In the wake of EverBank’s recent exit from the wholesale/broker channel, there appear to be signs of expansion in the sector with nonbanks leading the charge. But mortgage brokers shouldn’t get their hopes up too much: Many of those expanding are nonbanks and none are likely to fill the void created by the megabanks – Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo – which began pulling out three years ago. “I truly believe...

Ocwen Financial expects to reach a settlement with state attorneys general regarding servicing practices “very soon,” according to Ronald Faris, the servicer’s president and CEO. State AGs have been working for more than a year to get other servicers to agree to terms similar to the $25 billion settlement reached with five large bank servicers in February 2012. A person with knowledge of the negotiations said terms with Ocwen have yet to be finalized or sent to the 50 state AGs, suggesting that it could be weeks before the settlement is completed. The source added that future settlements with servicers are likely to be reached on an individual basis, not bundled as they were with the settlement that involved Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Ocwen’s Faris said...

Given the complexity of the 3 percent points-and-fees cap for qualified mortgages under the ability-to-repay rule and the imperative of getting it right, mortgage lenders could still find themselves outside the compliance box if they ignore the fair lending implications of their business practices. “Fair lending is definitely something we have to take into consideration in every decision we make and every rule we come across,” said Ginger Moore, the compliance officer at PrimeLending, during a webinar last week sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance. One example is...

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and mortgage-backed securities trustees representing investors in non-agency MBS sued the city of Richmond, CA, this week to stop it from further implementing a plan to use eminent domain authority to seize and purchase performing underwater mortgages. Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank, acting as trustees for a group of investors that includes BlackRock, Inc., Pacific Investment Management and the government-sponsored enterprises, filed the lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco at the behest of certificate holders. The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the “Richmond Seizure Program” unconstitutional and in violation of California laws, and to order city officials to end the program. Securitizers and investors are...

The SEC said the deal has taken nearly $70 million in losses – the greatest loss rate of any comparable securitization from Bank of America. An additional $50 million in losses are expected.

In its earnings release, Freddie said it will not capture its deferred tax asset (DTA) valuation allowance which now stands at $28.6 billion.

Who says that wholesale lending through loan brokers is dead? Carrington Mortgage and other firms are expanding in the sector.

Between 2008 and early 2011, unsecured credit extensions by FHLBs to European institutions swelled from $66 billion to $123 billion.

The NAIHP is concerned that "responsible consumers" may have been "intentionally" knocked out of the QM box.”

The White House believes that the current housing finance system, where the government guarantees more than 80 percent of all mortgages through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA, is unsustainable.