The 3 percent points-and-fees cap for qualified mortgages will likely accelerate an emerging practice of lenders rolling a variety of fees into the rate sheet price as the market continues to evolve toward a no-points mortgage, according to a leading industry consultant. “There has been a shift in the market over the last five years toward zero point loans as lenders build the traditional one percent origination fee into the rate-sheet price,” said Nicole Yung, a managing director with the Stratmor Group, a mortgage banking consulting firm. “This change has been driven by a consumer preference for low up-front costs and the historically low interest rates.” However, there seems...

As reported by IMFnews, the FHFA has yet to appoint a permanent chief executive and chairman for the CSP, formally known as Common Securitization Solutions.

It appears that CashCall is getting closer to finalizing a deal to sell some of its production assets to the publicly traded Stonegate Mortgage.

New York regulator Benjamin Lawsky also questioned the efficiencies touted by nonbank mortgage servicers, countering that “technology alone does not keep a family in its home."

Apparently, CitiMortgage wants to grow its presence in the origination market, including the correspondent channel where it has a slight pulse.

There is a tradeoff between taking on more higher-risk loans and raising g-fee prices, FHFA official Bob Ryan noted, and the calculation has to take into account other players in the market, such as the FHA.

Donovan is leaving HUD at a time when housing and mortgage industry advocates are pushing for reductions in FHA premiums.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on the lookout for lenders that facilitate occupancy fraud as a way to avoid the agency's ability-to-repay rule.

So, what’s the biggest impediment to mortgage volumes taking off this spring? According to a new poll from Inside Mortgage Finance, it’s a lack of housing inventory.

In a report released last week, the Financial Stability Oversight Council recommended that its members, federal regulators, should finish risk-retention requirements as part of an effort to facilitate “increased private mortgage market activity.” The rulemaking was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, which set an April 2011 deadline for issuance of a final risk-retention rule that would cover non-agency MBS, commercial MBS and non-mortgage ABS. The rule will require securitizers to retain a 5 percent interest, although this would be waived for transactions backed by “qualified” assets, including qualified residential mortgages. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Federal Housing Finance Agency, Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Securities and Exchange Commission issued...