A compare ratio north of 150 percent will land a lender on HUD’s watch list. A ratio greater than 200 percent could result in disciplinary action and potential loss of FHA approval.

Publicly traded REITs like Redwood Trust would fill the void if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lower loan limits next year. But they will be competing against portfolio lenders.

It appears the House of Representatives is giving up on GSE reform this year. However, the Senate could move forward, even though passage is considered a long shot, at best.

Congress is back in town and several new mortgage-related hearings are set for this week.

Nonbanks are stepping up to the plate on agency MBS. Meanwhile, a handful of large "term" loans are being put together, allowing investors to finance MSRs.

Federal regulators issued a revised credit risk retention/qualified residential mortgage proposed rule late last month, one that tilts heavily in the direction of the qualified mortgage provisions established in the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule – and that close proximity concerns the bureau’s director, Richard Cordray. “The proposal released Aug. 28 we see as another key step in obtaining further certainty for the mortgage market going forward,” said Cordray, who as one of the four members of the Federal Deposit...

With multiple mortgage rulemaking implementation dates just a few months away, and the industry clamoring for a formal delay or an informal enforcement holiday from the CFPB, the bureau is considering hosting a few webinars to provide guidance for at least some of the rulemakings, most notably the new mortgage servicing rules, one industry source confided. The Department of Housing and Urban Development did something similar with its 2010 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act final rule, the source continued. That...

A recent survey by the American Bankers Association of its membership found that, as of the end of June, 60 percent of bank vendors have not told banks when they will be ready to comply with the CFPB’s new mortgage rules. For institutions that will receive vendor products over time (as opposed to all at once), 56 percent stated that their vendor had not provided information on when it will deliver the first installment of the project; 17 percent anticipate receiving the first installment in September or October; and 8 percent anticipate...

Some folks in the mortgage broker community have been suggesting that operating as a mini-correspondent will help brokers avoid points-and-fees complications with the qualified mortgage definition under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay final rule. As it stands now under the CFPB’s rule, lender- paid compensation will have to be counted in the 3 percent compensation limitation for qualified mortgages. “The broker segment continues to mull over the final ‘final’ rule from the CFPB regarding compensation,” said mortgage broker Rob Chrisman in...

It looks like the last little bit of legal ground upon which someone could launch a challenge to a rule or other action from the CFPB has been chewed up for good. Late last month, CFPB Director Richard Cordray formally ratified his prior actions as director before being confirmed by the Senate in July. “I believe that the actions I took during the period I was serving as a recess appointee were legally authorized and entirely proper,” Cordray wrote in a brief “Notice of Ratification” in the Aug. 30 Federal Register. “To avoid any...