News

Ellie Mae's latest Origination Insight Report, released this week, shows that out of a sampling of loan applications initiated 90 days prior to March, 58 percent closed last month. That rate is up from 55.3 percent in February and from the 2013 average of 54 percent.

The California Association of Realtors (CAR) reported 367,000 closed escrow sales of existing single-family detached homes, seasonally adjusted at an annualized rate. March marked the fifth straight month with sales below the 400,000 level, and the eighth month of declining sales on a year-over-year basis.

Data through March 2014 found that national credit default rates declined for the month, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. All five national indices (composite, first mortgage, second mortgage, bank card, and auto loans) showed a decline for the second consecutive month.

9.1 million U.S. residential properties were seriously underwater in the first quarter of 2014, according to RealtyTrac's U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report. Seriously underwater properties, which are homes where the combined loan amount secured by the property is at least 25 percent higher than the property's estimated market value, represented 17 percent of all properties with a mortgage.

Bank of America’s first-quarter earnings were hit hard by legal expenses, resulting in a net loss of $276 million to start the year. The loss follows a profitable fourth quarter of 2013, which saw the bank taking in $3.4 billion. For the first quarter of 2013, BofA reported net income of $1.5 billion. The results for the first quarter include $6 billion in litigation expenses related to a major settlement the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over legacy securities claims.

PNC Financial Services Group released its quarterly earnings, reporting a net income of $1.1 billion, or $1.82 per diluted common share. While net income was positive, it didn't reach as high as the fourth quarter of 2013, when net income was $1.1 billion or $1.87 per diluted common share.

After a steep plunge in the amount of housing finance aid given to banks, federal money poured into the country’s largest lenders in 2012 and 2013, as liquidity at the banks found stable ground, according to a report released Wednesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), headquartered in Troy, Michigan, announced it has launched a new program called "Big & Easy Plus," designed for non-QM jumbo loans.

In order to qualify as an exempt employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act, an employer must show, among other factors, that the employee’s primary duty is “the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer’s customer.”

Southern California home sales quickened slightly in March compared to February but are far below average, according to a new report issued by DataQuick. The company reported that home sales were at the lowest levels for a March in six years.