Mortgages

Since being seized by the government during the financial crisis, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac haven't been businesses so much as government-owned mortgage utilities. That status was supposed to be temporary, but three years later, lawmakers have shown little appetite for changing it.

Royal Credit Union, Eau Claire, Wisc., has agreed to acquire 4,200 mortgages with an unpaid principal balance of $600 million from a failed Minnesota bank called The RiverBank. No purchase price was disclosed.

In what is described as the first step in rebuilding the housing finance industry's tarnished image, the Mortgage Bankers Association has created a non-profit umbrella organization to support philanthropic ventures that help families and communities.

Hundreds of demonstrators picketed outside the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention in Chicago Monday afternoon and despite stepped up security, two made it into the convention's second general session, where they personally voiced their disapproval of lenders and how they are handling the mortgage crisis.

The U.S. homeownership rate fell to 65.1% in 2010, a 1.1% decline over the past decade and the largest drop on record since the Great Depression, according to new figures compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The likely dominant product in a mortgage market without a government-backed guarantee will be a three- to five-year adjustable rate loan with a prepayment penalty, according to one industry official speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention in Chicago.

David Findel, the former CEO of Worldwide Financial Resources, has been sentenced to 63 months in prison for leading an $11 million fraudulent loan scheme.

In the spirit of what he called "participatory regulation," the de facto head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau invited the Mortgage Bankers Association to suggest which areas of housing finance need his agency's immediate attention.

Genpact Ltd., Chicago, said Monday it has acquired High Performance Partners and its Quantum Mortgage Technology platform for an undisclosed amount.

Five bad years seem enough for the mortgage industry to be down in the basement. What will it take for the business to start to turn the cycle next year?

Cascade Bancorp in Bend, Ore., has hired former Fifth Third Bancorp executive Terry Zink to become its chief executive.

Bank of Idaho said that while gathering statistics on online mortgage applications can be challenging it has found meeting the challenge has been worthwhile.

Central-North Louisiana branch owner Louise Thaxton is one of the top originators at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., Sun Prairie, Wis., and to hear her tell it, she could not have done it alone or without the many people who both depend on her and support her.

The mortgage origination business continues to be in flux as industry participants continue to adopt to both new rules and regulations and volatile market conditions.

While U.S. lawmakers wrestle with the tax advantages of homeownership, their counterparts in France are doing something about it.

The new chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association called on members of the industry's widely diverse factions to pull together or face the prospect that others will control their destiny.

MortgageKeeper, the database that connects struggling homeowners with qualified local sources of assistance, has snagged another top tier servicer.

John Robbins, the ageless former chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, is partnering with holding company Bexil Corp. to develop Bexil American Mortgage, a new residential lender that will focus on both retail and wholesale channels.

About 1,500 protesters are expected to picket the Mortgage Banker Association's annual convention in Chicago Monday afternoon as part of the growing anti-Wall Street movement.

When it comes to repossessing property, it's once again pedal to the metal for lenders in South Florida.