The Lede

This week's chart shows the recent price spread (per $100 of face value) between Ginnie Mae and Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities.

HOPE NOW yesterday reported the mortgage industry completed 337,000 non-foreclosure actions for homeowners during the third quarter.  

The Mortgage Bankers Association's National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo 2016 takes place Feb. 16-19 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. 

Just Released: MBA's most popular Resource Guide has just been updated to reflect new developments since the Know Before You Owe (TRID) rule took effect on October 3.

Do you know where you stand? The Mortgage Bankers Association's Performance Reports can tell you.

Banker and Tradesman, Nov. 25, 2015 The Mortgage Bankers Association and other groups have asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to exempt multifamily transactions from a proposed rule that would require margin be posted on forward-settling agency securities.

Washington Post, Nov. 25, 2015--Harney, Kenneth R. How are home closings going nearly two months after the new federal real-estate disclosure rules took effect? Are they being knocked off schedule and taking much longer from date of sale to final settlement, as some mortgage industry executives predicted? It depends on whom you ask.

New York Times, Nov. 27, 2015--Prevost, Lisa A little-known program allows police officers, teachers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians to buy certain homes for half price. But financing comes with some strings attached.

Wall Street Journal, Nov. 30, 2015--Pfau, Wade As the government continues to strengthen the rules and regulations for reverse mortgages, and as new research continues to pave the way with an agnostic approach about their role, we may be at a tipping point in which reverse mortgages become much more predominant in the years ahead.

HousingWire, Nov. 24, 2015--Lane, Ben The data come from the Consumer Financia Protection Bureau's latest snapshot report about its consumer complaint database, which showed that complaints about Ocwen in the last three months are down by 16% over the same time period last year.

New York Times, Nov. 24, 2015--Eavis, Peter As an important deadline looms in Congress, the Obama administration signaled on Tuesday that it would push back hard against any legislation that substantially loosens the sweeping 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.

Bloomberg, Nov. 24, 2015--Kawa, Luke Thanks to extensive monetary accommodation that has pushed returns on corporate bond in Europe to ultra-low levels, investors will have no choice but to search for yield across the Atlantic, Bank of America credit strategists contend.

National Mortgage News, Nov. 30, 2015--Sinnock, Bonnie A plan by the government-sponsored enterprises to begin electronically collecting the new Closing Disclosure data is designed to promote Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's loan quality and risk management goals. But the initiative may also prompt broader use of electronic signatures and paperless processing in the mortgage industry. TRID implementation "was painful" and required the expansion of industry data standards by as many as 300 data points, said Tim Anderson, a director at mortgage software vendor DocMagic. The UCD, which is in testing now, adds a few dozen more data elements to the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization guidelines and is "manageable," he said.

Wall Street Journal, Nov. 30, 2015--Harrison, David The Federal Reserve on Monday adopted a rule curtailing its flexibility to set up loan programs in a crisis, seeking to assuage Capitol Hill concerns about the central bank's broad powers to pump money into the financial system.

Los Angeles Times, Nov. 30, 2015--Koren, James Rufus PennyMac, AmeriHome Mortgage and Stearns Lending are all among the nation's largest mortgage lenders and none of them is a bank. They're part of a growing class of alternative lenders that now extend more than four in 10 home loans.

American Banker, Nov. 30, 2015--Berry, Kate Anticipation of rising interest rates has stirred more talk among mortgage lenders about the need to originate loans to borrowers with low credit scores. Mortgage lenders like Angel Oak Home Loans in Atlanta argue there is a distinction between the subprime products being pitched today and the infamous stated-income loans of yore.