Headlines

In its quarterly report to congress Wednesday, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) outlined its role as law enforcer for TARP recipients and as adviser to the Treasury. SIGTARP highlighted and reiterated a few of its previous recommendations, including increasing incentives for homeowners in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

As part of an ongoing expansion effort throughout the Lone Star state, Guild Mortgage Co. has opened a new branch in Rockwall, Texas. The company continues to expand, further growing its footprint since entering Texas in 2011.

RealtyTrac released its U.S. Home Flipping Report for Q1 2014, reporting that 3.7 percent of all U.S. single-family home sales were flips. Home flipping over all is down, dropping 4.1 percent from the fourth quarter in 2013, as well as declining 6.5 percent from the previous year’s first quarter.

According to numbers put out by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Wednesday, real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 0.1 percent in Q1, a plunge from the final 2.6 percent growth rate reported for Q4 2013. The sudden slowdown reflects in part the toll this year’s winter season took on economic expansion, though not all changes were weather-related.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued their Federal Open Market Committee statement, commenting that growth in economic activity has picked up recently despite a sluggish first quarter, due in part to adverse weather conditions. The Fed noted that recovery in the housing sector remained slow.

Worst-case scenario: In the event of repeat of the 2008 economic downturn, the federal government’s main mortgage buyers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may need another $190 billion bailout to keep them solvent. So say the results of the inaugural Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test, released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency Wednesday.

Caliber Home Loans, a residential mortgage origination and servicing company, announced Wednesday that Carl Streicher has been named Pacific Southwest Divisional Executive. Prior to his new role, Streicher served as Regional Vice President of retail lending for the California region.

As a part of ongoing legal proceedings, the office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced that Brian Kelly was sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison for his participation in a $4 million nationwide home loan modification scheme.

Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., LPA (WWR) announced that Scott Fink is the new business unit leader of WWR’s Bankruptcy Practice Group. Fink has been an attorney for more than 17 years, handling bankruptcy matters with WWR for more than 9 years.

Findings from a review done on foreclosures by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that errors made by banks might have been much higher than believed. In September 2010, amid allegations of inappropriately signed documents, federal coordinators began on-site reviews of servicers to evaluate foreclosure processes.