Mortgages

Bank of America is continuing to lose top retail loan officers and managers to the competition, the latest departure claiming a handful of employees in the Columbia, S.C. area.

PNC Bank is searching for a divisional manager to oversee mortgage operations in parts of the Mid-Atlantic, South and West, according to a job notice provided to National Mortgage News.

To break a Congressional deadlock and fund the payroll tax break, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., is proposing an increase in the guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

To those who agree that traditional approaches to financial education have generally failed, the newly created Consumer Credit Research Institute is a timely endeavor. Encore Capital Group of San Diego said it established the customer study center in an effort to promote financial literacy through a better understanding of distressed customers and the way they make financial decisions.

It may seem like a stretch, but insights from Zacks Investment Research indicate voluntary compliance to a set of rules could be even more effective than mandatory foreclosure laws.

California attorney general Kamala Harris arrested three officers last week who were allegedly operating an illegal foreclosure rescue company.

The Government National Mortgage Association warned seven of its MBS issuers during the first nine months of 2011 that they are in violation of agency's rules, according to an audit by the General Accountability Office.

Encore Capital Group of San Diego has established the Consumer Credit Research Institute in an effort to promote financial literacy through a better understanding of distressed customers and the way they make financial decisions.

Supreme Lending, a Dallas-based mortgage banker, has hired James E. Iley Jr., as the company's new senior vice president, national production manager.

Mike Hartman, the sales director of Allonhill for the past two years, has left the due diligence firm to "pursue other opportunities," the company said.

Mortgage insurance concerns and the possibility of a "disorderly" European recession are among the market risks that should be watched going forward, Credit Suisse strategists said in a global outlook conference call Monday morning.

Five banks across the nation failed in November, according to Trepp LLC's latest report, with commercial real estate a major contributing factor.

This past week the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began taking complaints regarding mortgages.Their initial pilot project encompassed credit card complaints numbering a bit north of 5,000 over the past three months.

National Cooperative Bank FSB, Arlington, Va., originated $41 million in residential cooperative loans during the third quarter. This brings its total up to $118 million in new loans for 542 residential cooperative unit owners through Sept. 30.

Overall satisfaction with mortgage originators is up 13 points, which is "a pretty sizeable increase," noted an analyst with J.D. Power Associates regarding its 2011 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study.

Tim Galu rose to being a leading originator by treating clients' loans as if they were his own. There are more than a few examples of customers deciding to become active in an industry because of the pleasant experience they had using their product.

The improvements in mortgage industry technology in recent years should have helped to improve loan quality and compliance. Yet, as a discussion put together by Origination News during the recent Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention in Chicago thrashed out, there is still a long way to go to effectively use automated processes.

Fitch Ratings said Friday that an outlook change to negative for "defeased" U.S. CMBS looks unlikely despite the use of government debt in defeasance and a recent revision of the sovereign outlook to negative.

PNC Financial Services is taking a look at parts of MetLife Mortgage, according to industry advisors familiar with the situation.

News about the biggest banks and their struggles with residential mortgage-backed securities and their related liabilities is more or less inescapable these days.