Archives

NEW YORK, N.Y. - March 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage rates marked a slight increase, with the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate rising to 4.96 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.41 discount and origination points.

MIAMI, FL - March 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today Fannie Mae and Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida (NHSSF) celebrated the one-year anniversary of Fannie Mae's South Florida Mortgage Help Center. Since opening its doors in March 2010, the South Florida Mortgage Help Center has reached out to more than 5,000 South Floridians and worked with more than 1,000 struggling families with loans owned by Fannie Mae. The South Florida Mortgage Help Center was the first of six Help Centers Fannie Mae opened in hard-hit cities across the country. Additional Help Centers are expected to open this year.

Reston, VA - March 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) --The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Wyoming ruled last week in favor of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS), upholding the company’s ability to take any action required of a lender, including assigning the mortgage

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 2.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 18, 2011.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) WHAT:The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) 2011 National Policy ConferenceOn March 30-31, 2011 the real estate finance industry will convene in Washington, D.C. to educate the Administration and the Congress on issues that matter most to our industry. MBA's National Policy Conference 2011 gives attendees the opportunity to speak directly to lawmakers about what they do in their community, as well as the practical effect proposed changes may have on their business and the industry

SAN DIEGO, CA - March 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Estate Mortgage Network, Inc. (REMN), a national mortgage lender based in River Edge, N.J., is happy to announce today the hiring of Tom Conklin as the company’s western division sales manager. Based in San Diego, Conklin will oversee REMN’s wholesale sales operations as the company continues to grow along the west coast.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The economy continues to show increasing signs of self-sustaining momentum, however an unexpected jump in oil prices and the potential for further tightening of fiscal policy suggest less economic momentum than previously believed, according to the March 2011 Economic Outlook released today by Fannie Mae's (FNMA/OTC) Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group. Projected economic growth for the year was lowered to 3.5 percent — down slightly from 3.7 percent in February 2011, but up from 2.7 percent annual growth in 2010.

WASHINGTON, DC March 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it will begin the orderly wind down of its remaining portfolio of $142 billion in agency-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Starting this month, Treasury plans to sell up to $10 billion in agency-guaranteed MBS per month, subject to market conditions

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The operator of a defunct money-making scam has agreed to settle a federal court judgment the Federal Trade Commission obtained against him in 2007 for falsely claiming his “wealth building” program would teach consumers how to make substantial income in a short time by buying and selling privately held mortgages. Under the settlement, John Stefanchik will pay the FTC $900,000 plus the proceeds from the sale of his house and substantially all of his personal property.

Dover, DE - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Beau Biden and bipartisan coalition of legislators unveiled five bills today to respond to the home foreclosure crisis in Delaware and help the economy grow . Recent years have seen a re...

McLean, VA - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®> (PMMS®), which shows the 30-year fixed-rate dropping to 4.76 percent while the 15-year fixed-rate hit its lowest rate at 3.97 percent since December 2010.

Washington, DC - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding decreased by 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, to $2.4 trillion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) analysis of the Federal Reserve Board Flow of Funds data. On a year-over-year basis, the amount of mortgage debt outstanding at the end of 2010 was $67 billion lower than at the end of 2009, a decline of 2.7 percent.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Teresa Kelly, a former operations supervisor in Colonial Bank’s Mortgage Warehouse Lending Division (MWLD), pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit bank, wire and securities fraud for her role in a fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank and Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 0.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 11, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today announced that John A. Courson, the association’s President and CEO, will be leaving the association, effective June 1, 2011. Courson will be replaced by David H. Stevens, Assistant Secretary for Housing and Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in May. Stevens had announced earlier that he would be resigning from his position at HUD. He will leave HUD on March 31, 2011.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As the April 18 federal income tax filing deadline approaches, many American home owners are realizing the financial benefits of homeownership—savings that can add up to tens of thousands of dollars over several years."The mortgage interest deduction is one homeownership tax incentive that has been part of the tax code for nearly 100 years," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders and a home builder from Reno, Nev. "Incentives such as this have helped millions of American families be able to afford a home of their own."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Responding to widespread evidence of improper accounting, unwarranted fees, false documentation, and arbitrary foreclosure decisions, the 50 state Attorneys General are crafting a long-overdue plan to hold the mortgage servicing industry accountable. The plan would address accusations that banks and servicers have engaged in illegal and negligent servicing practices that have been a continued drag on the U.S. housing market and economy.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- HOPE NOW, the voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors, released its January 2011 loan modification data, which shows that an estimated 101,000 homeowners received permanent, affordable loan modifications from mortgage servicers in the first month of the year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Senators Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) and Bob Corker (R-Tennessee), both members of the Senate Banking Committee, and Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Oklahoma), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, introduced legislation to end the Housing Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

NEW YORK, N.Y. - March 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage rates showed little change this week, with the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate now 5.04 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.42 discount and origination points.