Government

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced this afternoon that the government’s plan to purchase financial institutions’ under-performing mortgages has been put on hold. In fact, based on Paulson’s remarks, it is unlikely that the Treasury will conduct any auctions to purchase bad loans and other troubled assets – the original intention of the $700 billion bailout package.

A Colorado regulator who has led previous crackdowns on captive reinsurance agreements and sham affiliated business arrangements says she has grave concerns about the legality of real estate marketing agreements.

As mandated by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), as of October 1, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) stopped accepting seller-funded down payments. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently issued a report warning about programs being created to get around this new requirement.

The Federal Reserve recently approved new regulatory statutes requiring mortgage lenders to disclose to borrowers how much interest rates differ between prime mortgages and the higher-priced subprime loans offered to less-affluent borrowers.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 133 into law last month. The bill, sponsored by the California Land Title Association (CLTA), goes into effect on January 1, 2009 and requires that title insurance sales people be registered with the state.

The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate for federal funds - the rate at which banks lend to each other overnight - by half a point to one percent on Wednesday. Other central banks around the world followed suit, also reducing rates or announcing that they were considering the move.

Michigan Paves the Way with Creative Techniques to Legally Avoid Costly Delays, Hasten Foreclosure and REO Sales When it comes to loss mitigation, quicker is almost always better. If the ultimate goal of every foreclosure is a clean, quick REO sale, avoiding delay by using creative methods can substantially improve results.

All the turmoil in today’s mortgage banking sector has made the need for qualified loss mitigation professionals much more poignant. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says its education platform, CampusMBA, is prepared to meet this need through the launch of a new instructor-led workshop focusing on the practice of loss mitigation.

Shelton, Connecticut-based Clayton Holdings Inc., a platform dedicated to providing advanced analytics for lending firms, capital market institutions and investors, confirmed with DSNews.com on Monday that it will be assisting the New York Attorney General’s Office in its case against major Wall Street firms, who are accused of not properly disclosing risky subprime loans to investors.

Tampa, Florida-based Mortgage Contracting Services, a property preservation and inspection services provider, has added Gae E. Craig and Borda Jones to its management team. Craig and Jones will serve in the roles of vice president of human resources and marketing manager, respectively.