What do Fannie/Freddie officials say about the walk-out? They were amused at the effort but declined to comment on-the-record.

The Senate this week approved by unanimous consent a narrow bill to reverse hefty pay hikes for the chief executive officers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A similar bill cleared the House Financial Services Committee this summer with heavy bipartisan support, and the White House has signaled it has no objections to the measure. But the Senate steered clear of more controversial proposals regarding the two government-sponsored enterprises, including language sought by Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, barring the Department of Treasury from selling its senior preferred stock in the GSEs without approval from Capitol Hill. According to reports, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, put...

The Department of Justice has announced a new, far-reaching policy regarding individual accountability for corporate misconduct – a change that could significantly affect the way mortgage lenders and securitization participants cooperate with the agency in criminal and civil investigations. A product of a DOJ working group, the new policy is the culmination of the DOJ’s gradual shift towards demanding greater individual accountability and addresses criticism, since the 2008 financial crisis, about the lack of individual accountability in corporate settlements with the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly mortgage-related civil lawsuits. Under the new policy, corporations must provide...

Lender compensation of loan originators has become a whole new world now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken over enforcement for many lenders. During an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar this week, three top legal experts spelled out multiple lessons lenders should learn if they wish to avoid the fate that has befallen some of their peers at the hands of the CFPB. Kristie Kully, a partner with the K&L Gates law firm, drew a number of key take-aways from the first such enforcement action brought by the bureau, which occurred in November 2013, when the CFPB accused Castle & Cook and two of its executives of paying illegal bonuses for steering consumers into costlier mortgages. More specifically, the bureau alleged...

Paul Hindman of Grid Origination Services noted that any public company CEO who does not deliver on performance mandates “is at risk, more so than ever in today’s market.”

Technology, like MBS, can be complicated. Just read the new FHFA report…

GSE watchers anticipate the salary cap legislation will be signed into law this fall.

The trend continues: Work for the CFPB for a year or so and then cash out...

Two companies – Wells Fargo and Bank of America – accounted for virtually all of the decline in bank MSR holdings during the second quarter.

Recently, Home Point added a large retail lending team from Great Plains Bank and Newman promised that “we have another large retail team scheduled to come on in the next several weeks.”