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Author Archives: Carrie Bay

Carrie Bay is a freelance writer for DS News and its sister publication MReport. She served as online editor for DSNews.com from 2008 through 2011. Prior to joining DS News and the Five Star organization, she managed public relations, marketing, and media relations initiatives for several B2B companies in the financial services, technology, and telecommunications industries. She also wrote for retail and nonprofit organizations upon graduating from Texas A&M University with degrees in journalism and English.

Ellie Mae Taps Industry Veteran Lisa Schreiber for VP Role

Ellie Mae, a provider of automation solutions for the residential mortgage industry, announced Friday that it has appointed Lisa Schreiber as the company's new VP of lender business development. In her new role, Schreiber oversees the company's efforts to build and maintain productive, collaborative relationships with mega-lenders and correspondent investors. Her first major undertaking with Ellie Mae is managing the implementation of the company's TQL (Total Quality Loan) program by a top five mega-lender.

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Illinois Announces $345M Mortgage Assistance Program for Unemployed

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced a program last week that he says will help approximately 15,000 homeowners threatened by foreclosure. The Illinois Hardest Hit program utilizes $345 million in federal funds to support families who are having trouble making their mortgage payments due to unemployment or underemployment. Eligible participants will receive up to $25,000 over 18 months as a 10-year loan to keep their mortgages current. The loan is forgiven over the last five years of the 10-year term and carries zero interest.

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Mortgage Rates Mixed This Week but Expected to Head Lower

Interest rates on home loans offered up a mixed bag of results this week. Freddie Mac says fixed-rate mortgages showed no change or dipped slightly and adjustable-rate mortgages ticked upward. Even with the inconsistencies, rates remain near their record lows. Those lows may drop farther with the Federal Reserve's announcement Wednesday that it's planning a new buying spree of mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries. Leading indicators in the bond market since the Fed's statement suggest mortgage rates will again start falling.

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Home Prices Continue Four-Month Run of Gains in FHFA Study

Home prices rose 0.8 percent between June and July, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said Thursday. That string of gains is coming off a streak of declines that was three times as long. Prior to April, FHFA's index had been on a slippery downward slope for 12 straight months. FHFA's numbers are calculated using sales price information from mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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WFG National Title Expands Default Services Division With New Director

Brandy Sams has joined WFG National Title Insurance Company as the director of its default services division. Sams' career in the mortgage and real estate industries spans a period of more than 15 years. She worked most recently in the secondary market with Fannie Mae. She also held the position of title and escrow specialist for a national servicer and title and escrow manager with a California-based title company.

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Chase Opens Mortgage Centers Near North Carolina Military Bases

Chase has opened two new Homeownership Centers in North Carolina to provide one-on-one help for borrowers struggling with their mortgage payments - one in Fayetteville, near Fort Bragg and the second in Jacksonville, near Camp Lejeune. The company is staffing all of its Homeownership Centers near military bases with employees who have served in the military or military family members. Chase also recently set up Centers near bases in Texas and Virginia, and has plans for openings later this year in Tennessee and Washington.

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New Fed Stimulus: Mortgage Bonds and Treasuries on the Shopping List

Driving home its rationale for new stimulus measures, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday reiterated the pains many Americans are living with every day - economic growth remains slow, unemployment remains elevated, and housing remains depressed. With these and other downside risks holding back recovery, the Federal Reserve says it will begin reinvesting its money into mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and it will purchase another $400 billion in Treasury bonds.

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Keystone Asset Management Announces Completion of IT Audit

Keystone Asset Management Inc. is a national provider of REO, default management, and property valuation services headquartered in Colmar, Pennsylvania. The company announced this week that it has successfully completed its SSAE #16 Type II Audit. This is a widely recognized audit that assures the company’s information system reporting controls, processes and procedures adhere to industry best practices.

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The Hopp Law Firm Promotes Cynthia Nierer to Managing Attorney

The Hopp Law Firm, LLC, a national provider of commercial and creditor legal services, recently announced that Cynthia Nierer, Esq. has been promoted to managing attorney. She will have the primary responsibility of overseeing the firm's New York office. Nierer joined the Hopp Law Firm in March of this year as a supervising attorney. She has been representing banking clients in the real estate and mortgage default industries since 1995.

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Randall McHugh Named a ‘Best Lawyer’ for Foreclosure Practice

Randall S. McHugh, VP at Bendett & McHugh, P.C., has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of mortgage banking foreclosure law. This marks the third straight year that McHugh has been honored with the designation. Selection to Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive and rigorous peer-review survey comprising more than 3.9 million evaluations by fellow attorneys.

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