Origination

Are the instructive lessons of the past sufficiently integrated into current industry business models and strategic planning?

Orrstown Financial Services has been hit with a lawsuit alleging that it misled investors about its financial strength during its March 2010 stock offering.

The final wholesale tally is in for 2011and the nation’s top ranked wholesalers – in terms of volume – were: Provident Funding Associates ($19.8 billion), Wells Fargo ($18.1 billion), U.S. Bank Home Mortgage ($7.3 billion), MetLife Home Loans ($6.6 billion), and Fifth Third Mortgage ($6.1 billion).

Credit unions are working to protect their net interest margins without adding undue interest rate risk and CFOs expect their attention in the second half of the year will remain on squeezing what they can from investment portfolios.

Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Ratings will rate the $1.1 billion CMBS conduit deal backed by 61 fixed-rate commercial mortgage loans that are secured by 80 properties.

The Supreme Court in Freeman v. Quicken Loans No. 10-1042 ruled that federal regulators cannot use RESPA as a price-setting statute to stop lenders and other settlement service providers from charging excessive fees or even “unearned” or bogus fees for which no service is provided.

Although the U.S. soccer team lost to Brazil the other night we can thank the interest rate gods that investors, world wide, keep buying our Treasury bonds, driving prices up and bond yield downs. In the past I've joked about a 30-year fixed rate loan at 2% and I'm starting to believe that it could happen.

Amherst notes that lending standards in FHA/VA programs have remained “roughly constant” with more activity gravitating toward the two programs.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has served official notice that it is seeking comment on a range of issues—including the cost of potential litigation—and whether debt-to-income ratios should be used to determine a borrower’s “ability to repay” a residential loan.

The expanded Home Affordable Refinancing Program kicked into full speed during the first quarter with volumes doubling to 180,000 units compared to the prior period.