Originations

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided it "improvidently granted" a writ of certiorari in First American v. Edwards, and has in essence kicked the case back to the trial court.

The operators of an allegedly deceptive mortgage modification business will pay more than $750,000 in ill-gotten gains to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. The settlements also permanently ban the 11 defendants from selling any mortgage assistance relief products.

The Federal Savings Bank in Overland Park, Kan., said it will open its national home loan center in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood and staff it with as many as 400 new employees.

Despite recent advances by credit scoring companies, the mortgage industry still questions whether credit scores can be relied on to predict borrower behavior.

Despite 12 years of education to the industry, there are still a lot of misconceptions out in the trenches about what e-mortgages are and where they can be used.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded seven classes from six different Home Equity Conversion Mortgage securitizations.

Ellie Mae’s secondary stock offering priced higher than expected and at $17 per share, will raise between $48.16 million and $55.36 million, after expenses, for the mortgage technology vendor.

To expedite the legislative process, House and Senate leaders are trying to combine three major bills, including a flood insurance bill, into a single package that both chambers can pass before Congress leaves for its July 4 recess.

Interest rates for the 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgage matched their all-time lows as the 30-year FRM was unchanged from last week's 3.66%, while the 15-year FRM fell one basis point to 2.94%.

After shunning homebuilders for the last five years, investment capital is starting to find its way back into the new home market.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is planning stronger disclosure requirements for reverse mortgages as more evidence emerges that senior citizens are using the product without fully understanding its main features and risks.

The largest RHS lender, JPMorgan Chase, is going ahead with a pilot program that allows underwater borrowers in 19 of the “hardest hit” states to refinance without a credit check or appraisal.

The Australian ABS market remains stabile as losses for all vintages are expected to stabilize during the second half of this year despite a slight increase in delinquencies and losses for Australian ABS in 1Q 2012.

Equifax's May National Consumer Credit Trends Report shows the total volume of severely delinquent first-mortgage loans declined to $450 billion from the peak of more than $700 billion in January 2010.

Analysts at Fitch Ratings have returned Old Republic International Corp. to Ratings Watch Negative status following the cancellation of the spinoff of the mortgage insurance business into a separate entity.

The National Association of Realtors reported that its pending sales index jumped nearly 6% in May back to 101.1, the same level in March and the highest this year.

The Federal Housing Administration's increase in mortgage insurance premiums for streamline refinancings dragged down the amount of government loan applications and in turn total loan applications for the week ended June 22.

Attempts by Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. to sell off its eMagic and Myers Internet units have failed and the mortgage insurer will shut down the pair of technology providers on Sept. 1.

Despite the well-known symbiotic relationship between crime rates and the socio-economic wellbeing of a neighborhood attempts to measure the toll of crime on home values are scarce if nonexistent.

Most people see Lady Gaga as a counter-culture freak, but I see her as a person who is fearless when it comes to branding and sharing her message.