We're hearing that the Department of Housing and Urban Development is sending mixed signals to lenders.

We're hearing about New York attorneys negotiating the terms of the mortgage contingency in residential real estate contracts.

Our industry is a complex system and there are a lot of pipes carrying a lot of information.

WE'RE HEARING despite all the progress the mortgage industry has made in going paperless, it's perhaps more than a little ironic that the most important event in the mortgage process is still largely a paper-driven affair.

We're hearing that a funny thing happened on the way to a radiant world of paperless lending: a lot of people decided they liked using paper.

We're hearing the piquant financial metaphor "the dead cat bounce" recently, describing the remarkable bounce up in home prices all across the America.

We're hearing about remorse mortgages. I mean reverse mortgages.

We're hearing I love the Mortgage Banker's Association's tech show.

We're hearing some mortgage-backed securities risks may seem larger and draw more attention, but the so-called scrivener's error should not be overlooked because of them.

We're hearing if you look closely, you can start to see the first shoots of a reviving home equity lending industry.

We're hearing some of the dirty little captive mortgage reinsurance entities lenders created to snare a percentage of premiums were not facades and actually paid claims on defaulted loans.

We're hearing about Section 184 loans, designed to promote homeownership for American Indian and Alaska Native families.

We're hearing it's time to figure out exactly how originators should get paid for consumer direct lending.

We're hearing the glass in the Florida mortgage investment market is either half empty or half full, depending on where you are and how you look at it.

We're hearing a lot of talk about "big data" in the business press.

Learn the top three warning signs that there may be trouble with an originator that could lead to legal/compliance risks.

We're hearing the farm lending niche is booming, and that's a good thing in and of itself.

We're hearing about the neighbors. As in who lives in the neighborhood.

We're hearing that in 2012 the industry experienced a better-than-expected year, buoyed by very high revenue per loan.

The concern seems not to be the concept itself so much as its inclusion among larger structural weaknesses in jumbo mortgage-backed securities.