Origination volume for new mortgages may take awhile to rebound, if the nation’s renters have any say in the matter. The vast majority of renters say they will not make the move to buy their own home in the next year, as consumer confidence in the state of the U.S. housing market has hit historical [...]

A more financially literate consumer base might have helped lessen the blow of the subprime mortgage crisis, helping consumers understand the loans they were getting as well as helping them better understand the loss mitigation options available to them, according to remarks delivered Wednesday by Treasury Undersecretary Robert Steel. Speaking to the President’s Advisory Council on [...]

First American CoreLogic said Wednesday that it had launched the second generation of its well-known risk management and fraud detection platform, LoanSafe. The platform helps lenders and investors identify early indicators of mortgage fraud, market volatility and potential loss. LoanSafe 2.0 examines property valuation history as well as borrower characteristics and real-estate ownership history, using First [...]

Despite an absolute dearth of ARM resets, the number of severely delinquent Alt-A borrowers continues to grow, according to a report released late last week by Clayton Holdings, Inc. (CLAY: 0.00, N/A). The number of troubled Alt-A borrowers in the 2007 vintage rose an eye-popping 26.5 percent from March to April alone, nearly reaching 17 [...]

Hammerin’ Hank Paulson may want to see the Office of Thrift Supervision closed, but OTS director John Reich sees the S&L regulator’s role as important as ever. Via the Associated Press: John Reich, director of the federal Office of Thrift Supervision, said Tuesday that his agency should be given broad powers over mortgage bankers and brokers, [...]

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, Moody’s Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings will need to make some strong adjustments covering how their structured finance ratings businesses operate, according to new standards published by regulators today. The new rules include provisions that will prohibit analysts from “making proposals or recommendations regarding the design of structured finance products” that [...]

Slowing refinancing applications activity from borrowers — troubled or otherwise — helped push the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly applications survey down for the week ended May 23, as mortgage rates headed upward last week. The MBA said Wednesday morning that its composite index of purchase and refinance activity fell 4.6 percent on seasonally-adjusted basis to [...]

Fitch Ratings said Tuesday afternoon that it had cut its residential mortgage servicer ratings on troubled lender Residential Capital LLC, as the ratings agency said questions over the company’s “weakening financial condition” continue to run unanswered. Fitch cut all servicer ratings by at least four notches, a significant drop in ratings for one of the [...]

Total mortgage origination activity among the nation’s thrifts fell by 20 percent during the first quarter while troubled assets continued their rapid ascent, the Office of Thrift Supervision said Tuesday afternoon. Mortgage originations, including multifamily and nonresidential mortgages, were $133.7 billion in the first quarter, down 21 percent from $169.2 billion in the first quarter [...]

Citadel Investment Group, L.L.C. said Wednesday that Bill King will join the firm as a senior managing director and head of securitized products. King previously served as global co-head of securitized products at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM: 35.31, +2.05%). “This is an unprecedented time in the securitization markets, and we are committed to putting our [...]