Mortgages

The House of Representatives in Illinois has amended House Bill 1960 by giving homeowners an additional 30 days to file a motion to appeal a court's jurisdiction during the judicial foreclosure procedure.

The No. 1 tool in the marketing bag of tricks is the use of incentives. Discounts, teaser rates and the like have been used very effectively in the cable television vs. telephone company wars. Now, one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders, Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Va., said its application volume is up over 50% since the start of August because of its incentives.

New home sales came in at an annualized rate of 298,000 units in July, a slight decline from the prior month, and a sign that ultra low mortgage rates are still not moving sales off their Depression levels.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is asking Ameritrust Mortgage Bankers Inc. to indemnify the Federal Housing Administration for possible future losses on 10 loans and reimburse the agency $183,327 for actual losses on at least one mortgage.

Second quarter residential production came in lower than expected, but the recent weeks long dive in mortgage rates – and a subsequent increase in refinance applications – should boost third quarter originations significantly, according to a new forecast from Fannie Mae.

The American Bankers Association is urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to clarify the term "proxy" in the loan officer compensation rule which the trade group says is causing "serious difficulties" for banks -- and conflicts with federal pension laws.

Arizona regulators said the primary mortgage insurance subsidiary of The PMI Group, Walnut Creek, Calif., had a $320 million deficit in its policyholder position and that was one of the factors which led to the decision to appoint a supervisor over the company's operations.

Accenture announced its acquisition of Dallas-based mortgage outsourcing provider Zenta Monday, in a move that puts the global consulting and outsourcing provider in the thick of the mortgage origination business and the massive loss mitigation efforts ongoing in the mortgage servicing industry.

A Jacksonville title agent who was the owner of Premier Title Group Inc. has pleaded guilty to bank fraud last Friday afternoon for serving as the closing agent during a mortgage fraud scheme.

In the wake of recent market volatility and record low rates, the spotlight in the business is on secondary marketing executives, which could see some changing of the guard in this area as a result.

The number of residential loans entering the foreclosure process is falling with "no evidence" that a backlog is building up that could suddenly flood the market, according to the chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

TMS Funding, Milford, Conn., is making jumbo loans available through its wholesale channel, president John Walsh told this publication.

The national delinquency rate on outstanding home mortgages ticked up to 8.44% in the second quarter, which means roughly $793.4 billion of residential loans are 30 days or more past due.

The loan-limit countdown has begun. In lieu of lower loan limits on conforming loans and mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, some lenders have already stopped taking applications for financing in amounts above $625,500.

The PMI Group late Friday told its mortgage banking clients that it has immediately halted the writing of all new insurance policies.

Interactive Mortgage Advisors, LLC, said it will auction off an $88 million bulk mortgage servicing package tied to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and GNMA loans.

Although mortgage rates hit a 50-year low last week, don't expect them to bail out the ailing U.S. housing market.

Could there really be 459,000 U.S. loan officers plying their trade in residential finance?

The new mortgage origination paradigm must include building relationships and networking, skill sets that many new to the business did not learn or chose to neglect during the boom years. It is more than glad-handing when you walk in the door; these relationships need to explore issues that go beyond the point of sale.

While some Dodd-Frank regulations are still taking shape, there are several defined broad requirements that the law's implementation date last month should be lenders' cue to address. Lenders generally are well aware of and have been working on some of these requirements, but Offit Kurman attorney Ari Karen is concerned that they are overlooking two.