Citizens Bank's $511 million acquisition of Franklin American Mortgage will beef up the bank's servicing portfolio and diversify its origination business at a time when higher interest rates have put a damper on refinance volume.
There are almost 7 million coastal homes facing more than $1.6 trillion in potential storm-surge reconstruction expenses this year, representing a 6.6% cost increase from last year's hurricane season.
Fannie Mae is warning mortgage lenders and servicers about possible fraud schemes in Los Angeles County involving "34 apparently fictitious employers being used on loan applications."
The ability-to-repay standard is responsible for the reduction in loan application defects over the past four-plus years, according to First American Financial.
Although mortgage default risk remains very low, it was the only category of consumer lending to experience increases both sequentially and year-to-year in VantageScore's latest update to its index.
