nationalmortgage

A few days ago Ocwen Financial officially closed on its $1.3 billion purchase of HomEq Servicing, North Highlands, Calif. The purchase adds $26 billion of servicing rights to Ocwen's base of subprime receivables. (Figures courtesy of National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.)

THE BIG PICTURE: In the eyes of most of the business community President Obama can do no right. At least that's the way I view it. Perhaps I should stop talking to mortgage professionals and watching CNBC. The new unemployment numbers came out Friday and depending on which spinmeister you speak to, it was better than expected or a disappointment.

We continue to hear reports that a large Wall Street firm is laying the ground work to reenter the warehouse lending arena. Supposedly, the firm (whose identity I know but I'm trying to confirm for sure) is also planning the launch of a mortgage conduit as well. Meanwhile, H&R Block's stock price was up almost 8% in trading Friday morning to $13.40.

Recently, National Mortgage News reported that although jumbo loan production is on the rise (refinancings mostly), the lenders funding these products aren't selling them into the secondary market.

The White House is supposedly working on some type of new program to aid the mortgage and housing markets with an announcement coming by mid-September. At press time details were sketchy but rumors are starting to float around Washington about what the plan might entail.

The stock market continues its August swoon. (Okay, it's up as of this writing but look for it to turn down by close of day.) As I've noted before, consumers with their wealth tied up in equities must be feeling pretty poor these days - jumbo borrowers especially.

Will depositories 'roll up' their mortgage banking subsidiaries into the bank parent because of upcoming regulatory changes? As National Mortgage News and American Banker reported last week, federally insured depositories have a choice to make: they can keep their mortgage subs as such, which would subject them to a patchwork of state consumer-protection laws.

THIS JUST IN: He's back! That would be Jonathan Kempner, former president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, who left the trade group a little more than two years ago, just as the mortgage industry was crumbling. But let me clarify: Jon is back, but not in mortgages.

Just when you thought conditions might be looking up in the jumbo market stock prices tank and "rich folks" (jumbo and super jumbo borrowers) are facing the prospect of taking home less money next year when the Bush tax cuts expire.

Rep. Barney Frank might leave Congress rather than take a demotion to ranking member status on the House Financial Services Committee should the Democrats lose control of Congress this fall.

After two ugly reports on home sales (existing and new) I wouldn't be surprised to see lobbyists from the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association on Capitol Hill in a few weeks, pitching a revival of the $8,000 home buyer tax credit. But perhaps, they should aim a little lower: $4,000 and make it a credit that applies to everyone.

How is the sovereign debt crisis like the mortgage crisis? Answer: consumers borrowed more than they could afford with the thought that their home values and their salaries would continue on an upward path.

For months the industry has been hearing plenty of talk about new entrants to the jumbo securitization market. The great irony of all this talk is that only one new jumbo MBS deal has come to market this year: a spring offering by Redwood Trust.

THIS JUST IN: Industry veteran Jess Lederman —who has done stints at Bear Stearns and Ohio Savings during his long career in mortgages —has apparently left Kinecta Federal Credit Union of Southern California where he was involved in a jumbo lending program. Lederman did not return a telephone call late this past week and a colleague said he was looking to get involved in a jumbo program at another firm...

Ed Pinto, a former Fannie Mae executive from decades ago, who has emerged as a harsh critic of the GSE and its sister company, Freddie Mac, has an update about what may lie ahead for the two: "I have found that many are under the impression that the government's backing of the GSEs ends on 12-31-12 and, as a result, resolution of the GSEs' status needs to be accomplished well before that date.