MetLife's announcement impacting 4,300 employees has roiled the lending biz. But there are those that continue to hire. In the retail arena, mortgage banker iServe Residential Lending is continuing to expand its national branching platform which is now in 20 states. The company is a direct lender providing loan servicing, mortgage origination, and real estate under one roof.  iServe is expanding its network of retail branches, and is looking for NMLS licensed LO's, branch managers, and branches in order to establish a "local branch presence, leveraging established mortgage broker and loan officer relationships." Interested parties can visit http://www.iservelending.com/ or for more information on the Western US, contact Allen Friedman at afriedman@iservelending.com, and in the Eastern US contact Ken Michael at kmichael@iservelending.com.

As mentioned yesterday, with BofA and MetLife exiting correspondent lending, concern in growing about PHH. S&P cut its credit rating in recent months (“negative outlook”), and now the industry is watching its liquidity crunch, hopefully alleviated by the 8K financial information recently released, but perhaps more importantly the investigation by the CFPB’s investigation into whether it failed to comply with the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. A filing with the SEC said that the bureau had opened an investigation to learn whether the company’s mortgage insurance policies, particularly those involving reinsurance services in exchange for premiums, met obligations under law. PHH said in the filing that there “can be no assurance whether or not this investigation will result in the imposition of any penalties and fines against the Company or its subsidiaries.” My opinion is that the industry would rather not have another top investor wave the white flag.

Now that the CFPB has a director, it can officially begin to exercise the full authorities granted to it under the Dodd-Frank Act. The agency announced the formal launch of its nonbank supervision program, and will start supervising nonbanks that until now “have largely escaped any meaningful federal oversight,” including: residential mortgage brokers, lenders, and servicers, payday lenders, and private student lenders regardless of size. Expect their powers to reach into debt collection, consumer reporting, consumer lending and related activities, money transmitting, check cashing, and related activities, prepaid cards, and debt relief services. In addition, the CFPB will supervise any other nonbank covered person that it determines is posing risks to consumers with regard to the offering or provision of consumer financial products or services.

Under FHFA’s guidance, Fannie Mae is introducing an Unemployment Forbearance program that provides servicers the flexibility to assist borrowers who have a financial hardship due to unemployment. Read all about them at: https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/annltrs/pdf/2012/svc1201.pdf.

Fannie also sent out an update on the maximum allowable pre-foreclosure mediation fees for which attorneys in Florida may be reimbursed as well as the maximum allowable attorney and trustee foreclosure fees in a number of other states. The Attorney and Trustee Foreclosure Fees exhibit on eFannieMae.com has also been updated: https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/annltrs/pdf/2012/svc1202.pdf.

Fannie & Freddie, who are not expected to have much done to/with them prior to the election, which puts things out to 2013, continue to be a focus of conversation. “Rob – according to a 2009 keynote address by James Lockhart, at that time the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), where he discussed the housing crisis, secondary markets, and regulatory oversight, he said the FHFA’s four stabilization strategies are to: 1. Ensure Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to the housing market in a safe and sound manner; 2. Work with government partners to reduce mortgage rates; 3. Work with the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to set best practices for the mortgage market; 4. Prevent foreclosures through affordable modifications and refinancings. It seems to me that the government itself is flying in the face of their own strategy - specifically items 1 and 2 - by burdening borrowers’ note rates via .10% increases in g-fees to fund the Payroll Tax Holiday extension.” How things change: http://www.strategicanalytics.com/pdf/RMARetailRiskConf2009.pdf.

Have your filed your own lawsuit yet? You'd better hurry - time is running out. The Patton Boggs Mortgage Litigation Index reached a four-year high, indicating a number of mortgage-related lawsuits. "The increase in MBS litigation is partly driven by statutes of limitations on investors’ claims," said Patrick McManemin, a partner at Patton Boggs. "State claims against originators for alleged mishandling of portfolios, inadequate underwriting practices and misrepresentations regarding loan quality on the part of private and GSE litigants can only be preserved by filing lawsuits before claims expire."

Do mortgage fraud suspects have the patent on hiding $70k in their cowboy boots: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/10/4177879/california-suspect-guilty-in-19m.html? He probably won’t be putting that money to work in the markets, which have been pretty quiet. Wednesday there wasn’t much news to drive rates, but they dropped nonetheless with the 10-yr moving down to 1.90% and rate-sheet MBS prices improving by .125. The Fed’s Beige Book provided another reminder of poor state of housing market: unlike other sectors of the economy that are showing some improvement, "activity stayed sluggish in residential real estate markets". The report went on to say that "extensive inventories of distressed properties were reported to be a source of price restraint" in 1/3 of the Districts; and "lending standards were largely unchanged across all lending categories."