Servicing

The decline in mortgage production in the year's opening months failed to produce any names to the list of top lenders for the quarter, but it did shake up the rankings a bit. Staying firmly in the No. 1 spot for the quarter was Wells Fargo, which held on to 14.3 percent of the market with $36 billion in origination volumes, down from $50 billion in Q4 2013. On the servicing side, Wells Fargo again beat out all others, boasting a portfolio estimated at $1.81 trillion.

According to examination results released Wednesday by the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight, five of the six banks met or exceeded expectations across 29 different compliance metrics in the third and fourth quarters of 2013. Not faring as well was Green Tree, a wholly owned subsidiary of Walter Investment Management Corp., which has part of ResCap's servicing portfolio.

In Arizona, Capstone Mortgage announced the newest name in its recent hiring spree: Vicky Elleray has joined the Scottsdale-based company as operations/servicing manager.

In a release issued this week, Freddie Mac announced it has opened up its “full menu” of relief policies for homeowners whose homes were damaged or destroyed by late April storms that swept across parts of the South and the Great Plains.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Wednesday it is proposing “minor changes” to its mortgage rules to assist nonprofit organizations in getting loans to underserved communities. “Today’s proposal would maintain those strong protections, while making minor changes to ensure consumers have access to credit,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray in a statement.

Out of Colorado, Specialized Loan Servicing LLC (SLS), an independent, third-party mortgage servicer, announced the addition of Ryan Conser to the team as SVP of research and analytics.

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase experienced very different first quarters, as evidenced by results in their quarterly earnings reports released Friday. Wells Fargo reported a record net income of $5.9 billion for the first quarter, an increase of 14 percent from the year-ago quarter and 5 percent from Q4 2013. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase reported profits of $5.3 billion for the quarter compared to $6.5 billion a year ago.

Freddie Mac released on Wednesday an announcement "urgently reminding" servicers about the full range of relief options available to borrowers affected by flooding and other natural disasters in Washington. The company also made special note to remind servicers to consider relief policies for borrowers who work in eligible disaster areas but live in unaffected areas.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) released the results of its latest annual Real Estate Lending Survey. According to the ABA, more than 80 percent of bankers surveyed believe that tightened Dodd-Frank rules will restrict credit, thereby narrowing the pool of candidates able to secure mortgages. More than a third of bankers surveyed said they would only offer qualified mortgages.

Wetzel Trott, Inc., a firm specializing in quality control reviews for residential lenders, has joined the Stewart family of companies.