Last year, the mortgage industry cautioned HUD against assessing a fee to fund certain risk management improvements in the FHA program.

The DBO request for proposal asks that applicants for the Ocwen contract state whether they – or any affiliates – have done any consulting work for the servicer.

Issued late this week, the latest guidance provides a new option for reverse mortgage lenders...

The FHFA is spending much of its time studying both the liquidity of servicing rights and the operational capacity of GSE servicers.

The top five lenders in the industry accounted for 33.8 percent of total production last year, down from a combined 40.8 percent market share back in 2013.

Two other servicing packages hit the market the past few days, including a seasoned $276 million Ginnie Mae portfolio from Interactive Mortgage Advisors.

Mortgage industry participants are anticipating brisk refinancing activity during the first half of 2015 as a result of a 50 basis point cut in FHA’s annual mortgage insurance premium and expectations that mortgage rates will remain low. Lenders believe that with mortgage rates lingering around 3.75 percent, coupled with the annual MIP rate cut, an estimated one million mortgage loans could be ripe for FHA refinancing. “There’s real business out there,” said Brian Chappelle, a mortgage industry consultant. “Some economists also anticipate another 100,000 in purchase originations this year as a result.” The premium cut makes...

“There’s real business out there,” said Brian Chappelle, a mortgage industry consultant.

Demand for VA products is being sparked by declining interest rates and the fact that these government-backed loans do not require any downpayments.

Final testing and training for IOPP began this winter, with deployment expected “in early 2015,” Ginnie Mae said.