An assistant at CashCall tries to clear the air on the lender's sale. Meanwhile, the USDA mortgage program is dead, for now.

Has Paul Reddman given up trying to sell CashCall, the refi specialist? Meanwhile, MBS issuance got whacked in the third quarter.

Moody's, in a new report, notes that Bank of America outsources roughly 25 percent of its “early stage” collection efforts to vendors.

As the government shutdown continues and many federal workers go without pay checks, there’s a growing concern that these potential borrowers will see their credit scores get dinged.

If the U.S. defaults on its debt payments, will mortgage rates go sky high? Meanwhile, will JPM rescure FHA?

If you're looking for another factor in the red hot MSR market, consider this: housing receivables keep shrinking.

It’s no secret that Nationstar has been an active bidder on MSRs the past two years, taking down some huge packages of product, including receivables from Bank of America.

Bargain hunters are beginning to eye the mortgage market, hoping to pick up franchises at a discount to prices paid in 2012 and earlier this year. But getting capital-rich companies to sell – even with refinance production dwindling – could prove to be a challenge. “We haven't seen any efforts to re-price transactions in process,” said Chuck Klein, managing partner of Mortgage Banking Solutions, Woodway, TX. “If volume and profits are falling below the budget and forecast on deals at the discussion level, then the seller must be able to present a reasonable explanation of how they are to achieve projections in their budget and growth.” Larry Charbonneau, who runs Charbonneau & Associates, another Texas-based consultancy, said...

Besides Citi, a handful of large depositories are in the midst of wrapping up sizable MSR auctions this week, including offerings from Wells Fargo and Flagstar Bancorp.

Over the past two years, upwards of $1 billion has been raised by private-equity funds seeking to buy servicing rights in the secondary market.