The official watchdog of Fannie Mae's regulator has flagged "several opportunities for improvement" in the Federal Housing Finance Agency's oversight of the nearly $12 billion buyback settlement between Bank of America and the GSE announced earlier in the year. In its review of the January BofA/Fannie settlement, FHFA's Office of Inspector General credits the agency for its adherence to its repurchase settlement guidance, an IG-recommended policy that the regulator issued in June 2012. However, FHFA's repurchase guidance and consequently its oversight of the buyback settlement fell short regarding the resolution of compensatory fees and the transfer of mortgage servicing rights, the OIG report found.

The NCUA has filed lawsuits against several investment bankers, including Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Securities and UBS Securities alleging securities law violations in the sale of MBS.

Warehouse lending executives say they are seeing their nonbank clients earn less money this summer, but noted that profits are still strong by historical levels.

In May, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL, flagged the disturbing consumer credit reporting practice of lumping a short sale within the same industry code as a foreclosure in consumer credit reports.

Originations of non-agency jumbo mortgages continued to increase in the second quarter of 2013, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The growth was fueled by banks offering highly competitive interest rates in an effort to retain jumbos in portfolio. Wells Fargo was the top-ranked jumbo lender through two quarters in 2013, by a wide margin. The lender had $21.87 billion in jumbo originations in the first half of 2013, accounting for 19.4 percent of ... [Includes one data chart]

With credit standards loosening somewhat, some commercial banks are listening to pitches from “private-money” lenders that are searching for warehouse lines, but so far it’s been a case of more smoke than fire. During the subprime meltdown of 2007, banks and Wall Street firms exited the nonprime warehouse sector and have yet to return. According to warehouse consultant Michele Perrin, several banks are willing to make warehouse lines on private-money mortgages, but only up to $5 million per deal ...

Nonbanks the likes Ocwen Financial, Nationstar and Walter Investment will continue to be buyers of mortgage servicing rights.

Late this week, some reports surfaced suggesting that an “alternative” proposal could surface, requiring a 30 percent downpayment for QRM status.

CFPB examiners found numerous loss mitigation mistakes, including inconsistent communications with borrowers, spotty loss mitigation underwriting and long application review periods. All this could lead to new regulations for servicers.

FHA lenders have gradually stretched to originate loans for borrowers with more modest credit scores in recent quarters, although these borrowers typically are better positioned to keep up with their payments, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of data released by the agency. The average credit score for single-family loans endorsed in the second quarter of 2013 was 693 – the lowest such average in nearly four years. This is partly the result of a shift toward more purchase-money mortgages, which generally have ... [1 chart]