California single-family home and condominium sales fell 1.4 percent in February from January, and declined 16.1 percent from February, 2013. According to the Real Property Report from PropertyRadar, last month marked the lowest sales for the month of February since 2008.
Read More »FHLBanks Director Expense Reports Contain ‘Inconsistencies’
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released findings on the reporting of Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) director expenses. The OIG found, "FHFA has not included information about FHLBank director expenses in its annual reports to Congress, as required by HERA."
Read More »Medallion Analytics Launches Vendor Performance Management Tool
Medallion Analytics announced it is rolling out Medallion Vendor Scorecard, a reporting tool that provides a loan-level analysis of errors made throughout the post-closing process. The scorecard gives lenders an overall picture of their settlement services vendors' performances.
Read More »IDS, MortgageFlex Develop Blind Mortgage Doc Prep-LOS Integration
Mortgage document preparation vendor International Document Services, Inc. (IDS) and MortgageFlex Systems, a provider of mortgage loan software, announced the development of a joint interface between IDS's flagship mortgage document preparation system idsDoc and MortgageFlex's LoanQuest loan origination system (LOS).
Read More »Credit Loosens and Refinances Shrink in February
Ellie Mae released its Origination Insight Report, which noted falling mortgage rates, shrinking refinances, and loosening of credit restrictions in the month of February. Ellie Mae's report, culled from 57 percent of Ellie Mae's mortgage application data, found that the average rate for a 30-year mortgage fell to 4.65 percent.
Read More »Fitch Finalizes U.S. RMBS Qualified and Non-Qualified Mortgage Criteria
Fitch Ratings announced it has finalized its criteria for analyzing loans securing U.S.residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) under the new qualified mortgage (QM) and Ability-to-Repay rule (the Rule) recently adopted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Read More »$63.1 Million Awarded to Stave Off Foreclosures
NeighborWorks America announced Tuesday in a press release that $63.1 million had been awarded to 29 state housing finance agencies, 18 HUD-approved housing counseling intermediaries, and 67 community-based NeighborWorks organizations. The money, provided through the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program, is earmarked for counseling to families and individuals facing the threat of foreclosure.
Read More »Banks Complete Consumer Relief Obligations
Joseph A. Smith, Jr., monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, filed final crediting reports with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. The reports confirmed that banks have satisfied their consumer relief and refinancing obligations under the settlement, nearly a full year ahead of schedule.
Read More »Ocwen to Pay $2.1 Billion to 49 States
The California Department of Business Oversight, along with 48 other states, reached a settlement with Ocwen Financial Corporation and Ocwen Loan Servicing, according to a press release issued by the department. The $2.1 billion settlement was in response to violations regarding mortgage servicing laws.
Read More »Bank Credit and Money Growth Show ‘Subpar Recovery’
Bank credit and money growth both exhibit typical patterns in the post-Great Recession era; however, the change over the time period is consistent with the pace of a subpar recovery. This revelation was reported by the Wells Fargo Economics Group in a release Monday, highlighting the two factors as reasons for caution among both businesses and bank lenders.
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