Mortgages

Many of the mortgage industry’s leading professionals were on hand for the return of Mortgage Technology’s annual conference this week, and the beautiful Miami weather wasn’t the only thing that had attendees excited.

The willingness and ease of adopting new technology is tied to how that experience reduces or increases stress to the end user. When technology vendors and lender executives understand that dynamic, new mortgage technology can be implemented more effectively and with less resistance from employees, said Rene Rodriguez during a presentation at this week’s Mortgage Technology Conference in Miami.

Effective technology strategies will help define the “winners and losers” in the new era of mortgage banking, the CEO of loan origination system provider Ellie Mae said during this week’s Mortgage Technology Conference in Miami.

The top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac traveled to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to defend the payment of millions of dollars in deferred salary and bonuses to senior leadership at their firms.

Servicers that are part of the five-year old Hope Now alliance completed their 5 millionth loan modification in the third quarter.

As the number of REO and foreclosed properties continues to increase nationwide, servicers, financial institutions and brokers need to figure out a way to sell their assets more effectively.

CoreLogic's Homestandings tool, a grading report that helps real estate agents assess the overall purchase quality of a foreclosed property, is now available for Re/Max members who use its Mainstreet website.

Freddie Mac's HomeSteps, the real estate sales unit for its inventory of foreclosed homes, started a winter sales promotion offering closing-cost assistance to buyers and bonuses for selling agents.

Stonegate Mortgage Corp. recently relocated to a new Indianapolis headquarters, hired 45 of the 300 employees it wants to add in Central Indiana by 2015, and has other expansion plans underway outside the state.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development this week issued a proposed rule to clarify its fair housing regulations which encompass lending practices.

Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million in consulting fees from two contracts he had with Freddie Mac (prior to its federal takeover), according to a report from Bloomberg.

Two areas in Florida that attract a lot of retirees to move to, Central Florida and Miami, are looking a little better in separate reports on the two regions issued recently, but while some refinancing has picked up in the former region and sales increased in the latter, financing remains relatively scarce.

Julie McMillin Lee has been promoted to president of NewDay Financial's reverse mortgage division, where she will manage the direction of the unit as well as the selection and training of originators.

Residential application volume fell 10% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Nov. 11, as interest rates remained essentially flat compared to the previous week, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago is expanding its Mortgage Partnership Finance product line for Fannie Mae-eligible loans by offering a 'servicing released' option for the first time.

When it comes to technology, the mortgage origination space is holding out for what a panel at National Mortgage News' Mortgage Technology conference in Miami called "the Holy Grail." But lenders shouldn't hold their collective breathes, the presenters agreed.

The House Financial Services Committee approved a bill Tuesday by a 52 to 4 vote that would limit executives' salaries at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and remove any extra "bonus" pay.

Of the thousands of financial regulations on the books, which is the most burdensome? Dodd-Frank? Truth in Lending? Basel III?

House and Senate appropriators approved more funds for a foreclosure mitigation program and included another short-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program in a spending bill expected to pass this week.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac late Tuesday afternoon released a somewhat detailed bulletin on the underwriting guidelines for refinancing underwater borrowers with GSE loans, segmenting what's allowable based on the LTV and if the product is being offered by the current servicer.