According to interviews conducted by IMFnews, many nonbanks lost money in January and February but began to see better results in March.

The 16.4 percent increase was more likely due to the fact that a huge number of reverse mortgages closed in November and December but were not insured by FHA until January, said one lender.

Up until the housing crash of 2008, it was not uncommon for many warehouse lenders to extend lines of credit to buy MSRs or finance the holding of the asset.

Fitch Ratings said the spike was an aberration, caused by a servicing transfer, not sudden poor performance by pristine jumbo borrowers.

At March 31, PIMCO did not even rank among the top institutional holders of PHH Corp. As one analyst quipped: "Maybe they like the valuation."

It remains unclear why Rick Thompson departed Envoy Mortgage as its CEO.

How much stock to insiders at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac actually own?

So what’s stressing the mortgage industry out? Regulations, more regulations – and litigation and the threat thereof.

But there was some good news: Jumbos accounted for 18.7 percent of total originations in the first quarter of 2014, a level not seen since 2004.

Before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau implemented standards for qualified mortgages, few lenders admitted that they were willing to offer non-QMs. However, in recent weeks, a number of lenders have touted their entrance into the sector, providing Ethos Lending with plenty of competition. Some of the non-QM lenders are sticking to relatively safe offerings of interest-only mortgages to well-qualified borrowers, while others see a strong market in non-QMs for borrowers that might not qualify for agency financing. This week, Caliber Home Loans announced...