Although some jumbo market participants have called for a reduction to GSE loan limits, most of the mortgage industry – and members of Congress – prefer the current levels.

Inside FHFA Lending also found another interesting trend: The top 50 HECM lenders are dominated by nonbanks, some of which are relatively new to the space.

As for the new GSE bill from Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, the research firm notes that the legislation will not even be considered in the Republican controlled House.

Whatever happened to the sale of Cole Taylor Mortgage, which has been in the works for nine months or so? Good question. When we asked one source close to the deal, his response was this: “Think of the Energizer Bunny but with fairly old batteries.

Small community bankers told CFPB officials many of their colleagues are wary of making mortgages that fall outside the parameters of the qualified mortgage definition or are exiting the mortgage business entirely. Addressing two top regulators from the CFPB during the tail end of a session at the American Bankers Association’s government relations conference in Washington, DC, last week, one community banker from Oklahoma reported survey findings that one third of respondents in the state are no longer offering residential mortgages.

The CFPB appears to be having a hard time holding on to some of its top officers who are leaving for more lucrative jobs in the private sector. Then again, no one really expected the government agency to have much luck competing against the deep pockets of megabanks like Wells Fargo. This month alone, Wells Fargo recruited two bureau executives who were considered among its very best, at least in the mortgage space: Lisa Applegate, who was in charge of mortgage rule implementation at the agency, and Pete Carroll, assistant director for mortgage markets.

New regulations on payday lending will be coming from the CFPB at some point, after the bureau issued a report last week that found that 80 percent of all payday loans are rolled over or renewed within 14 days. Further, the bureau found that the majority of such loans are made to borrowers who end up paying more in fees than the amount of money originally borrowed. “One could readily conclude that the business model of the payday industry depends on people becoming stuck in these loans for the long term,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray in releasing the report.

The CFPB is beginning to look into abandoned properties and the phenomenon known as “zombie” foreclosures, a top bureau official indicated recently. “The term zombie foreclosure refers to a situation in which a borrower has moved out of a home after the lender has started a foreclosure,” according to attorney Michael Waldron, a partner and practice leader of the mortgage banking unit at Ballard Spahr. However, “because the lender did not complete the foreclosure, title was never officially transferred and remains with the borrower, who may be unaware that the foreclosure was never completed.”

The Republican-controlled House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations plans to hold a hearing on allegations of discrimination and retaliation within the CFPB on the morning of April 2, 2014. “Committee staff has received corroborating information from a CFPB employee who alleges she has experienced gender discrimination and retaliation for filing an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint with the CFPB’s Human Capital Office,” said a committee memorandum accompanying the committee’s announcement.