Origination

Residential starts increased 3.9% last month to a 1.45 million annualized rate, according to government data released Wednesday.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo gauge decreased six points to a three-month low of 50. The figure was below all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Removing such debt information from consumer reports generated an uptick in home loan inquiries in one study and other industries have found advanced score use pays off.

The credit-reporting agency was fined $650,000 for sending customers marketing emails without an option to unsubscribe. Financial institutions are subject to the same law, called the CAN-SPAM Act.

The new entity from Roc360 will be an outlet for loans produced by the company and its two recently acquired businesses, Civic Financial and Finance of America Commercial.

Loans to buy newly constructed properties increased by 0.2% from June and was up 35.5% compared to the year prior, the Mortgage Bankers Association found.

All six companies reported a shift on a quarter-to-quarter basis, and most were still off from a year ago.

Industry executives coming off a tough year are wondering what the transition will cost and how many borrowers it'll bring in.

The matter stems from 2006 and 2007 and related to the issuance, underwriting and sale of the securities, UBS said in a statement Monday.

But that was offset by a decrease in most other residential construction materials, the National Association of Home Builders said.