“Mortgage g-fees should only be used as a buffer against mortgage defaults, not as a piggy-bank for increased government spending,” said NAR chief Salomone.

Then again, there are doubts the legislation will ever be enacted.

The supply of home loan debt outstanding grew for a third straight quarter in late 2015, including an ongoing ride higher in un-securitized portfolio mortgages. The Federal Reserve reported that $9.986 trillion of home mortgages were outstanding at the end of last year, a 0.3 percent increase from the third quarter. The growth rate slowed a bit – the market grew by roughly twice that rate from March to September – but the fourth quarter put unpaid home mortgage debt up 1.0 percent from the end of 2014, the first annual increase since 2007. The single fastest-growing segment of the market continued...[Includes two data tables]

Firms that specialize in subservicing increased their contracts by 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter and by 21.3 percent from a year ago, according to a new tally from Inside Mortgage Finance. In general, the outlook for the sector is strong, but a handful of firms aren’t growing their business by very much. And one firm – Ocwen Financial – experienced a large decline in contracts during the period. At yearend, Ocwen subserviced...[Includes one data table]

When it comes to attracting and retaining top loan originator talent in the era of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, it looks like independent shops may be the game to beat. One key issue now is whether depository institutions will step up to compete for the top talent in the mortgage space. “If we look back to 2008-2009, the brokers fled as quickly as they could to the independents, the depositories, just everywhere they could, to be able to operate and manage their business,” Drew Waterhouse, managing director of Hammerhouse LLC, said during an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar late last week. As the playing field has become more level with all the different regulations that have been brought to bear since then, “you see...

Republican members of the House and the Senate have introduced legislation that would nullify the Department of Labor’s much-anticipated white-collar overtime exemption rule now under review at the Office of Management and Budget. Introduced jointly by GOP members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the bill would stop the DOL’s proposed expansion of mandatory federal overtime pay in its tracks. The bill, Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act, would provide...

The House Financial Services Committee recently voted to advance legislation that would provide a private flood insurance alternative to the federal National Flood Insurance Program for homeowners required to purchase flood insurance. H.R. 2901, the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act, passed by a unanimous vote of 53-0 and was sent to the House floor for consideration. A Senate counterpart bill, S. 1679, which was reintroduced by Sen. Dean Heller, R-NV, last year, is awaiting action in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Both bills were introduced...

“Look, it’s March of an election year. And it’s not like he was going to get a lot done," said one observer regarding Stegman's departure.

Prior to the HELP Act, a small lender was only eligible for these provisions if it operated predominantly in rural or underserved areas.

On the other hand, 63 percent said the new forms for loan estimates and closing disclosures were easier to understand...