The common thread in both cases is that Ocwen and PHH similarly assert that the CFPB’s structure is unconstitutional.

KBW estimates that if the corporate tax rate falls, Fannie and Freddie, combined, would have to fork over to Treasury an estimated $13 billion to $19 billion…

Maybe a REIT is the way to go in nonprime...

You might say that Wilbur Ross got out of Ocwen while the getting was good...

NAR’s Mendenhall: such provisions “can turn the American Dream into a nightmare for families, as the rug is pulled out from under them.”

“A significant reduction in the corporate tax rate would result in a significant net loss, and that could result in a loss for the year,” said Fannie CEO Timothy Mayopoulos…

Originations of higher-priced mortgages increased significantly in 2016 compared with the previous year, according to an analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets of data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The analysis excluded government-insured mortgages, multifamily loans and home-improvement loans. Some $28.61 billion of non-government-insured higher-priced mortgages were originated in 2016, up 28.9 percent from the previous year ... [Includes one data chart]

There are many unpredictable variables and economic factors outside the control of the Federal Reserve, which makes it hard to project the impact of winding down the U.S. central bank’s historic investment in agency MBS. But economic experts at Fannie Mae are cautiously expressed anticipating greater volatility, an inevitable financial shock and potential changes in the Fed’s strategy as markets evolve.

Correspondent-based lending operations are accounting for a growing share of the FHA and VA home loans pooled in Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside FHA/VA Lending. In fact, correspondent originations are the only production channel to see year-over-year growth in FHA and VA business through the first nine months of 2017. Retail and wholesale-broker production is down for both FHA and VA loans. Correspondent programs are most dominant in the FHA market, perhaps reflecting a preference among large producers to have recourse to a primary-market lender if the government later finds defects in how the loan was originated. Correspondents accounted for 48.7 percent of FHA loans pooled in Ginnie MBS during the first nine months of the year, up from 43.1 percent in all of 2016. Volume was up 1.7 percent from the ... [Charts]

Analysts are predicting continued positive results in the forthcoming actuarial report to Congress on the status of the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. The FY 2017 annual report is expected to show stable FHA financials, which could prompt renewed industry calls for a cut to the annual mortgage insurance premium, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysis. Rising home prices and loan-to-value curing are likely to suppress forecasted losses in the MMIF’s single-family forward portfolio, enabling the fund to stay above its mandated 2.0 percent capital reserve ratio, analysts said. However, the BAML analysts see a “low likelihood of an actual cut in MIPs.” Although Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment Secretary Ben Carson said he would study MIP reduction once a new FHA commissioner is confirmed, the Trump administration is less likely to ...