Before we get to the main event (the ‘Qualified Mortgage’ rule), it’s time to consider the improving fate of Fannie Mae, which is poised to have a few coming quarters of blow-out earnings – which will go directly into the coffers of the U.S. Treasury Department, much to the delight of the newly nominated secretary Jack Lew.

The Obama administration may want to think twice before moving ahead with reported plans to replace Edward DeMarco, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s acting director, says a long time industry observer.

Outside the weather’s frightful – and inside the loan closings are piling up like snow drifts in Northern Minnesota.

ES Appraisal Services, Jacksonville, FL, has closed its doors, the second national appraisal management company to have gone bust in the past year. It also uses the trade name eValuation Solutions LLC.

Pacific Premier Bank, Costa Mesa, CA, is looking for a new warehouse lending executive to replace Bill Owen, who departed the company a few weeks ago.

Happy New Year? It is if you’re a mortgage attorney charging billable hours to lenders that are trying to make sense of an array of pending rules coming out of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other agencies.

Carrington Holding Co., which has a growing presence in residential finance, has hired Wall Street veteran Christopher Whalen as Executive Vice President in charge of its investment banking operation.