News

In an effort to make appraisal review more efficient, FNC, Inc., a mortgage technology company headquartered in Oxford, Mississippi, recently released the GARR Viewer, which works hand-in-hand with one of its flagship products--the Generally Accepted Appraisal Rules (GAAR) software.

The new Appraiser Independence requirements for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans officially took effect February 15, 2010. Originally planned for a January 1 implementation, the enactment was delayed to provide the FHA and lenders with additional time to adjust systems to accommodate the changes. The new rules are similar the the GSEs' HVCC, and market participants are expecting the same type of pushback to surface.

Mortgage servicers have significantly stepped up efforts to convert trial modifications to permanent status under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), nearly doubling the number in just one month's time. The U.S. Treasury released its January report card Wednesday and it showed that 116,297 homeowners are now in permanent modifications. Another 76,482 have been extended offers for a permanent restructuring, needing only the borrower's signature to complete the conversion. The Treasury said the data ""marked record progress.""

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.

According to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), mortgage applications decreased during the week ending February 12, 2010, marking the second consecutive week of declines.

Foreclosure experts at Heavy Hammer Inc. and its foreclosure listing site USHUD.com see a confluence of factors exacerbating an already devastated housing market in 2010, driven primarily by financial industry practices and changing government policies. They predict that the consequence will be a doubling of foreclosure rates this year.

With more than 100,000 positions eliminated in the mortgage industry from 2006 through 2008, it is clear that employment within this sector was strongly impacted by the downturn in the economy. However, as the economy begins to show signs of stabilization, mortgage employment is following suit. In 2009, the industry netted 8,321 new jobs, with 2,800 coming in the fourth quarter alone.

MRG Document Technologies (MRG), a provider of mortgage document preparation and compliance technology to banks, credit unions, and other lenders nationwide, announced Tuesday that First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation (FGMC) has selected MRG for its document preparation services.

That looming shadow of housing inventory that's graced so many headlines lately has put the entire industry on edge. And that uneasiness was validated in a report published by Standard & Poor's Tuesday. The ratings agency said this hidden supply of REOs and pending foreclosures will likely take 33 months - or nearly three years - to clear if liquidation rates hold steady. What's even more unsettling is that S&P called its estimate ""conservative.""