Barbara Desoer, the president of Bank of America's home loans division who was once considered a possible successor to former Chief Executive Ken Lewis, will retire at the end of February, B of A said Friday.

Genworth Financial posted earnings of $107 million in the fourth quarter - compared to a $161 million loss a year ago - but its mortgage insurance division continued to struggle.

Mortgage companies have added at least 3,000 full-time employees to their payrolls since September -- to keep up with refinancings -- but held off on hiring in December, according to new government figures released Friday morning.

Interactive Mortgage Advisors, Denver, is selling a $589 million portfolio of residential servicing rights backed by Fannie Mae and GNMA mortgages.

Freddie Mac saw its 2011 multi-family volume increase by 32% over 2010 to more than $20 billion. Of that total, $16.5 billion, or 81%, of new purchase volume was through the Capital Markets Execution program – the largest annual volume amount to date.

The mortgage division of Ally Financial Inc., originated $16.5 billion of new loans in the fourth quarter, a small gain from 3Q, but a 29% drop from the same period in 2011, according to new figures released Thursday morning.