Mortgages

WASHINGTON—Two senior Federal Reserve officials called on policymakers to take steps quickly to help ease the pain of the housing market to assist ongoing efforts to rescue the U.S. economy.

A married couple recently decided to merge their real estate asset management companies to form AthenianRazak.

National Mortgage News (December 19) asks, “Can Regulators Prevent the Next Systemic Risk Crisis?” Probably not.

The watch list of servicers supervised by the Federal Reserve and The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is not that long, but the number and types of requirements they need to abide to is and includes independent foreclosure reviews whose application deadline is ticking.

Michael Williams, the president and CEO of Fannie Mae, announced plans to step down as soon as a successor can be appointed, according to a company filing issued Tuesday to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Insurance giant MetLife, Inc. Tuesday afternoon shocked the market, saying it would exit the business of producing new “forward” residential loans through its residential lending division, MetLife Home Loans.

PHH, the nation's largest private mortgage company, has been notified by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that it is the subject of an investigation into potentially improper reinsurance payments.

Servicers have restructured nearly half of all second mortgages sitting in their portfolios that are eligible for a HAMP second lien modification program known as 'MP2.'

PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., is now looking to sell $150 million in debt to help pay off $250 million of debt that matures in April. Originally the company was looking to sell $250 million in debt back in December, but cancelled that offering.

Despite projections that national home prices will increase slightly in 2012, Clear Capital said figures are still going to be near levels not seen in over a decade.

Bank of America's share price climbed to just over $6.50 Tuesday, a sign that investors somewhere are bottom feeding on this once proud banking franchise, one that shot itself in the foot (or is it head?) when it bought Countrywide Financial Corp. in 2008.

Many mortgage industry observers believe the HARP 2.0 program will contribute greatly to loan origination volumes in 2012. The question for many originators is where do we find consumers who are eligible for the program under the expanded criteria?

Bank of America is gearing up to sell large chunks of its residential servicing portfolio on a regular basis as it continues to whittle down its presence in the mortgage market, according to servicing advisors and investors who have been briefed on the bank's plans.

Federal Housing Administration loans once served a broad spectrum of borrowers until the subprime mortgage meltdown came along and pushed lenders to tighten underwriting standards and credit score requirements.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau needs to more clearly interpret regulations such as the loan officer compensation rule, according to executives participating in a roundtable discussion at the National Association of Mortgage Brokers' recent NAMB/West show.

Wipro Gallagher Solutions has redefined its fulfillment offerings to meet the demands of loan originators and servicers for middle and top-tier lenders.

Housing sales in the Lake Tahoe area held steady last year, notching a 1% increase in the number of units sold, according to local real estate company Chase International. But they were much stronger in the outlying towns of Truckee, Reno and Sparks.

At the beginning of this new year, President Obama, much to the chagrin of many Republicans in Congress and constituents in the mortgage banking community, appointed Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Does Cordray's appointment to the CFPB mean: For every problem there is an opportunity?

A real estate company that bought and sold 300 foreclosed single-family properties last year does not feel threatened by the expected launch of a federal bulk investor program for converting REO units into rentals.

Federal regulators must levy fines against residential servicers under their purview to show there are real consequences for their "severe misconduct," according to Federal Reserve governor Sarah Bloom Raskin.