If lenders used the seemingly sensible underwriting standards that were in place in 2001, some 1.2 million more mortgages would have been originated in 2014, according to estimates by the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. Laurie Goodman, director of the HFPC, said lenders have “plenty of room to safely ease credit.” An underwriting index from the HFPC suggests that originators are accepting little risk in terms of borrower or loan characteristics, hindering a recovery in the mortgage market and the broader economy. Lenders note...

Wells Fargo has agreed in principle to a $1.2 billion settlement to resolve FHA-related civil claims brought by the federal government while First Tennessee Bank has agreed to subsidize interest-rate reductions on home mortgages as part of a $1.9 million settlement agreement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Wells Fargo settlement was disclosed in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If finalized, the settlement would be the largest for FHA. So far, the FHA has collected...

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee this week pushed through their version of fiscal year 2017 budget views and estimates (BVE), taking aim at government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as FHA and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The minority Democrats tried to amend the broader GOP package 10 times, but each amendment went down to defeat on a party-line basis. There were no Republican amendments offered. On the issue of Fannie, Freddie and housing finance reform, Republicans on the committee said...

A recent ruling by the Rhode Island Supreme Court has increased concerns that state courts will allow liens for homeowner associations and related entities to supersede first-lien mortgages. In late December, the R.I. Supreme Court ruled that a condo foreclosure sale conducted pursuant to the R.I. Condominium Act can extinguish a prior-recorded first mortgage if the lender fails to redeem the mortgage within 30 days of the foreclosure. The decision reversed a ruling by a lower court, which found that the borrower’s mortgage survived the condo association’s lien foreclosure sale. The Mortgage Bankers Association said...

Will the last megabank left in the mortgage industry please turn out the lights...

The extended deadline also provides mortgage companies an opportunity to pursue loss mitigation before initiating foreclosure against a customer.

One observer called the $1.2 billion “chump change” for Wells.

We also are hearing reports that TRID errors and closing delays definitely will be affecting first quarter 2016 earnings, at least for certain nonbanks…

For lenders, the best scenario is that an arbitrator might rule in their favor, with a GSE reimbursing them for what Fannie and Freddie call “certain costs and expenses.”

Kvetching about mortgage servicing was down sharply too, off 23.1 percent compared with the third quarter.