Joseph Kellard

The time to close residential mortgage loans continues to drop, falling an average of two days in March from the previous month, Ellie Mae reported.

Two St. Louis-area investors have been indicted on charges they defrauded the failed Excel Bank on real estate loans.

Ellie Mae has launched the latest version of its mortgage management software, featuring updates on trade management reporting and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae integrations.

Stonegate Mortgage Corp. in Indianapolis has promoted James Smith, its president and chief operating officer, to be its permanent CEO.

Purchase mortgage activity, which normally picks up in March and April, is getting an extra boost from an improving economy, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

The number of new foreclosure filings in the first quarter stood at their lowest level in more than nine years, RealtyTrac reported.

Fannie Mae is selling four large pools of nonperforming loans which have a total balance of $1.5 billion.

The number of seriously delinquent mortgages reached its lowest level in over eight years, helped by new job creation and higher wages, CoreLogic reported.

Commercial and multifamily originators closed $504 billion in loans last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The co-owner of a mortgage company responsible for a large-scale fraud scheme was sentenced to 21 months in prison in a Newark, N.J., federal court.

Consumers are feeling a growing pessimism about the direction of the economy that appears to be spilling over into the housing market in March, Fannie Mae said.

According to the American Bankers Association's quarterly report on consumer delinquency trends, late payments on home equity loans and home equity lines of credit have dipped below 15-year averages for the first time since the Great Recession.

Defaults on commercial mortgage-backed securities declined for the fifth straight year in 2015, according to Fitch Ratings.

While the percentage of properties with negative equity decreased during 2015, the lowest-priced homes continued to struggle to regain value, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Appraisal management company Solidifi has acquired Linear Title & Closing, a provider of national title searches and mortgage closing services.

Fifth Third Bank is offering a teaser rate to new home equity line of credit borrowers through July 31.

The number of misrepresentations in mortgage applications continued to decline in February, benefiting from lenders' increased spending on compliance, said First American Financial Corp.

Fannie Mae has unveiled a mortgage for borrowers who want to finance energy and water efficiency improvements to their homes.

LoanLogics has raised $10 million in new capital that the mortgage software vendor plans to use to support its growth.

Home prices rose 5.3% in January compared to the previous year, according to Black Knight Financial Services.