Inside Mortgage Finance shortly will publish its final 4Q ranking of FHA lenders, but it appears that the October-December period was one of the strongest in terms of loan production in quite some time ...plus other mortgage briefs.

Mortgage lenders are still trying to figure out how much regulatory uncertainty they are facing thanks to Friday’s court decision that appears to invalidate the appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Mortgage lenders funded $232.69 billion worth of FHA loans in 2012, a 22 percent jump from the year prior, according to exclusive loan-level data compiled by Inside FHA Lending.

Roosevelt Management Co. was the winning bidder on Arch Bay Capital’s nonperforming loan portfolio, which includes roughly 4,000 distressed loans.

Nationstar Mortgage priced $300 million of asset-backed term notes, saying the deal marks the first ever “agency servicer advance securitization.

A large and potentially lucrative RFP issued several months ago by FHFA regarding its strategic plan for taking the GSEs to the next stage in their evolution has yet to be awarded.

The recent court ruling which called into question the legitimacy of certain recess appointments – including that of CFPB director Richard Cordray – also means the agency may not have any regulatory oversight over nonbanks.

It appears the “ability-to-repay” rule is good news for mortgage servicers.

Residential production increased modestly during the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis.

Fannie Mae appears to be getter faster in approving seller/servicer approvals.