United Guaranty was the largest MI in terms of total policies written in 1Q16, but Arch Mortgage Insurance and National MI were the fastest growers.

Mortgage officials tracking the case note that almost a year ago Quicken raised $1.25 billion through a debt sale, money that can be employed for legal help as it fights the DOJ case.

Perhaps, the time is drawing near to once again raise the thorny issue of whether the Department of Housing and Urban Development should cut FHA premiums...

Quicken Loans CEO Bill Emerson ruled out any possibility of settlement with the Department of Justice over allegations of filing false claims on flawed FHA-insured mortgage loans, preferring instead a jury trial. During a recent interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Emerson said settlements are a business model that has worked well for the DOJ in its effort to recover taxpayer losses due to questionable FHA lending practices. Quicken Loans, however, will not cave in to agency…

Over half (51.1 percent) of VA loans securitized through Ginnie MBS in the first quarter of 2016 were retail originations, but only 39.1 percent of FHA loans came through that channel.

The rule is expected to reflect measures in the interim guidance, including modification of the requirements for condo project recertification...

Recent studies suggest reduced pricing and declining costs have given conventional mortgages with private MI an edge over FHA in the battle for high-quality borrowers...

A surge of new refinance business and a seasonal uptick in purchase-mortgage activity helped lift agency issuance of single-family MBS in April, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae produced $108.95 billion of new single-family MBS last month, the strongest monthly output since September 2015. Gross new issuance was up 9.8 percent from March, but on a year-to-date basis, production was still down 3.9 percent from the volume generated in the first four months of 2015. Ginnie saw...[Includes two data tables]

Retail loan originations account for most new VA lending, but the correspondent channel plays an outsized role in the FHA market, especially in purchase-mortgage lending, according to a new analysis of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities data by Inside FHA/VA Lending. Over half (51.1 percent) of VA loans securitized through Ginnie MBS in the first quarter of 2016 were retail originations, but only 39.1 percent of FHA loans came through that channel. The biggest source of FHA loans was correspondent lenders, which accounted for 45.8 percent of loans securitized during the first three months of this year. That was actually slightly below the 49.2 percent correspondent share of FHA loans back in 2014 and 46.8 percent last year. Correspondents accounted for well over half (53.9 percent) of FHA purchase mortgages during the first quarter, while playing a more ... [ 3 charts ]

Senate appropriators have opted to set aside fiscal 2017 funding for FHA information technology upgrades rather than authorize the agency to charge lenders an administrative fee to pay for improvements. The committee approved the funding as part of its proposed Housing and Urban Development-Transportation budget for FY 2017. Appropriators set aside $13 million in specific funds for FHA IT improvements. HUD proposed that up to $30 million in fees would be charged to lenders on endorsements through Sept. 30, 2019. Collections from such fees would be credited as offsetting collections to the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Specifically, HUD sought to use the collections to partially offset a requested $160 million funding for improvements to administrative contract support, FHA staffing and information technology. Congress has rejected the ...