Issuance of jumbo MBS was strong in 2013 until interest rates started to rise in May due to concerns that the Federal Reserve was set to taper its stimulus efforts.

Will departing FHFA chief Ed DeMarco go work for a hedge fund? Stranger things have happened.

A handful of firms say they are still aggressively recruiting residential loan officers who have a solid background in purchase-money lending – that is, sales professionals with deep ties to Realtors and home builders.

Also note that the ATR rule provides additional flexibility to small lenders in that the safe harbor has been expanded to 3.5 percent over the average prime offer rate.

Although the settlement has been filed and agreed to by PNC, it still requires court approval.

State attorneys general extended the national servicing settlement to the nonbank sector with an extra emphasis on servicing transfers.

The amount of outstanding mortgage-backed securities increased again in the third quarter of 2013.

A long running class-action fraud lawsuit on behalf of Fannie Mae investors and accounting firm KPMG was settled.

Some 29.3 percent of home purchases completed in November relied solely on cash. That was the third monthly increase in the share of cash transactions.

Fannie Mae will take a closer look at transfers to subservicers. The Federal Housing Finance Agency settled a non-agency MBS lawsuit with Deutsche Bank.