The long-anticipated final implementation of the so-called Volcker rule this spring will have a limited impact on securitized products, according to a recent report by Barclays. A requirement of the Dodd-Frank Act to prohibit banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading and making investments with private-equity funds and hedge funds, the Volcker rule was finalized by five federal regulators last month and becomes effective April 1, 2014. Banks should expect...

The mortgage industry is once again at a crossroad. What will save lenders? Answer: cash-out refis, non-QM loans, and 80-10-10s.

Specifically, the CFPB is seeking comment on what consumers find most problematic about the closing process, including errors and changes at the closing table and the involvement of third-parties.

Former CFPB executive Raj Date hopes to be in the non-QM market by mid-year 2014.

Citigroup marked up the asset value of its MSRs by 5 percent, on a sequential basis, to $2.718 billion. Compared to 4Q12, its MSRs are now worth 40 percent more - even though its overall portfolio has been shrinking in size.

Certain members of Congress want the Fair Isaac "lock" on GSE credit scores to be broken.

It’s likely that little in the way of money is changing hands on the deal. By selling the MSRs to Fannie, Citi is also settling the payment of “compensatory” fee claims the GSE is owed by the bank.

According to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, Flagstar is the nation’s second largest wholesale/broker lender. It also has a fairly large presence in the warehouse market.

The nation’s three largest funders of home mortgages – Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America – this week reported hefty declines in originations during the fourth quarter of 2013. Wells originated $50 billion in residential mortgages during the fourth quarter, a stunning 60 percent decline from the same period a year earlier. The last time this perennial market leader had fundings this low was in the fourth quarter of 2008 when financial markets were reeling worldwide and the U.S. housing market was in the throes of an historic collapse. But Wells’ closest competitors fared...[Includes one data chart]

Mortgage lenders large and small have indicated they plan to stay away from making mortgages that do not fit into either the “safe harbor” or the “rebuttable presumption” QM boxes.