For years, big banks have delivered nearly all of their conforming mortgage production to the government-sponsored enterprises and retained their jumbo mortgages in portfolio. But some big banks have changed tactics, exploring differing execution options for their originations. Paul Donofrio, CFO of Bank of America, said the bank retained about 90.0 percent of its mortgage production on balance sheet in the second quarter of 2017. BofA had $18.0 billion in originations during the quarter, including first mortgages and home-equity loans. The loans retained...

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau prepares to begin assessing its ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule, national representatives of the mortgage industry and other financial services participants this week urged the regulator to deal with what’s known as the “GSE patch.” The patch provides a temporary safe harbor for mortgages eligible to be sold to the government-sponsored enterprises that have debt-to-income ratios that exceed 43 percent, the maximum allowed under the ATR rule. The Housing Policy Council of the Financial Services Roundtable noted...

Ocwen originated $699.6 million in the second quarter, with a near doubling of retail originations unable to fully offset the wind-down in correspondent production…

The maneuver was uncommon and prompted speculation that other trustees might take similar actions.

The company has been trying to restructure its operations under CEO Anthony Renzi, who joined the firm last year.

A telling sign: Bank of America employed 6,603 servicing employees as of the end of 2016, down 78.0 percent compared to the end of 2013.

Best Odds of Success in Making Consumer Complaint Data Confidential Rest With a New Director at the CFPB. Industry observers and lobbyists are increasingly of the view that the most likely way the industry will see the kind of substantive regulatory reform and relief it needs is not through federal legislation, but rather from a new director at the CFPB... ICYMI: The Financial CHOICE Act Would Exclude AMCs from Points and Fees Calculations. One overlooked provision in H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives on June 13, deals with residential mortgage appraisals...

Flagstar Bank priced its first post-crisis jumbo MBS this week and other big banks could start issuing deals this year, according to industry analysts. Since 2010, the main issuers in the fledgling jumbo MBS market have been nonbanks, with banks content to hold jumbos in portfolio. In recent years, the only bank to issue prime non-agency MBS has been JPMorgan Chase, which has packaged jumbos with some mortgages eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises in its deals. The $443.8 million Flagstar Mortgage Trust 2017-1 follows...

By comparison, ARMs accounted for less than 1.0 percent of total prime non-agency MBS issued in the first quarter.

Pacific Investment Management Company published an opinion piece this week calling for changes in the non-agency market before policymakers enact reforms that affect the government-sponsored enterprises. PIMCO was also critical of other GSE reform proposals. “Without a functioning private mortgage market, it will be nearly impossible for the GSEs to shrink their footprint without significant disruption to the housing market and to the underlying homeownership rate,” PIMCO said. PIMCO was...