Government

A former chief appraiser from TriMavin, an AMC, is suing the company and Stearns, its parent corporation, alleging the companies violated federal regulations and terminated her employment in response to her complaints. According to the complaint, Stearns developed a program to recruit mortgage brokers and loan officers by telling prospective recruits they could provide their own personal list of appraisers to be included on the approved panel for the appraisal process at TriMavin.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is allowing borrowers who went through a bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed-in-lieu, or short sale to reenter the market in as little as 12 months, according to a mortgage letter released Friday. In order to be eligible for the more lenient approval process, provided documents must show ""certain credit impairments"" were from loss of employment or loss of income that was beyond the borrower's control. Additionally, borrowers must demonstrate they have fully recovered from the event that caused the hardship and complete housing counseling.

RealtyTrac observed 100 large metro areas across the country for evidence of recovery based on seven indicators, including unemployment rate, the rate of underwater homeowners, the change in foreclosure activity from its peak, the change in median home price from its trough, the percentage of distressed sales, the share of sales to institutional investors, and the share of cash sales. Rochester, New York, topped the index with several positive indicators, including low unemployment, low underwater rates, low distressed sales, rising home prices, and a large drop in foreclosures.

In California, a real estate broker out of Elk Grove was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme that led to more than $5.5 million in losses, the Justice Department announced in a statement.

With Ben Bernanke set to leave his post as Federal Reserve chairman next January, we could be set for a history-making appointment. Lawrence Summers' appointment would appear to be justified looking solely at his resume, but it was at Harvard he may have shown his true colors. Janet Yellen is considered a ""dove"" on the Federal Open Market Committee--more concerned with unemployment than inflation and thus less likely to press for higher interest rates.

Led by multifamily activity, new housing permits and starts rose in July with new construction, continuing a shift from single-family homes. The Census Bureau and HUD reported Friday builders broke ground on new homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 896,000 units, up 5.9 percent from June, and filed permits for construction of 943,000 new units, up 2.7 percent from June. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the pace of total starts to increase to 900,000 and total permits to increase to 918,000.

Over the past four years since the recession ended, GDP has grown only 9 percent, Freddie Mac revealed in a recent analysis. At the current rate, the ""U.S. has experienced the weakest economic recovery coming out of a recession in the Post-War era,"" said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac VP and chief economist. Despite the ""frustratingly slow"" growth rate, the GSE expects the housing sector to aid the sluggish economic recovery in three ways.

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaging 4.40 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending August 15, flat from last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.62 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.44 percent (0.6 point), up very slightly from 3.43 percent in the last survey. Bankrate.com also reported slight movements in average fixed rates.

With the home price recovery moving along faster than income growth, many workers across the country are finding hard work is not enough to pay the bills, according to the 2013 Paycheck to Paycheck report from the Center for Housing Policy (CHP). After exploring housing affordability for mid-career professionals in travel and tourism, the report found only flight attendants could afford rent for a two-bedroom unit at fair market value in the 207 metros examined. On the other hand, housekeepers and wait staff could not afford a two-bedroom unit in any of the 207 metros.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending August 10 fell to the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The department said there were 320,000 new claims for unemployment insurance, a drop of 15,000 from the previous week. Economists expected the number of claims to drop to 330,000 from the 333,000 originally reported for the week ending August 3. The number of filings for that week was revised to 335,000.