program.

“We have a lot of plans,” Newman told IMFnews. “We plan to be in originations, servicing, capital markets and multi-channel production.”

Western Asset Management has a "ton of fire power" when it comes to buying non-agency mortgages, said one source.

Zach Oppenheimer, a senior vice president at Fannie Mae, said it’s a positive development that more private capital is coming into the mortgage servicing space.

The $75 million in financing includes $50 million from a Wall Street firm and a $25 million line from a California commercial bank.

The researchers confirmed that homebuilder originations from 2001 through the end of 2008 tended to go to lower credit-quality borrowers compared with originations from unaffiliated lenders.

Sources contend that at least two nonbanks have undertaken due diligence of PHH Mortgage, but so far a deal has been elusive.

The first quarter of 2014 marked the lowest point in mortgage banking income for depositories since the second quarter of 2011.