Bank of America – the nation’s third largest residential originator – this week gave its mortgage loan officers an edict: start taking applications for auto loans as well. Going forward, mortgage loan officers will be known simply as “loan officers.” A BofA spokesman confirmed the changes to Inside Mortgage Finance, but cautioned that LOs will not be taking applications for checking accounts and credit cards, though referrals can be made to other divisions of the bank. BofA watchers, as well as the bank’s competitors, were scratching...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported a combined net profit of $5.53 billion in the third quarter of 2016 with income from guarantee fees strong in both the single-family and multifamily segment. Both government-sponsored enterprises expect guarantee fee income to continue to be a driving force. Freddie’s net profit of $2.33 billion represents its strongest performance since the second quarter of 2015, when it earned $4.17 billion. Stellar g-fee income and a steep reduction in hedging losses helped contribute to that growth. Meanwhile, Fannie reported...
On Thursday Wells said it’s raising its reserves, noting that the SEC has been added to the list of federal agencies investigating its sales practices.
HomeBridge Financial Services this week agreed to buy the assets of Prospect Mortgage, marking one of the largest acquisitions of the year and stoking the hopes of investment bankers that more deals may lay ahead. But HomeBridge’s purchase of Prospect could turn out to be an anomaly. According to HomeBridge CEO Peter Norden, the two parties had been talking on and off about combining forces for roughly five years. For Norden, the combination of the two nonbanks – both privately held – is...
The $185.0 million settlement Wells Fargo agreed to in early September regarding retail banking sales practices has impacted the lender’s mortgage operations, according to bank officials. Timothy Sloan, Wells’ president and CEO, said mortgage referral activity declined significantly after the settlement was announced. “Mortgage referrals from retail banking, which account for 10.0 percent of our year-to-date mortgage originations, were down 24.0 percent from August to September,” he said during Wells’ recent earnings call. Sloan noted...
A CID recipient could not disclose its receipt of such a demand to counterparties under financing agreements, loan sales agreements, and purchase and sale agreements, which routinely require such disclosures.