Lenders selling loans to the GSEs will get buyback relief for mortgages that go through Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s quality-control review processes, according to a new policy the companies announced this week. The new policy, issued in conjunction with the unveiling of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s updated strategic plan and conservatorship scorecard, tinkers at the edges of the buyback safe harbor for loans with acceptable payment history.

Aggregate mortgage-banking income reported by an eclectic group of 32 lenders fell 25.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of this year, although many companies saw increased earnings, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of earnings reports. The 32 lenders included all of the top originators and servicers in the industry, along with a number of other publicly traded nonbanks and depository institutions ... [Includes one data chart]

The presence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is causing a seismic shift in the way mortgage lenders relate to their customers, with customer dissatisfaction a high-profile barometer that can quickly capture the bureau’s attention and focus it with an uncomfortable intensity in an unwanted direction. “For the first time in our industry’s history, the safety and soundness of the financial institution is just one part, albeit an important one, of what the government hopes to ...

Even though the wholesale/broker channel is a shadow of its former self in terms of market share, that isn’t stopping LoanDepot of Irvine, CA, from sticking its toe in the water. In fact, the company acknowledged the problems the sector faces when it announced to the world two weeks ago that it was entering the space. “There is no segment in the mortgage industry facing greater challenges today than mortgage brokers,” said Jeff Walsh, president of LDWholesale, the unit LoanDepot ...

The increased incidence of occupancy fraud by borrowers in 2013 poses risks for lenders, but the industry also needs to be aware that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on the lookout for lenders that facilitate occupancy fraud as a way to avoid the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule. Occupancy fraud risk increased by 24 percent in 2013, according to Interthinx, a firm that provides fraud prevention services. “In previous years, when refinances dominated the market, we saw higher ...

More elderly consumers are carrying mortgage debt into retirement, posing greater risk to their financial security, according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. For an estimated 4.4 million retirees with mortgage debt, making mortgage payments on top of other monthly expenses can be a hardship, the CFPB observed. Consequently, they accrue less home equity than their peers did a decade ago. Less home equity means less accumulated net wealth for ...

Correspondent mortgage originators accounted for a little over a third of the single-family mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae during the first quarter of 2014, but they are an unusually rich source of the industry’s most prized commodity, according to a new analysis by Inside Mortgage Trends. Some 68.7 percent of correspondent-originated loans were purchase-money mortgages, the highest such ratio for ... [Includes one data chart]

The new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac policy on loan-seller representations and warranties will likely burn off some of the fog that’s made mortgage lenders skittish about the product they deliver to the two government-sponsored enterprises, but it won’t eliminate industry buyback concerns. The new policy tinkers at the edges of the buyback safe harbor for loans with acceptable payment history. Loans with two 30-day late payments in the first three years can get a buyback waiver if they are current at the 36-month mark; until now such loans would only get a waiver if they performed for five years. More significant is...

Richard Smith, chief marketing officer for Ditech, said the mortgages that the company originates will close in Ditech’s name, not in the name of Green Tree.