“Revenues at some of these firms are going to take a nosedive over the next year or so,” said Anthony Garritano, founder of the Progress in Lending Association, an industry think-tank.

The year’s top five FHA lenders – Wells Fargo, Quicken Loans, JPMorgan Chase, Freedom Mortgage and Bank of America – combined for 21.9 percent, or $46.0 billion, of total agency production, down 34.6 percent quarter over quarter.

In an earnings call this week, company founder and Executive Chairman Bill Erbey offered no further insight as to when the sale will be approved.

The Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York is investigating Bank of America's compliance with the requirements of the FHA's Lender Direct Endorsement program. BofA disclosed the investigation in its recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission but withheld details. Department of Justice investigations of FHA-related fraud are based typically upon an alleged violation of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) and/or the False Claims Act (FCA). Civil monetary penalties under FIRREA could go as high as $1.1 million per violation while treble damages are potentially available for FCA claims. Both laws have a 10-year statute of limitation. As a direct endorsement lender, BofA is authorized to originate, underwrite and certify loans for mortgage insurance without further reviews by the FHA or the Department of Housing and Urban Development. If the loan defaults, the holder of the loan may ...

Walter Investment, the parent of Green Tree, said it anticipates meeting with the regulator in the near future to get a better understanding of its concerns and to see if the matter can be resolved.

The retail share of new residential originations declined slightly, to 60 percent, in the fourth quarter after climbing steadily during the first nine months of the year.

Increased regulation of mortgage brokers has prompted some to switch their business models to become so-called mini-correspondents. Industry lawyers suggest that being a mini-correspondent can offer benefits to those previously working as brokers, but the switch also comes with significant changes to business practices. "If you're a broker, think about what this is going to mean: higher net-worth requirements, warehouse lending, new compliance systems, new software systems to develop and generate the disclosures, and more importantly, significantly higher liability," Jonathan Jaffe, a partner at K&L Gates, said this week during a webinar hosted by the law firm. 'So there's a trade-off there if you're a broker thinking about converting," he said. Some brokers see...

For Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities issued in January 2013, the average reported credit score was 701 and the average DTI ratio was 38.0. By December, the average FHA credit score was down to 680, while the average DTI ratio was up to 40.3.

Residential funders that relied heavily on refis, such as CashCall, have either shuttered operations or scaled back their significantly.

Then again, acquirers also may find that companies that need to sell might have a hard time admitting as much. “I’m seeing a ton of interest on the buy-side these days,” said Larry Charbonneau, a principal in Charbonneau & Associates.