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Author Archives: Ryan Schuette

Ryan Schuette is a journalist, cartoonist, and social entrepreneur with several years of experience in real-estate news, international reporting, and business management. He currently lives in the Washington, D.C., area, where he freelances for DS News and MReport.

House Passes FHA Bill to Prevent Financial Decline

House lawmakers overcame election-year gridlock on Tuesday to punt their version of a bill that would shore up the Federal Housing Administration, whose embattled Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund falls short of the capital required by law. The lower chamber passed the Federal Housing Administration Fiscal Solvency Act by a sweeping vote of 402 -7.

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Senators Introduce Refi Bill to Expand HARP, C.A.R. Expresses Support

Lawmakers introduced a bill on Monday with plans to once more revamp the Home Affordable Refinance Program for current borrowers with eligible loans with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Robert Menendez, among others, drafted the Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act to increase lender competition, open up refinance opportunities to all current borrowers with government-backed mortgages, and strike through appraisal costs and upfront fees on home loans.

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LPS: Home Prices Up in May

Home prices ticked up by 0.9 percent year-over-year, according to Lender Processing Services. The Florida-based analytics and technology provider revealed that prices also rose by 0.7 percent month-over-month. Home values climbed by $203,000 on average, reflecting a 0.7-percent uptick from $202,000 last year.

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Poll: 4 Out of 5 Americans Won’t Refinance or Buy Despite Low Rates

Despite recent gains, homeowners still feel antsy about the housing market, with 4 out of 5 home-owning Americans unlikely to buy or refinance their homes, according to a recent poll. Union Plus, an arm of the AFL-CIO, conducted the survey with Harris Interactive. The findings? Only employees between ages 18 and 34 felt interested in making a housing investment over the next 12 months.

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NCUA: Q2 Growth in Credit Union Lending Biggest Since 2008

Credit unions found reason to celebrate recently, with the National Credit Union Administration revealing that unions saw their biggest quarterly push in lending since fall 2008. According to the report, released on Friday, credit unions signed off on $581.7 billion in outstanding total loans over the second quarter. The uptick marks the fifth straight quarterly increase for total loans and helped credit unions originate 1.7 percent more home loans from the quarter before.

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CFPB Announces Additions to Leadership

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently unveiled several recent changes of guard for senior personnel. The bureau said in a release last week that Kelly Thompson Cochran, Chris Lipsett, Stephen van Meter, and Delicia Reynold Hand would move into senior roles.

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FDIC Sees Number of Problem Banks Fall in Q2

As bank failures dwindle, FDIC institutions continue to see their own coffers swell, with an agency report finding that banks with government guarantees earned $34.5 billion over the second quarter. The FDIC also noted fewer ""problem"" institutions for the fifth consecutive quarter. Those identified as problems fell from 772 to 732, making this year one for the smallest problem banks since fourth-quarter 2009. Assets for institutions on the decline fell from $292 billion to $282 billion. And banks seemed to sweat a little less over the last quarter.

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Five Added to Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight Board

Five new faces joined the board of directors at the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight on Monday. The five include former banking commissioners, politicians, attorneys, and academics, with Mississippi banking commissioner John Allison and former North Carolina Gov. James Holshouser notably joining the board.

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Full Disclosure of Fees, Privacy Most Important to Borrowers: Survey

Just how important is disclosure to American borrowers? Very important, if the figures from a recent Harris Interactive survey mean anything. MortgageMarvel.com commissioned a survey of 2,214 American adults 18 years or older to learn that one full-quarter of Americans take disclosure into account when considering their next home loan. After disclosure, 20 percent of survey respondents ranked anonymity as their second most-valued quality in the lending process.

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Fitch: Repurchase Risk Increasing for Banks

Analysts with Fitch Ratings found in a report on Monday that repurchase risk remains high for several financial institutions, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Ally Financial. According to Fitch, repurchase risk climbed to 41 percent for Bank of America. Roughly 60 percent of the claims stemmed from private-label requests.

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