Mortgages

Following an undercover investigation that found "disturbing evidence" of discrimination in the management of real estate owned properties in communities of color by a number of undisclosed banks the National Fair Housing Alliance has filed a federal housing discrimination complaint against Wells Fargo & Co. and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has conceded that the higher incentive payments the Treasury Department is willing to pay make principal reduction cost effective for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Over the last 10 years, $23.7-billion State Employees' Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C. has not had a single mortgage handed back to it by an investor due to poor underwriting.

In 1848, the discovery of gold in California proved to be one of the most significant events in U.S. history. The dream of striking it rich and reaping the benefits of copious finds held a strong allure for many adventurous risk takers. Today, investors armed with reams of data and metrics, and that same adventurous spirit, are looking at the foreclosure to rental property market with that same gleam in their eyes.

Through the first three quarters of 2011 The Golden 1 Credit Union in Sacramento, Calif. had by far the most mortgage originations of any CU in California and it is actively advertising for more.

William Mulrow on Wednesday began his tenure as chairman of the New York State Housing Finance Agency and the State of New York Mortgage Agency, two of the agencies included within New York State Homes and Community Renewal.

Mortgage originations today contain many of the same risk characteristics as found in years past, but Teresa Halleck said there is one important difference.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to make mortgage servicing more consumer friendly so borrowers will be given advance notice of interest rate adjustments and how to avoid costly forced-placed insurance.

643 Capital Management, a private investment firm focused on debt and equity strategies in distressed real estate, has cut off ties from McKinley Capital Partners and formed its own company.

For those of you who have doubts about pointing your marketing efforts towards online and the social media, here are a few tidbits of data, courtesy of Experian Marketing Services' 2012 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report.

The current vice president of the Hells Angels' Sonoma (CA) Chapter has to serve a year in jail and pay $130,000 in restitution to SunTrust Mortgage for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme.

Loan quality has been historically strong since the downturn, but it could be peaking. There are anecdotal signs that loan quality has been loosening slightly. Some say that since it has been so historically tight, that may not be a bad thing, but it could indicate the peak is nearing.

National home prices declined in January from December by 0.9%, reaching a level not seen since March 2003, according to Lender Processing Services.

Massachusetts' new "Right to Cure Your Mortgage Default" notice has been voluntary, but starting next month it becomes mandatory.

After having gone through an enormous disruption characterized by unexpected deterioration and massive losses, investors in residential mortgage-backed securities have a number of reasons to feel unsettled.

HAMP servicers completed 22,260 loan modifications in February, up 24% from the prior month, according to a Treasury Department report.

The Federal Reserve Board is opening the door for banks to rent REO properties in an effort to slow sales of distressed properties that are contributing to downward pressure on home prices.

This week the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released correspondence clarifying (or rather correcting) the Federal Reserve Board's interpretation of the LO comp rules. In previous conference calls, various Federal Reserve employees stated that the LO comp rules prohibited profit of loans from having direct impact whatsoever on an LO's compensation.

The Federal Housing Administration is back-pedaling on its new underwriting requirements for borrowers with on-going credit disputes and the agency has delayed the effective date until July.

Joseph Smith has assumed his duties as the monitor for the $26 billion foreclosure settlement and he will be responsible for making sure five mega-servicers live up to the terms of the agreement and reform their servicing and foreclosure practices.