The New York Department of Financial Services expanded its investigation of nonbank servicers, raising concerns about sales of real estate owned properties for Ocwen Financial by Altisource Portfolio Solutions, an affiliate of the nonbank servicer. Officials at Altisource downplayed the concerns late last week and said the company plans to continue to grow with Ocwen. In February, NYDFS Superintendent Ben Lawsky put on indefinite hold a planned servicing transfer from Wells Fargo to Ocwen on mostly non-agency mortgages with an unpaid principal balance of $39.2 billion. Lawsky has sent a number of questions to Ocwen as well as Nationstar Mortgage based on concerns that the nonbank servicers were growing too quickly. Officials at Ocwen note...

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau examiners have reportedly become suspicious of certain mortgage banking executives’ participation in the exam process and escalated their interaction by pressing them to provide their input under oath. Officials at the consulting firm of Garrett, McAuley & Co. reported a disturbing development at a mortgage company in a Mid-Atlantic state undergoing a CFPB exam. “The examiner-in-charge apparently thought that the owner was lying, and the CFPB now wants to question him under oath,” principal Joe Garrett said in a recent note to clients. “Under oath? Whether or not they can prove...

Since late last year, the FHFA has required that any Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac MSR sale of $5 billion or more – roughly 5,000 loans – be approved by the agency.

Under the original conservatorship agreement, the GSEs are allowed to maintain a small capital buffer, but within three years that buffer will be reduced to zero.

MBA believes the imposition of compensatory fees has morphed into a risk-sharing mechanism that shifts the costs of the prolonged foreclosure process from the GSEs onto mortgage servicers.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-ND, a co-sponsor of the Johnson-Crapo bill, also said the measure is moving forward. “This train is leaving the station,” she said. But whether it makes it to the floor of the Senate is another matter.

As far as pricing goes, if g-fees are raised Fannie and Freddie could earn more money – cash that ultimately would wind up at the Treasury Department, which sweeps most of their earnings each quarter.

A new trade group is showing true love for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Also, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is giving lenders some breathing room on the Qualified Mortgage/Ability-to-Repay rule.

One of the boldest underwriting moves was taken by TD Bank, which recently announced a portfolio loan that has a downpayment requirement as low as 3 percent.

Reverse mortgages guaranteed by the government are due and payable upon the death of the homeowner, the sale of the home, and other conditions, including the failure to reside in the property or pay the taxes and insurance.