PHH Corp. and Nationstar Mortgage – both top 10 ranked residential servicers – recently filed to sell debt securities, an odd situation for two companies struggling with low share valuations amid a lack of confidence among both investors and stock analysts. The lender/servicers also have unveiled stock buyback programs, though such announcements usually represent a desire to do so, and not a contractual obligation. PHH’s Form S-3 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission offers...

It’s too soon to tell whether marketplace lending will disrupt traditional mortgage lending, but analysts such as Freddie Mac economist Sean Becketti predict that the alternative, Internet-based lending structure will have an impact. “Will marketplace lenders become an Uber-like disruptive force in consumer lending, or are they simply old-fashioned consumer lending dressed up for the Internet?” asked Becketti. “It's too soon to tell.” But the swift growth of the industry, coupled with its emphasis on Internet outreach and novel underwriting practices, has led...

Sean Becketti, Freddie’s chief economist, said, “It's too soon to tell whether marketplace lending is the next Uber or just another flash in the pan…”

The word from the American Bankers Association is this: LOS vendors are still very busy with basic compliance and basic form-population issues…

We’re hearing more chatter of mortgage lenders starting a loan officer “scorecard” approach to grading their salesmen and women...

Rod Alba of ABA offered up this sobering thought: for violating the TRID rule, lenders could be fined up to $5,000 per violation, per day.

More than two months into the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rule, known as TRID, many lenders apparently are still at the mercy of their technology vendors to get fully and finally up to speed. “Our members report that problems and glitches are still prevalent everywhere,” said Rodrigo Alba, senior regulatory counsel at the American Bankers Association, during a webinar this week sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance, an affiliated publication ...

It should be noted that Google became a licensed mortgage broker in the Golden State...

Search engine giant Google recently launched a new mortgage comparison tool that allows borrowers and lenders to search for the lowest rates, a development that will be carefully watched for the simple reason that, well, it’s Google. The mortgage tool is a part of Google Compare, a service that allows consumers to compare options for various products, such as credit cards and auto insurance. Though the effort is branded with Google’s name, the company has teamed up with Zillow and LendingTree to introduce this service. Compare allows...

Are some mortgage underwriters using Facebook information to underwrite their credits? We heard one interesting story this past week...