Late last week, a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed with arguments made by PHH Corp. and blocked three separate efforts to intervene in the dispute the lender has with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In a simple, single-page order, the three judges "ordered that the motions be denied." The ruling affects...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is facing criticism for its handling of FHA’s loan quality assessment methodology. A draft of the so-called defect taxonomy was published without proper departmental clearance, according to a recent report by HUD’s Office of Inspector General. The defect taxonomy is one of 13 FHA-related documents the OIG claims were not properly cleared. The OIG called on HUD to pursue departmental clearance for the documents and policies and to recall any documents that can’t be appropriately cleared. A recall of the defect taxonomy would be...

In a new annual letter to shareholders, Fairholme Capital Management once again lays out its argument for investing in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock, trying to explain to its wealthy investors that it feels more secure in owning junior preferred shares than common stock. Among other things, Fairholme said the preferred stock “provide(s) us with greater security and certainty than the common stock and, as you know, we are not speculators.” When it comes to a liquidation preference, preferred shareholders are senior to common shareholders, who often receive nothing when a company goes bust. But Fairholme’s problem – one shared by other firms that still own this class of stock – is...

The CFPB said Prospect Mortgage entered into agreements to buy leads from more than 200 different counterparties, most of which were real estate brokers.

HUD officials said the agency has been focused on establishing an infrastructure to improve its cost estimating practices.

The DTAs are available to the GSEs as future deductions against taxable income. A reduction in the corporate tax rate would reduce existing DTAs for not just Fannie and Freddie but for other U.S. businesses as well.

The full Senate could vote on the Ben Carson nomination next week...

The Fed LO survey does not include sentiments expressed by loan officers and account executives who work at nonbanks…

Correspondent lending accounts for 21.4 percent of Stearns’ total origination volume, based on fourth quarter figures from Inside Mortgage Finance…

Nondepositories now dominate FHA production after several large banks exited the government program due to growing concern over potential liability arising from federal lawsuits…