Government

On Tuesday, Doug Criscitello was sworn in as the CFO at HUD. To his new position, Criscitello brings specialized experience in forecasting government finances, modeling financial risk of credit programs, performing budgetary and legislative analysis, and helping public sector agencies implement state-of-the-art financial technologies and practices.

Stewart Title Co. and Stewart Title Guaranty Co. announced Wednesday the launch of new RESPA-compliant online rate calculators for lenders. The calculators are rolling out nationwide through Stewart Title offices and through Stewart Title Guaranty's network of agencies to help lenders ensure title fee estimates are accurate when providing homebuyers with rates under new disclosure rules.

More than 12,700 Bank of America customers now have a permanent loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), according to the bank's monthly report to the Department of the Treasury. Up from 3,200 completed modifications reported in December, Bank of America quadrupled its number of permanent HAMP modifications in just 30 days.

Sixteen months after Countrywide Financial settled one of the biggest predatory lending lawsuits in the nation's history, restitution is coming for distressed homeowners in Florida. More than 2,700 Countrywide borrowers in the Sunshine State are being sent foreclosure relief payments from the lender this week, totaling $16.9 million. Florida's Attorney General said the checks will make a ""significant difference"" for struggling families who are trying to save their homes.

The PMI Group Inc. said Tuesday that it lost $228.2 million, or $2.76 per share, in the fourth quarter of last year, even though it posted gains in revenue. The default rate on mortgages the company insures hit 21.40 percent at the end of last year. The company also announced that it has received approval from the state of Arizona and from Fannie Mae for its subsidiaries to continue writing mortgage insurance even if PMI falls below mandated capital requirements.

Thirty-two banks have folded in Georgia since August 2008, making it the most failure-prone state of the latest recession. The blame for most of Georgia's institutional collapses can be placed squarely on the region's deteriorating real estate market. But lawmakers there are changing the rules to allow banks to exceed current lending caps if a borrower hasn't defaulted on their payments, making it easier for them to renew large commercial real estate loans.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Daniel Tarullo is urging lawmakers to craft reform legislation that would give regulators the authority to collect a broader range of data from lenders, including details of their loans and securities. It's insight the governor says is needed to accurately assess large financial firms' risk and ward off another crisis where the collapse of any one institution sends the system into a tailspin - as was the case when Lehman Brothers went under in 2008.

Moody's Investors Service is forecasting another 8 percent decline in home prices before a bottom in property values is reached. That's actually an improvement over previous estimates, but it's the duration of depreciation that's the headline grabber. Last month, Moody's analysts were predicting the price floor to be reached in the third quarter of this year. Now they say it won't be hit until the end of the fourth quarter, largely because of the ""underwhelming"" success of the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

Through a partnership with Fannie Mae, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), an independent state authority that works with lenders to provide low-cost financing for housing and small business development, announced Friday that it has re-entered the affordable home loan market after more than a year of not funding single family loans.

Losses from defaults on commercial real estate loans maturing in the next few years could go as high as $300 billion, threatening to topple nearly 3,000 community banks nationwide, a federal watchdog group has concluded. Market analysis by the Congressional Oversight Panel, charged with keeping tabs on the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), shows that none of the banks classified by federal guidelines as having a ""CRE Concentration"" are among the nation's largest holding companies.