As part of the transaction, Cobalt co-founders Keith Tibbles and Ernie Gehre will stay with the company, which will become a division of Caliber.

Roughly 40 to 50 percent of Citadel's production goes on its balance sheet.

Over the past few weeks, a handful of mortgage firms have announced acquisitions of smaller shops with an eye toward expanding their origination footprints or servicing portfolios. And investment banking advisors told Inside Mortgage Finance that between now and yearend, the mergers and acquisitions market should be brisk as owners of privately held companies finally head for the exits, realizing that when it comes to originations, 2015 likely won’t be much better than the current year. The largest nonbank to test the M&A market this year is...

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear cases in its coming term regarding guidance issued by the Department of Labor involving overtime pay for loan officers. Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 1, and a decision is expected by June. The cases are Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association and Nickols v. Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA has argued that the DOL didn’t follow rulemaking procedures in 2010 when the regulator withdrew guidance stating that loan officers could be exempt from overtime compensation requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Lenders have received...

Some mortgage executives told us privately that residential originations could fall by 20 percent year.

According to the final rule that HUD adopted in February 2013, a practice has a discriminatory effect on a protected class if HUD or a private plaintiff can establish liability under the statute, even if there is no intent to discriminate.

The 16, which include the Mortgage Bankers Association and American Bankers Association, want the CFPB to deepen its engagement using industry forums.

“Law enforcement has been on a bit of a run with settlements and enforcement," said Jim Parrott, a former Obama administration point man on housing.

The FHFA partially agreed with the IG's first recommendation and flatly rejected the second.

Company CEO Brian Hale downplayed the news of an offering book, noting that it hired an investment banker because over the past 12 months Stearns has been approached by “a number of interested investors.”