Paul Muolo

By late June PNC Financial Services Group Inc. will officially pull the plug on the warehouse lending business it acquired with National City Corp., laying off 55 employees of the division in Kentucky and sending its nonbank borrowers into the arms of other banks.

New rules that govern how nonbank loan officers conduct their affairs and train their staff are rolling through the nation and the grumbling is getting louder. Some LOs are begrudgingly complying while others are thinking of jumping ship to a depository.

Quicken Loans of Livonia, Mich., is jumping into the private-label origination business, offering its services to community banks and credit unions.

Hayden succeeded Mark Danahy, who left the nonbank lender and servicer to "pursue other opportunities," PHH said Friday after the market closed.

Universal Mortgage, a nonbank lender in Mequon, Wis., is closing down after failing to find a private-equity investor willing to pump capital into the $4 billion servicer.

The number of mortgaged homes with negative equity fell slightly in the first quarter, to 11.2 million units, according to figures compiled by First American CoreLogic.

Residential lenders originated $384 billion of new one- to four-family loans in the first quarter, a year-over-year decline of 20%, according to preliminary survey figures published Monday by National Mortgage News.

In recent weeks mortgage lenders have experienced a flurry of new applications from prospective homebuyers who see the April 30 federal tax credit expiration fast approaching and want their $8,000 "gift" from Uncle Sam.

For the past few months rumors have circulated in the mortgage industry about a hedge fund or investment bank working on a plan to enter the jumbo securitization market. Now, we finally have a name.

Mortgage due-diligence firms are once again thriving, but an old controversy about how they pay workers has also resurfaced.

Just when the market for mortgage servicing portfolios was showing signs of life again, something has come along to throw a wrench into the works: counterparty risk.

The market for mortgage servicing portfolios is beginning to gather steam, with talk of new offerings and the closing of at least two large sales.

Capital One is seeking out "combat" servicers to help the banking company deal with its growing base of problem residential loans, according to three of the specialty firms.

Citigroup Inc.'s CitiMortgage, which last year decided to reduce wholesale production, is recontacting certain loan brokers it used in hopes of drumming up new business.

The outlook for warehouse lending appears to be picking up. The most surprising development is an acknowledgement by the Mortgage Bankers Association that large banks, increasingly, are opening up the warehouse spigot for some of the trade group's nonbank members.

While rising mortgage rates are crimping originations, loan servicers are beginning to benefit from what could turn out to be a boom in the value of their portfolios.

The demise of Ideal Mortgage Bankers Ltd., which used the brand name Lend America, is a potential boon to other home lenders that operate in the Long Island market.

When the Federal Housing Administration unexpectedly delayed the release of a highly anticipated audit of its capital reserves last week, the industry initially feared the government mortgage insurance fund was now in the red, or close.

A federal court late Wednesday denied an injunction filed by the U.S. Attorneys' office in Brooklyn against Lend America, a development that will allow the nonbank — for now — to continue originating FHA loans.

A 30-year industry veteran wants to make Envoy Mortgage, the small but growing Houston nonbank originator he bought into 18 months ago, into a "middle tier" lender — one that ranks between 10th and 50th nationwide.