Headlines

GFS Capital Holdings, formerly Greenlight Financial Services, settled a claim with HUD regarding discrimination of women on maternity leave. The company agreed to pay a total of $48,000 to individuals against which it allegedly discriminated. HUD investigated Greenlight after a family complained the company denied their refinance loan application because the wife was on maternity leave at the time.

Mortgage rates barely budged heading into the Independence Day weekend, keeping them below last year's levels. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) product was 4.12 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending July 3, down 2 basis points from the final June survey.

Popular, Inc., Puerto Rico’s largest bank began its exit from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as the Department of the Treasury announced that it had accepted final repayment of $946 million.

In a filing with the SEC, Suntrust Banks, Inc. announced Thursday afternoon that it would pay up to $320 million to halt a criminal investigation into whether it had dealt inappropriately with homeowners who were looking to take advantage of the Home Affordable Modification Program. Several government agencies had been investigating SunTrust in connection with complaints that it misled homeowners who sought mortgage relief from SunTrust through HAMP and failed to timely process HAMP applications.

The home price recovery moved in a less focused and more broad-based direction in May as available listings sank, a housing trend report shows. According to Realtor.com, the median listing price of homes in May this year was $214,900, a rise of 8 percent compared to year-ago levels. Month-over-month, prices ticked up 2.4 percent

Freddie Mac announced a move Wednesday aimed at reducing the risk to the taxpayer associated with its credit exposure in the residential mortgage market. The Enterprise has obtained a number of insurance policies underwritten by a panel of “well capitalized insurers and reinsurers”.

According to numbers from the Labor Department, employers added 288,000 jobs last month, soaring above economists' consensus forecast of 211,000 new jobs. Meanwhile, payroll additions for April and May were revised up to 304,000 and 224,000, respectively, bringing gains in those months up 29,000 higher than previously reported.

Foreclosure starts rose for the first time in eight months in May but there is still reason to be optimistic about the United States housing market according to the latest Mortgage Monitor Report of the latest available data released by Black Knight Financial Services. The report indicated that foreclosure starts nationwide rose by 9.5 percent.

Risk of fraud in property valuations spiked in the first quarter, according to a report released Wednesday by risk analytics firm Interthinx. Analysts for Interthinx attribute the increase in valuation fraud risk to a rise in buyers purchasing and listing multiple properties in the same neighborhood.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Nationstar, a large mortgage processor with millions of mortgages in its portfolio, was temporarily suspended from buying the rights to home loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because of concerns that the servicer was under capitalized.