Skyline Home Loans, a shop controlled by industry veteran Bill Dallas, could double loan originations this year. Roughly 35 percent of its fundings entail purchase money loans.

The Obama administration has sent a message to the mortgage industry that it wants to expand the Home Affordable Refinance Program by changing the eligibility date for high loan-to-value and underwater borrowers who want to refinance loans financed by the government-sponsored enterprises. According to members of the Mortgage Bankers Association who attended a recent pow-wow at the White House, the administration wants to push the eligibility date for HARP into mid-2010 or so. Currently, a mortgage eligible for the program has to have a securitization date prior to June 2009. In theory, this would increase...

Mortgage lenders that do business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are bracing for higher net worth minimums required by the two government-sponsored enterprises, but that doesn’t mean their representatives at the trade groups will go down without a fight. David Stevens, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, told Inside Mortgage Finance that he has met with Ed DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, “several times” to discuss net worth and related issues affecting lenders. However, DeMarco may not be in the job much longer if the nomination of Rep. Mel Watt, D-NC, to head the agency clears the Senate. The White House this week nominated...

Encouraged by what it describes as positive public feedback, the Federal Housing Finance Agency says it is pressing forward with its proposed contractual and disclosure framework to enhance transparency and investor protections in residential mortgage-backed securities. The progress report issued this week by the FHFA addresses work that the agency and the two government-sponsored enterprises have done so far in the development of the contract and disclosure framework, or CDF, as well as on the design of a common securitization platform, or CSP. The combination of the CDF and CSP “will enable...

When it comes to sales of retail-originated loans with private mortgage insurance, Quicken Loans is the new king of the market, according to exclusive figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance.

Not only is Genworth's mortgage insurance division in the black again, but it expects to stay profitable.

W.J. Bradley isn't necessarily buying Legacy Group Lending, but the two firms are combining forces.

If Rep. Mel Watt gets the FHFA job will he tinker with GSE net worth minimums?

It's not easy building a common securitization platform, so writes a Freddie Mac executive in a new blog posting.

Banks are still making nice profits off their residential lending and servicing businesses, but 4Q12 may turn out to be a peak in the cycle.