Archives

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) --The defendants behind an alleged mortgage relief scam have agreed to settle FTC charges that they deceived cash-strapped consumers into believing they could hold onto their homes and reduce their mortgage payments by either suing their mortgage lenders in so-called “mass joinder” lawsuits or buying “forensic loan audits.

Washington, D.C. - March 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- NeighborWorks America today released new peer-reviewed research that finds homebuyers who receive NeighborWorks pre-purchase housing counseling and education are nearly one-third less likely to fall behind 90 days or more on their mortgages within two years of origination, than consumers who don’t receive NeighborWorks pre-purchase counseling and education. The research findings have important implications for the mortgage industry because a significant number of seriously delinquent mortgage loans end up in foreclosure, costing the mortgage industry as a whole millions of dollars.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Homeownership and rental demand of foreign-born households will continue to increase as growing numbers of immigrants settle longer in the United States, according to a new report sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Research Institute for Housing America (RIHA).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission mailed 17,213 refund checks to consumers who were deceived by an operation that charged an up-front fee for bogus mortgage relief services and posed as a government mortgage assistance program. Under a settlement entered by the court in 2011 as part of the FTC’s continuing crackdown on scams that target homeowners who are behind in their mortgage payments or facing foreclosure, the Residential Relief Foundation defendants were banned from selling debt relief services.

Reston, Virginia - March 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Below is a monthly summary of major legal decisions involving either the use of the MERS® System database or Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) and its role in the mortgage process. Please feel free to contact the Office of Communications at MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. with any questions and visit the MERS Newsroom for a full list of news releases.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 14.8 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 1, 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Delinquency rates continued to decline for commercial and multifamily mortgage loans in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Commercial/Multifamily Delinquency Report.

Washington, DC - March 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- An analysis of data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shows that commercial and multifamily mortgages fared better through the credit crunch and recession than any other major type of loan held by banks and thrifts, according to a DataNote released today by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Reston, Virginia - March 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that Judge Janice Miller Karlin of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas rejected the plaintiff’s “split the note” theory and related challenge to the validity of the defendant’s interest in borrowers’ property. The “split the note” theory is a legal argument, which alleges that when a mortgage and note are not held by the same entity, the note is unsecured and therefore invalid.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- On March 16, 2011, Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTC) announced its intention to exercise its right to purchase from Fannie Mae REMIC and structured grantor trusts certain securitized FHA-insured and VA-guaranteed mortgage loans for which the seller has failed in its obligation to make required interest shortfall payments. In August 2011, Fannie Mae exercised its right to purchase certain of the eligible mortgage loans from a number of the affected trusts.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network (LMSPN), a national anti-scam effort comprised of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), and NeighborWorks® America, along with national government agencies including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, supports National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), March 3 - 9, by informing homeowners about the latest trends in loan modification scams and directing them to legitimate foreclosure prevention resources, including HPF’s HOPE Hotline for free housing counseling at 888-995-HOPE (4673).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 28, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Since the private mortgage market collapsed, the Federal Housing Administration has played a critical role by helping make mortgage insurance available to millions of qualified home buyers. That is exactly the way Congress designed the mortgage insurance fund to operate when it was established 80 years ago, the National Association of Realtors® said in testimony today.

MCLEAN, VA - February 28, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates moving lower after being largely unchanged over the past month, while continuing to help drive the housing recovery leading up to the spring home buying season.

BOSTON - February 28, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- A New York City woman was sentenced Monday afternoon for using a stolen identification to sign fraudulent mortgage loan documents.

Reston, Virginia - February 28, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed an order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland dismissing with prejudice plaintiff’s complaint against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS). The District Court held that MERS as beneficiary and nominee for the lender and the lender’s successors and assigns had authority to act on behalf of the original lender and its successors and assigns.

MADISON - February 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today that $143,628,842 in loan-related relief has reportedly been provided to 3,065 Wisconsin borrowers under the National Mortgage Settlement. This represents an average savings of $46,861 for each borrower receiving benefits. In addition, 184 Wisconsin borrowers have been offered $13 million worth of savings in approved mortgage modifications. These benefits apply to borrowers who did not lose their homes to foreclosure but to consumers struggling to make payments, or to consumers who owed more than their home was worth.

MCLEAN, VA - February 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today announced a new offering of Structured Pass-Through Certificates ("K Certificates") backed exclusively by multifamily mortgages with a 5-year term. The company expects to offer approximately $900 million in K Certificates ("K-502 Certificates"), which are expected to price on or about March 1, 2013, and settle on or about March 14, 2013. This is Freddie Mac's third K Certificate offering this year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 3.8 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 22, 2013 This week’s results did not include an adjustment for the Presidents’ Day holiday.

Washington, D.C. - February 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) today said that final mortgage rules issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) should be adjusted to avoid leaving many consumers without access to mortgage credit. In a comment letter, ICBA wrote that while it appreciates accommodations for community banks in the CFPB’s new ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage (QM) regulations, the bureau should expand on these efforts to preserve access to credit for small-market customers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 26, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The average interest rate on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage loans of $417,000 or less increased 6 basis points to 3.53 in January. These rates are calculated from the FHFA’s Monthly Interest Rate Survey of purchase-money mortgages (see technical note).