Originations

Aklero Risk Analytics will offer discounted pricing, as well as enhanced delivery options, technology and support, to the member banks of the American Bankers Association’s Business Solutions subsidiary, under a preferred vendor agreement between Fort Washington, Pa.-based Aklero and the Washington-based ABA.

Based on earnings reports and call report filings from smaller banks, Trepp is projecting delinquency rate improvements for residential and commercial mortgages in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter.

A representative of the American Academy of Actuaries testified before a Congressional subcommittee on July 8 that the Social Security program retirement age must be raised sooner than later in order to restore actuarial balance to the program.

The mortgage origination and servicing businesses complement the other lines that operate under the MetLife Inc. banner. That is why the company will keep MetLife Home Loans although it plans to sell the unit’s depository parent MetLife Bank NA.

Mortgage application volume declined for the fifth time in the last six weeks, this time by 5% for the week ended July 22, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Yadkin Valley Bank and Trust Co., Elkin, N.C., has exited the wholesale mortgage business in order to better focus on retail mortgage lending.

New home sales fell 1% in June as demand for newly constructed units remained stuck in a low range during the traditional spring buying season.

Cornerstone Mortgage Co. on Tuesday said it will comply with a consent order issued by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance and pay $90,000 in penalties to resolve claims that the Houston-based nonbank lender allowed unlicensed loan officers to originate loans.

The growing number of community banks entering the warehouse banking field because they want a better return on investment has added another participant. The newest entrant is Southwest Bank, Fort Worth, Texas, which has hired David E. Frase to run its operation.

I have said this before and I will probably say it again. The return on one's investment in a social media marketing campaign needs to be measured, just as one would measure the ROI on a traditional marketing campaign.

Fidelity National Financial reported net earnings of $80 million in the second quarter as pre-tax earnings in its title division grew by $17 million compared to the year ago period.

Home prices rose 1% in May compared to April, and 16 of 20 metropolitan areas tracked by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller house price index registered monthly price gains.

Denver apartment vacancies reached a 10-year low last quarter, according to a report by the Apartment Association of Metro Denver and the Colorado Division of Housing.

Mortgage technology and service provider Lender Processing Services earned $21.4 million in the second quarter, a 73% decline from the same period a year earlier, citing restructuring charges and lower revenue.

Originations of Federal Housing Administration-backed loans fell 23% during the first three quarters of fiscal 2011 compared to the same period a year earlier, a further sign of a weakening single-family market.

Mortgage advertising that misrepresents terms, fees or the costs of loan products can trigger fines and enforcement actions under a final rule adopted by the Federal Trade Commission.

American Land Title Association CEO Kurt Pfotenhauer is joining First American Title Insurance Co. as executive vice president and vice chairman, leaving the trade group after three and one-half years on the job.

Mortgage industry groups are calling for the creation of a strong safe harbor clause that will shield lenders from litigation if they originate loans that comply with ‘Qualified Mortgage’ underwriting standards.

Evangelical Christian Credit Union, Riverside, Calif., has been granted permission by a federal bankruptcy court to foreclose on a 22-acre property owned by the Life Church of God in Christ where Lehman Brothers had a junior mortgage.

Loan origination system provider Wipro Gallagher Solutions has integrated the settlement services pricing data of Ernst Publishing, providing lenders technology to help accurately complete Good Faith Estimate and HUD-1 disclosures.