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."

Jeff Detwiler, president and chief operating officer of Long & Foster Companies, noted that that higher interest rates are playing a “big role” in the lower home sales realtors are seeing in the Washington DC metro area.

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.

Subprime lender Citadel Loan Servicing began taking applications in July. So far, it has suffered no delinquencies.

MountainView and The Prestwick Mortgage Group are out in the market with new deals for mortgage servicing rights. The new year should prove to busy for MSR sales.

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.

Freedom has big expansion plans for the new year. Company CEO and founder Stan Middleman recently told IMFnews Daily that he plans to hire between 200 and 500 residential loan officers in 2014.

Most of the underlying mortgages have terms of six to nine months, but with a warehouse line in place the terms could range from three to five years.

A few months ago, sources close to the BofA case, said the FHFA was hoping for a settlement in the range of $13 billion.

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.