Headlines

Connecticut-based mortgage industry information and services provider Clayton Holdings has announced the hiring of John Guy as senior managing director of business development.

Ongoing regulatory scrutiny along with allegations of servicing violations have resulted in the removal of Ocwen Financial from Morningstar Credit Ratings' Alert and the lowering of the Atlanta-based servicer's operational risk assessment rankings, according to an announcement from Morningstar on Friday.

ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), a Florida-based provider of Web-based quality control software for the mortgage industry, announced this week the addition of new enhancements to its Web Audit Technology via integration with analytics software leader Tableau Software.

The unemployment rate, which is measured from a separate household survey, ticked up slightly to 5.7 percent from December's 5.6 percent, reflecting an increase in the number of Americans looking for work. After accounting for annual adjustments to population controls, BLS said the civilian labor force rose by 703,000 in January, bringing the labor force participation rate back up to a still-low 62.9 percent.

The Five Star Institute announced the addition Friday of Biniam T. Gebre, Acting Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), as a featured speaker at the Sixth Annual Five Star Government Forum on March 18 at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Gebre will sit down for a one-on-one interview with Five Star Institute President and CEO Ed Delgado to discuss FHA policies, standards, and programs impacting housing and homeownership across the United States.

ADP Research Institute reported the addition of 213,000 private sector jobs for the month of January on a seasonally-adjusted basis in its January 2015 National Employment Report released this week.

Investigators from HUD's Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Wednesday that some senior officials at HUD violated federal law and obstructed investigators' efforts to uncover wrongdoing.

In Denver, Titan Lenders Corp., a firm specializing in mortgage services, is headed into 2015 strong after closing the book on one of its best years yet, according to an announcement.

LenderLive Network, a national mortgage services provider headquartered in Colorado, introduced on Tuesday the two newest regional account executives for its Correspondent Lending division: Andrew Lion and Wendy Lovett.

Atlanta-based default servicing law firm Morris Schneider & Wittstadt, LLC, has transferred all of its default assets to Dallas, Texas-based mortgage banking industry law firm Butler & Hosch, PA, according to a joint announcement from both firms.