News

If the future of the construction trades rests in the hands of young adults, that future might not have such a strong foundation. In a national poll by NAHB, young adults proved less interested in pursuing construction careers than in law and marketing. But construction still outweighs military career options among the young.

A new report by Trulia says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proven a powerful ally to borrowers across the economic spectrum. It’s also proven a valuable resource for military service members and older Americans. And taking it away could be more trouble than its worth.

The number of prime jumbo RMBS transactions has doubled year-over-year, according to a new report. Six new transactions were completed in Q1 2017, totaling $2.6 billion. Only 29 out of about 50,000 loans are currently delinquent.

OrangeGrid, a California-based provider of configurable business process workflow solutions to the financial services industry, announced that Michele McCoy has joined as VP of business development. McCoy brings over 30 years’ experience in financial services industry to the OrangeGrid team, along with a proven track record of success driving long-term organizational growth following key leadership positions with Fifth Third Bank, Bank One, National City, and Citigroup.

Recently, Linda and Alison Orlans launched Orlans PC, the second largest Women’s Business Enterprise National Council certified women-owned law firm in the U.S. Linda Orlans will serve as Executive Chair, and Alison Orlans will assume the role of President and CEO.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a lawsuit against Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, a debt collection law firm, claiming the firm falsely represented in millions of collection letters that attorneys were involved in collecting the debt. Weltman, Weinberg & Reis responded to the allegations, and states that it has cooperated fully with the CFPB.

According to the latest Consent Order from the New York Department of Financial Services, Ocwen may be one its way to once again acquiring mortgage servicing rights. The financial institution has been blocked from doing so for more than three years, since NYDFS began investigating its portfolio in February 2014. Ocwen is one of the country’s largest non-bank lenders.

mortgage default rates are up one basis point from February to .75 percent, a one-year high. Year-over-year, the mortgage default rate dropped from .77 percent, while the bank card default rate increased year over year. Of the five major cities covered by the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices (New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami), New York and Chicago posted month-over-month increases in the Index level, while Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami posted month-over-month decreases in defaults.

A new index shows the GSEs are expanding their credit boxes and taking more risk, making it easier for consumers to get a mortgage loan. Government, portfolio, and private-label security channels are not expanding the box, however, and are actually decreasing the amount of risk they take in lending. Though overall mortgage credit availability is largely stable, there is still much room to expand the credit box—particularly in these more stringent markets.

Single-family starts fell six percent in March, to an annual rate of 821,000 from February’s rate of 875,000, which was the fastest monthly rate since the Great Recession. However, single-family permits posted the third largest annual pace since the recession. Permits in March grew 3.6 percent to 1.26 million from February’s 1.216 million, and grew year-over-year by 17 percent.