Freddie Announces New Alliance with Lenders One. Freddie Mac has teamed up with Lenders One Mortgage Cooperative, based in St. Louis, to give Lenders One members who are Freddie seller/servicers pricing and execution benefits, enhanced access to mortgage products, and professional training and development opportunities. Freddie did not provide additional details on specific pricing benefits .Chris Boyle, senior vice president of single-family sales and relationship management at Freddie, said Freddie Mac is pleased to “help its members reach more eligible borrowers, achieve new efficiencies in the origination process and build strong, competitive businesses.” In related news, Lenders One is still...

Freddie managed a bigger annual increase over 2014 levels than Fannie did, thanks in part to its more active program in securitizing seasoned loans.

As for potential layoffs, the government-controlled mortgage giant declined to comment.

New issuance of single-family mortgage-backed securities by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell sharply in the fourth quarter of 2015 despite a December rebound in monthly volume, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. The two government-sponsored enterprises issued $179.01 billion of single-family MBS during the final three months of 2015, a 19.9 percent drop from the third quarter. It was the weakest level of new business for the GSEs since the second quarter of 2014. A faltering purchase-mortgage market was...[Includes three data tables]

Mortgage industry representatives are meeting this week with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray in another attempt to squeeze out additional clarification to help lenders comply with the bureau’s integrated disclosure rule, which took effect Oct. 3, 2015. The ambiguity and confusion engendered by the rule continues to contribute to mortgage closing delays throughout the country, according to many top industry officials. Executives of the Independent Community Bankers of America were scheduled...

A surge in sales of mortgage servicing rights by banks to nonbanks is likely over, according to industry analysts. As regulatory oversight remains a concern, the use of subservicing is expected to increase, with troubled loans handled by specialists. “The frequency of MSR transfers will remain low, even though buyer interest in MSR transfers may rise from 2015 levels,” according to analysts at Moody’s Investors Service. Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch added...

Chase’s nine-month USDA volume translated into a 31.0 percent market share.

PHH Mortgage remained the predominant IO lender with $3.43 billion during 3Q15, but the firm’s volume fell 16.9 percent on a sequential basis.

Jordan lends in roughly 45 states and its loans have an average life of about eight months. The nonbank extends credit at rates of 10 to 12 percent.

Nine firms issued jumbo MBS in 2015 and JPMorgan Chase was the top issuer for the second year in a row.