Meanwhile, the private MIs reported just $1.24 billion of new HARP business for the fourth quarter.

John Bell, assistant director for loan policy at the VA Home Loan Guaranty Service, said VA streamline refinancings rose 18 percent year over year...

Issued in November of last year, the requirement was slated to apply to all HECM mortgages with case numbers issued on or after March 2, 2015.

In another example of tag-team enforcement, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week moved against three small, nonbank mortgage companies over their allegedly deceptive advertising practices that implied some status as an agents of the U.S. government, or that they had the approval or endorsement of the government. The crackdown stemmed from a joint sweep with the Federal Trade Commission of about 800 randomly selected ads across the U.S., and as a result of consumer complaints filed with both agencies. In one of the cases, the CFPB filed...

Production of loans with a Department of Veterans Affairs guaranty increased 44 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to the same period a year ago, thanks to strong refinance activity during the holidays, according to an agency spokesman. John Bell, assistant director for loan policy and valuation with the VA Home Loan Guaranty Service, said VA streamline refinance activity rose 18 percent year over year as more veterans took advantage of lower interest rates and lower downpayment in the fourth quarter. He said the VA is still in the process of collating data, declining to give further details. Nonetheless, VA production in the fourth quarter was fueled...

Ocwen’s massive servicing portfolio (roughly $377 billion in UPB) is worth more than the entire market capitalization rate of the company...

Broker-originated purchase mortgages pushed the envelope a little further, with an average credit score of 719.1 and an average DTI of 37.7.

Were Bank of America, Citi and Chase manipulated into making donations to Democrat-leaning housing advocacy groups as part of their recent mortgage settlements with the Department of Justice? That seemed to be the implicit question underlying the grilling of a key Justice Department official by Republican members of a House Judiciary subcommittee during a hearing this week that focused on the donations the three mega-banks were directed to make to housing counseling groups as part of their $36.6 billion settlement with the DOJ. “The concern is...

A push to seize a few thousand underwater mortgages in the San Francisco area by eminent domain has likely run into a dead end for now, after a report from the City and County of San Francisco Controller’s Office discouraged local officials from pursuing the idea any further. “Precluding any participation from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the use of eminent domain would seem to be an inviable option,” the document concluded. On Oct. 28, 2014, the Board of Supervisors issued...

The regulator sued All Financial Services, a Maryland-based mortgage broker that plies its trade in the reverse mortgage market.