Mortgages

Real Estate Mortgage Network Inc., River Edge, N.J., has created an online consumer-direct mortgage lending operation under the name FinanceMyHome.com.

Alleviating fears in some corners of the reverse mortgage community, the Federal Housing Administration has put it in writing that the loan limit and maximum claim amount for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program will remain unchanged come Oct. 1.

Freddie Mac's third "K" multifamily mortgage deal backed by seven-year mortgages is in the works this week.

The largest state organization of real estate professionals in the country has urged the mortgage community to improve the short-sale process, suggesting, among other things that they set realistic time frames in which to make their decisions and then stick to them.

One Reverse Mortgage, Detroit, is the sponsor for the 3in4 Need More "Get Your Life Back" contest. The contest is for those who care for an aging parent or loved one and the winner receives week's worth of pampering, an in-home safety assessment, one-on-one care giving coaching and technology to support a range of care giving needs.

For the second week in a row, stock market volatility impacted the home purchase market, driving applications for these loans to their lowest level since December 1996 and resulting in the total number of applications received to fall by 2.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended Aug. 19, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Pending home sales in California experienced a fall of 1.7% in July from June based on contracts signed during the 31-day month, according to the California Association of Realtors.

It will take less time than previously expected for the housing market to clear the supply of distressed homes on the market, but that so-called shadow inventory will still be around for nearly four years, Standard & Poor's Rating Services said this week.

Federal banking regulators have long kept state officials at arm's length, but the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is forging a close relationship with state attorneys general to enforce consumer-banking laws.

Demand for multifamily loans is pushing the Federal Housing Administration into the big leagues with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller late Tuesday removed New York AG Eric Schneiderman from the executive committee of a coalition seeking a civil settlement with the nation's megaservicers, saying he had "actively" undermined the group's efforts over the past few months.

Commercial banks funded $106 billion of retail home mortgages in 2Q, a 21% decline from the prior period, according to new figures released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Gleacher & Co., which is exiting the equities business after a strategic review, is concentrating instead on efforts that include a continuing build-out of its conforming/jumbo origination unit aimed at complementing its fixed income sales and trading platform.

In times when the debt crisis requires better economic understanding than ever, nearly eight in every 10 members of Congress lack education in economics or business and may not have housing market knowledge, according to findings from the Employment Policies Institute.

Delinquent homeowners continue to tune out their mortgage servicers while banks struggle with mortgage counseling compensation issues.During the first half of this year a staggering 5.5 million homeowners 60 days or more delinquent had never contacted their bank prompting servicers to send out over 5.5 million Hope Now letters designed to help minimize foreclosure risk.

Incentive-based efforts to sell foreclosed properties especially if the homes are vacant or abandoned are accelerating this year. A bank-owned property for sale in a blighted neighborhood is most people's nightmare as much as a low-interest, no-downpayment mortgage is everyone's dream. It may take an incentive-based financing option to marry the two.

American Home Mortgage Servicing has filed a lawsuit in District Court in Dallas County against Lender Processing Services and its affiliate DocX to recoup millions of dollars in claimed losses.

The Obama administration is looking at creating a major refinancing program to help the housing market and give the economy a jolt, according to industry officials.

As the FDIC continues to investigate the failures of banks like IndyMac and WaMu mortgage brokers are coming under more scrutiny for the loans they originated for those wholesalers.

Origen Financial Inc., a Southfield, Mich.-based real estate investment trust that manages residual interests on manufactured housing loan securities, lost $3.5 million in the second quarter, a 15% improvement over the $4.1 million lost in the same period last year.