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BIRMINGHAM - July 5, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal judge today sentenced a Brookwood man to 18 months in prison on false statement charges related to an almost $750,000 mortgage fraud scheme in the Birmingham area, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce ...

SACRAMENTO, CA - July 4, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that the non-conference committee components of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights have passed out of legislative committees.

SACRAMENTO, CA - July 3, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced the California Homeowner Bill of Rights is one step closer to becoming law after key provisions passed the California Legislature today. The bills, which pr...

WASHINGTON, DC - July 2, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks made an average profit of $1,654 on each loan they originated in the first quarter of 2012, up from $1,093 per loan in the fourth quarter of 2011, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning.

Washington, DC - July 2, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association is pleased to announce that David H. Stevens has agreed to stay on as President and CEO. Recently, Stevens indicated he planned to leave the association in order to accept a position at SunTrust Mortgage, a long-standing active MBA member.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 2, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission won a $2.6 million federal court judgment against three defendants behind a scheme that charged consumers large upfront fees and failed to deliver the mortgage modifications they promised.

Washington, D.C. - July 2, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) today sent a letter to Kim Garland, the CEO of mortgage insurer United Guaranty Corporation, urging him to reconsider the...

TALLAHASSEE, FL - June 29, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Robert Martin Tolentino, 50, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, pleaded guilty in federal court in Tallahassee today to defrauding SunTrust Mortgage, Inc. on a $2 million mortgage. The guilty plea was annou...

SACRAMENTO, CA - June 28, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the passage of two central elements of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights through a special two-house conference committee. The 4 to 1 vote send...

Scottsdale, AZ - June 28, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online home loan lender and fourth largest retail mortgage lender, today announced plans to add an additional 200 team members to its Scottsdale Internet Web Lending Center. The new hires will join the current team of 400 team members working at 16245 N. Pima Road. The new Scottsdale-based positions are in mortgage banking, mortgage operations, and underwriting

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 28, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A housing bill introduced in the Senate could more than double the number of homeowners who refinance under a federal mortgage program and also more than double their potential savings, according to an estimate by researchers at Columbia University. To be eligible, homeowners must have a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and be current on the payments

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 27, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that thousands of home-buyers with significant tax debt were given one-time mortgage help under the American Recovery and Reinvest...

WASHINGTON, DC - June 27, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Howard R. Shmuckler, 68, of Virginia Beach, Va., was sentenced yesterday to 90 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for running a fraudulent mortgage-rescue business that ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 27, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that thousands of home-buyers with significant tax debt were given one-time mortgage help under the American Recovery and Reinvest...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 27, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) --Mortgage applications decreased 7.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 22, 2012.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 27, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Department of Justice, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General and the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General, among other federal and state partners, are holding mortgage fraud summits in Las Vegas and Los Angeles today to help protect homeowners in areas hit hardest by these scams. The summit originally planned to be held in Tallahassee, Fla., will be rescheduled due to severe weather in the area. The summits, organized by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force’s (FFETF) Mortgage Fraud Working Group, are an opportunity for homeowners to learn about common mortgage fraud schemes and how to avoid becoming a victim.

VIENNA, VA - June 26, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network today released its First Quarter 2012 Update of mortgage loan fraud suspicious activity reports (MLF SARs) that shows California, Nevada, and Florida leading the nation in the number of MLF SAR subjects per capita. Of the 50 most populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) ranked by the number of MLF SAR subjects reported, the top nine are MSAs located in California, Nevada, and Florida, with the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area ranked first in the nation.

Loan modifications work, critical to stabilizing housing market

Washington, DC - June 26, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today reported that the National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders, used as an index in some adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) contracts, was 3.78 percent based on loans closed in May. Beginning in March, FHFA is calculating interest rates using unweighted survey data.

ATLANTA, GA - June 25, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Representatives John Lewis, David Scott, and Hank Johnson today urged Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, Community Affairs Commissioner Michael Beatty, and Economic Development Commissioner Chris Cummis...