The EXPIRE Act also includes a provision to extend the mortgage insurance premium tax deduction. In a letter supporting the tax extensions to the committee, the Mortgage Bankers Association estimated that for a $200,000 home, homeowners would be able to deduct between $600 and $1,000 from their taxes.

FHFA Director Mel Watt may have something to say soon on the topic of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loan level price adjustments, commonly known as LLPAs. As for the GSE 'Scorecard'...

The biggest decline in MI-insured business was in underwater mortgages that were refinanced while keeping their existing coverage under the Home Affordable Refinance Program.

Currently, MSRs can only account for 10 percent of Tier I capital, but MBA thinks it should be raised to at least 25 percent for banks, and 50 percent for thrifts and savings and loans.

Roughly 2 percent of depositories said they will cease offering mortgages altogether because of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability to repay rule and QM standards.

FHA chief Carol Galante reminded lenders that mortgage premium increases – five hikes from 2008 to 2013 – were necessary to protect the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and properly price for the risk the government insurer was taking on.

PHH Mortgage has been on the auction block for at least two months. One called the sale “mission impossible.”

Did the FHFA late last summer/early fall raise concerns regarding a certain nonbank servicer’s capital in regard to a huge portfolio of mortgage servicing rights that it had bought earlier in the year from a megabank?

The terms of the MBS settlement are subject to approval by the Federal Housing Finance Agency due to Freddie Mac’s involvement.

“A few groups have taken a walk through the offices in Cherry Hill,” said a source close to PHH. “People are starting to notice – and leave.”