Mortgages

The Department of Housing and Urban Development wants All American Home Mortgage Corp. to indemnify the Federal Housing Administration against future losses on five loans that were endorsed for more than $1 million that violated industry guidelines and reimburse the agency $181,515 for associated fees paid on one loan that had underwriting deficiencies.

The National Association of Home Builders said Monday that its index of builder sentiment fell in September to a reading of 14, one point below the prior month.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will hike their guarantee fees some time next year to better reflect "that which would be anticipated in a private competitive market," FHFA acting director Ed DeMarco said Monday morning.

What seems like a no-brainer — turning the hundreds of thousands of vacant, foreclosed homes controlled by the federal government into rental units — is going to be tough to accomplish.

Residential lenders issued $27.8 billion of Government National Mortgage Association MBS in August, a slim gain of just $14 million from the prior month, according to new figures released by HUD.

The White House plan to refinance upwards of $2 trillion of problematic GSE loans is running into a roadblock: MBS investors, in particular foreign buyers that are allies of the U.S.

Mike Perry, who led IndyMac Bancorp until its collapse in 2008, is trying to rehabilitate his image, waging a public campaign rarely seen from an executive of a once high flying mortgage lender.

Don't waste money on sales training. Makes sense to me—or does it? As a national sales trainer and coach, the objections I encounter rarely change. When a business or salesperson is doing well or poorly, they usually make the same invalid argument relative to sales training and coaching.

How different regions of the nation are performing in terms of mortgage loan originations could very well depend on what type of customer you are marketing to.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency pushed back last week against claims that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were sophisticated investors that should have done a better job of vetting their purchases of mortgage-backed securities.

With this issue, National Mortgage News is completing its 35th year of independent coverage of the mortgage industry, and is getting ready to tackle its 36th.

Now that Walter Investment Corp., has officially purchased subservicer Green Tree Servicing, St. Paul, Minn., and its parent company, GTCH Holdings, LLC, it has changed certain job duties of executives that joined the firm.

Bank examiners are exploring whether the nation's depositories have accurately valued $845 billion of home equity and second liens, according to seven people with direct knowledge of the matter, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Fannie Mae has apparently doled out part of a large subservicing contract on Bank of America MSRs to the residential servicing division of International Business Machines, according to industry advisors who have been briefed on the deal.

It's not looking good for fans of keeping the higher GSE loan limits, but that hasn't stopped housing, realty and mortgage trade groups from promoting the issue through their elected officials.

Home sales in August were up 4% over July and 18% higher than one year prior in 53 markets nationwide, according to the Re/Max National Housing Report. Traditionally, June is the highest sales month, but this year, it was topped by the other two summer months.

A Fitch Solutions report Friday shows the summer rally in U.S. subprime credit default swaps ended abruptly in August when most performance trends were negative and only an improvement in certain modifications seemed hopeful.

The boards of three related non-exchange traded real estate investment trusts are calling on shareholders to reject unsolicited tender offers made by the investment firm of MacKenzie Patterson Fuller LP.

The Federal Housing Administration is selling 11,000 to 13,000 foreclosed homes a month after re-engineering the way it manages and markets REO.

CMG Mortgage, San Ramon, Calif., originated $275 million of home mortgages in August, a 44% increase from the prior month.