News

The former CFO of Taylor, Bean and & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. (TBW) was sentenced to 60 months in prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme involving more than $2.9 billion, which eventually contributed to the collapse of TBW, the Justice Department announced in a statement. Delton de Armas was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia. De Armas, 41, of Carrollton, Texas, pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and one count of making false statements, according to the statement.

The former president of Orion Bank was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison for conspiring to commit bank fraud and making false statements to bank examiners, U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announced Tuesday.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed nearly 2.3 million foreclosure prevention actions by from the start of their conservatorship to the end of March 2012, according to FHFA'ss Foreclosure Prevention Report for first-quarter 2012. The report, released Friday, showed that over 1.9 million of the foreclosure prevention actions undertaken by the GSEs have helped borrowers keep their homes. Moreover, half of borrowers who received loan modifications in Q1 2012 had their monthly payments reduced by more than 30 percent, with one third of those including principal forbearance.

Following reports that the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index had fallen significantly from 79.3 in May to 74.1 in June, economists offered commentary on the meaning behind the numbers. In addition to the consumer sentiment index, the current conditions index reportedly fell from 87.2 in May to 82.1 in June, while the expectations index declined to 68.9 this month from 74.3 the month before.

Delinquent borrowers who responded to Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey for the first quarter of 2012 expressed more negative viewpoints toward homeownership and paying their mortgage compared to underwater borrowers and those who have seen their home values decline. The data was collected to learn more about the attitudes of the delinquent borrower population that is oftentimes difficult to reach.

The former head of Keyworth Mortgage Funding Group of New Mexico and Arizona is facing 13 months of prison for bank fraud, the Albuquerque Journal reported Wednesday. A federal judge in Santa Fe ordered Manuel Garcia to pay $585,243.59 to US Bank of Albuquerque, formerly known as First Community Bank.

Green River Capital (GRC) announced Monday that it entered into an agreement with Phoenix-based Realty Pilot in order to enhance the platform used by GRC's valuation unit.

Sales are down, then they're up. Home prices are up, then they've fallen. Clearly, it has been an unstable journey for the housing market, with hopeful reports dashed by disappointing data a month later. As the market tries to maintain confidence that it's riding on a recovery that is here to stay, what does it need to continue strengthening? What the for-sale market needs most is a sustained increase in employment to bring household growth back to its longterm pace, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University concluded in a report.

Following an earlier survey from Zillow showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) had again hit a new low, Freddie Mac released on Thursday the results of its Primary Market Mortgage Survey (PMMS), which showed an increase in fixed mortgage rates after a month of a half of record lows. The PMMS found that the 30-year fixed for the week ending June 14 averaged 3.71 percent (0.7 point), an increase from 3.67 percent the previous week. This increase ended a six-week streak of falling rates. At the same time last year, the 30-year fixed rate averaged 4.50 percent.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Thursday the introduction of his bill in the state Legislature that would protect New Yorkers from fraudulent business practices in the foreclosure process. Schneiderman's bill, titled The Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act of 2012, defines residential mortgage foreclosure fraud and imposes new criminal penalties for those who intentionally engage in fraudulent conduct, including managers of residential mortgage businesses who tolerate such conduct by their employees. These penalties include jail time.