One mortgage executive had this to say about the W.J. Bradley case: “This is fascinating for the implications of whether the LO or the company owns the customer. As you know, LOs have their little black books (or thumb drives) of all their customers and their information."

A spokesman for WJB told IMF that the lender/servicer may send out an additional 2,000 data breach notifications, pending the results of a computer forensic review.

The former House Democrat has already halted – for now – certain DeMarco-era directives, including the FHFA’s December announcement of a 10-basis point guaranty fee increase.

Just how important are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the revenue picture of the U.S. government? According to calculations from The Collingwood Group, a Washington-based consulting firm, GSE dividends in 2013 will be the fourth largest source of federal revenue.

Will well-known mortgage trainer Barry Habib stick with Residential Finance Corp., a company whose assets are in the process of being sold? It’s hard to say since RFC isn’t answering questions on about the firm’s future.

Freedom Mortgage, which has aggressive hiring plans this year, has tapped two top production executives from PHH.

Let’s just hope that if Bernie Madoff and Lee Farkas are socializing together in prison they’re not plotting some type of massive mortgage scam.

One former regulator told us that HUD is relying too heavily on foreclosure sales, which can drive down median values.

Will departing FHFA chief Ed DeMarco go work for a hedge fund? Stranger things have happened.

A handful of firms say they are still aggressively recruiting residential loan officers who have a solid background in purchase-money lending – that is, sales professionals with deep ties to Realtors and home builders.