News

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently passed its one-year anniversary, and Monday, the agency released its semi-annual report for 2012 highlighting its achievements in the first half of this year. Between July 21, 2011 and June 30, 2012, the CFPB received 55,300 complaints about consumer finance products, according to a press release. Some of the top consumer complaints include, inability to modify or refinance mortgage loans, inability to refinance or consolidate student loans, confusion regarding credit scores, and confusion regarding various terms of credit. The greatest single source of complaints, making up 43 percent of all complaints made to the CFPB, was mortgages.

FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco released a statement Tuesday reiterating his stance that offering principal reduction for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans is not in the best interest of the GSEs and taxpayers. DeMarco has faced a barrage of criticism for not allowing the GSEs to apply the Home Affordable Modification Program Principal Reduction Alternative (HAMP PRA) program to underwater loans and has been urged by lawmakers to reconsider his position. After what DeMarco said was extensive analysis, he stated, ""FHFA has concluded that the anticipated benefits do not outweigh the costs and risks.""

The GSE announced that it will align requirements for mortgages with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios that are equal to or less than 80 percent with those for mortgages with LTV ratios greater than 80 percent. In addition, Freddie Mac said it is evaluating the Relief Refinance program by focusing on its Open Access offering and determining the best approach to maximize the program's reach.

Quandis, Inc., announced Tuesday the release of a new plug-in tool to assist default servicing law firms in adhering to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

In June, 60,000 homes turned into completed foreclosures compared to 80,000 foreclosures a year ago, CoreLogic reported Tuesday. The analytics company stated the yearly drop puts completed foreclosures at 2007 levels. Month-over-month, there was no reported change in completed foreclosures for June. The number of homes in national foreclosure inventory in June stood at 1.4 million, or 3.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage.

In his ruling on Wilkins v. First Magnus Financial Corporation, District Judge Darren B. Simpson denied a borrowers' attempt to use the judicial system as what he called ""a fishing expedition in search of flaws in the Trust Deed or the Note.""

Personal income rose $61.8 billion in June but consumers held on to it as personal spending fell 1.3 billion in the month, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Tuesday. The increase in income - 0.5 percent - topped expectations of a 0.4 percent boost, but the 0.01 percent decline in spending fell short of the 0.1 percent increase economists had expected.

Home prices rose sharply in May cutting the year-year drop in prices to 0.7 percent from 1.8 percent in April, Standard & Poor's reported Tuesday in its Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Prices in the 20 cities surveyed rose 2.2 percent month-month. The 10-city index also improved 2.2 percent in May, shaving the year-year decline in prices to 1.0 percent in May from 2.2 percent in April. The month-month increase fell short of the 2.3 percent gain registered in June 2004. Economists had expected the 20-city index to grow 1.2 percent in May.

The delinquency rate for commercial real estate loans reached another all-time high in July, according to a report from Trepp. Spiking up another 18 basis points, the CMBS delinquency rate stood at 10.34 percent, up from 10.16 percent in June and 10.04 percent in May. July's increase is the fifth monthly rise and means the delinquency level is up 97 basis points since February. The analytics company said the continued increase is due to a wave of five-year loans that matured in the first half of 2012 and could not refinance.

Former President Bill Clinton will stop off at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Charlotte, North Carolina, before making his way to the Five Star Conference and Expo in Dallas, Texas, where he is scheduled to address the mortgage industry's largest gathering of default servicing professionals. Media outlets were abuzz Monday with news that Clinton is slated to give the official nomination speech naming President Barack Obama as his party's presidential candidate on Wednesday, September 5, just two days before his speech at the 2012 Five Star Conference.