The Treasury Department announced this week that the Home Affordable Modification Program and related initiatives will be extended again, this time until at least the end of 2016. HAMP activity has declined fairly steadily since 2010 but received a boost recently due to changes by the FHA. “We need to be there for homeowners facing foreclosure, those who are struggling with increasing interest rates on their modified mortgages and those whose homes are ...

A spike in mortgage interest rates similar to what occurred in 2013 is possible, according to economists at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The May-June 2013 spike caught many lenders off guard and put a crimp in mortgage banking profitability. The direction mortgage interest rates are likely to head is heavily tied to the anticipations of market participants, according to Saty Patrabansh, a senior economist at the FHFA, along with William Doerner and Samuel Asin ...

Secondary market mortgage sales – the lifeblood of mortgage banking income – declined sharply during the first quarter of 2014, according to an Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of bank call reports. Commercial banks and savings institutions sold just $125.7 billion in single-family home loans through their mortgage banking operations during the first three months of this year. That was down 31.1 percent from the fourth quarter and marked the slowest ... [Includes one data chart]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency late last week announced it reached a nearly $100 million settlement with RBS Securities to settle allegations tied to non-agency MBS bought by Freddie Mac from 2005 to 2007, but the deal represents just a fraction of the firm’s remaining exposure. The $99.5 million settlement only resolves claims against RBS in FHFA v. Ally Financial Inc. in the Southern District of New York. Ally Financial is the successor company to GMAC-RFC, a now defunct non-agency MBS issuer.

Declining mortgage debt is good news for consumers, but not-so-good news for lenders. Then again, this trend can't last. Or can it?

The OCC believes that HAMP loans perform better than proprietary mods because the program places an emphasis on reduced monthly payments, debt-to-income ratios and income verification. Servicers also receive incentive payments.

“Rather than earning on the front end, they’re increasing margins on the secondary sale," said mortgage analyst Ken Richey.

How much capital should nonbank mortgage servicers be required to have? The question is getting louder and louder.

Mortgage REITs found a cheap source of funding in the Federal Home Loan Bank system. But will the FHFA permanently block their access or just restrict it?

When in doubt, hire an outside QM/ATR consultant to assure compliance.