Likewise, Forrest ruled that investors based in Ireland and the Cayman Islands lacked standing to sue the two banks. All of the plaintiffs were given a chance to amend their complaints.
Read More »Composite and Mortgage Default Indices Fall to Historic Lows
April's composite default index fell by eight basis points from March down to a historical low of 0.97 percent, its lowest level since July 2014. The composite index had just fallen from 1.12 to 1.05 from February to March, its first month-over-month decline in eight months.
Read More »Freddie Mac Predicts Interest Rate Volatility As Capital Markets Try to Anticipate Fed’s Timing
“For the remainder of this year, we're likely to continue to see these mortgage rate swings as market participants try to anticipate Fed timing around rising short term interest rates,” said Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac. “Unfortunately, perspective homebuyers may experience bouts of affordability shock in many housing markets."
Read More »White Paper Authors Warn of the Cost of Reprivatizing GSEs
Currently their line of credit with Treasury would provide about 5 percent capitalization and the current guarantee fee of 63 basis points would provide about 3 percent; they would need to increase their G-fees by about 27 basis points to raise the additional 2 percent capital.
Read More »Rising Rents Not Motivating Consumers to Buy Homes, Research Shows
Only six percent of renters who have lived in their home longer than two years have experienced a decrease in their rent amount, while 38 percent of renters experienced an increase in their rent amount in the last two years.
Read More »New York Governor Announces 11 Institutions Will Adopt Best Practices to Fight Zombie Foreclosures
If a property is determined to be vacant and abandoned, the bank or mortgage company will change the lock, replace or board up windows, remove safety hazards, and make sure it complies with the New York maintenance code from that point forward.
Read More »Delinquency Rate Falls Below 3 Percent for First Time Since 2007
According to TransUnion's report, every state reported a year-over-year decline in mortgage delinquency rate, and most metro areas reported a substantial decline. In Miami, the delinquency rate declined by 36.1 percent down to 6.15 percent, and in San Francisco, it fell by 31.1 percent down to 1.32 percent. "It's a positive sign to see double-digit percentage delinquency declines in major markets across the country, as it demonstrates the improvements are widespread -- not just a regional phenomenon," Mellman said.
Read More »Slow Economic Growth in Q1 Drives Consumer Sentiment Way Down
April's Sentiment Index reading of 95.9 was the second-highest since 2007, second only to January 2015. Curtin said despite the large decline in the index for May, consumers' attitudes toward personal finances and spending habits have stayed positive.
Read More »Bank of America Victorious in Discriminatory Lending Lawsuit
Los Angeles sued Bank of America, one of the nation's largest lenders and servicers of residential mortgages, in December 2013. The lawsuit accused the bank of predatory lending in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, saying the terms of mortgage loans offered to minorities were less favorable than those offered to Whites.
Read More »Former Fed Chair Says Restricting Central Bank’s Lending Power is a ‘Mistake’
Two additional requirements imposed by the Bailout Prevention Act on the Fed's broad-based lending programs are, according to Bernanke: first, requiring a firm's solvency to be certified by the Fed and the supervisors of the firm before receiving any loans; and second, requiring emergency loan interest rates to be at least 5 percentage points higher than the Treasury Department's rate.
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