Tag Archives: Wells Fargo

When it comes to next year's regulatory obstacles, CEOs and senior executives from the mortgage industry's biggest players agree on one thing: Education will be key to keeping business going. In a panel at the 2013 Realtors Conference and Expo, high-level names from Quicken Loans, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America discussed the qualified mortgage (QM) guidelines. While the initial implementation of these rules is expected to restrict lending in the short-term, panelists agreed that business should even out.

Joseph A. Smith, the monitor overseeing fulfillment efforts put forward by each servicer involved in the National Mortgage Settlement, has issued a report on their progress satisfying consumer relief obligations outlined in the agreement. Smith's report covers servicer activities through December 31, 2012, which have been vetted and verified by the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight. Each servicer's internal review group provided Smith with information on the servicers' crediting progress in February of this year.

Builder confidence fell again in October but remained north of neutral, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Wednesday in its Housing Market Index (HMI) report. Despite declining for the second straight month, the index has hovered above the neutral mark for five consecutive months now, and NAHB reports seeing signs of pent-up demand in many markets across the country. Furthermore, the association believes October's drop represents a temporary blip.

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase both released their earnings summaries for the third quarter on Friday, revealing the full toll that legal expenses have taken on the latter's profits.

After releasing a mortgage origination forecast of $349 billion for the third quarter earlier this week, FBR Capital Markets revised its estimate to between $400 billion and $420 billion for the quarter Wednesday. FBR anticipates a rise in refinances under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) as small specialty servicing shops are "still playing catch-up" from the recent boom. Meanwhile, larger players are relinquishing some of their market share, according to analysts at the investment bank.

Wells Fargo and SunTrust Mortgage are the two most recent companies to settle over claims regarding representations and warranties on single-family loans sold to the GSE.

According to a report from Bloomberg, "people with knowledge of the matter" said Wells Fargo is removing 2,300 jobs--about 20 percent of its 11,406 loan officers as of March 31. In its story, Bloomberg cited an internal memo written by Franklin Codel, head of mortgage production at Wells Fargo, in which he noted that refinances have fallen to nearly half of total loan share--down from 70 percent in the year's first half. As a result, Codel said, the bank has "had to recalibrate [its] business to meet customers' needs."

While rising home prices across the nation may be good news as they imply recovering markets, the trend may dampen housing affordability.

Wells Fargo is the largest servicer of commercial and multifamily mortgages by dollar volume as of the end of June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Wells Fargo Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co., will exit from its eight mortgage joint ventures in mortgage lending due to "the current regulatory and market environment," the company announced Thursday.