Mortgage

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 6.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 25, 2011. The results do not include an adjustment for the Presidents’ Day holiday

Washington, DC - March 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Throughout this month, consumers across the country can engage Realtors®, local officials, and their neighbors on an issue that literally hits close to home – home ownership – as the National Association of Realtors® kicks off a month-long Home Ownership Matters Bus Tour in cities across the nation.

Washington, D.C. - March 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) told Congress today in a written statement that Main Street community banks need a financially strong, impartial secondary market that provides equitable access and pricing to all lenders regardless of size or volume. ICBA also outlined its own proposal for secondary mortgage market reform.

McLean, VA - March 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) announced today the results of its fourth quarter Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index (CMHPI).

McLean, VA - March 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today issued the company's Monthly Volume Summary for January 2011.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $40.8 million to 108 fair housing organizations and non-profit agencies in 36 states and the District of Columbia to educate the public and combat housing and lending discrimination (see attached list of grantees). This year’s award represents a $13.2 million increase over last year’s award and includes $10 million to fund activities that address lending discrimination, including mortgage rescue scams

BEDFORD, N.H. - February 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority recently named its “Top 10” participating lenders for 2010. Together, these lenders closed 81% of the loans extended to low- and moderate-income first-t...

February 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- An administrator working for the Federal Trade Commission is mailing 1,455 refund checks to consumers defrauded by a mortgage loan modification and foreclosure rescue scam. The FTC alleged, and the court found, that operators of the scam falsely told consumers they would prevent their homes from being foreclosed and negotiate lower mortgage interest rates, monthly payments, and principal balances. The court also found that homeowners got few, if any, loan modifications, and many people lost their homes to foreclosure after paying up to $5,500.

Reston, Virginia - February 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Superior Court of New Hampshire in Cheshire County on February 14, 2011 affirmed the legality of MERS’ role as a nominee for lenders.

McLean, VA - February 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) today reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2010 financial results and filed its 2010 annual report on Form 10-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Desiree Brown, the former treasurer of a private mortgage lending company, Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW), pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit bank, wire and securities fraud for her role in a more than $1.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank and TBW.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage rates retreated further this week, with the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropping back to 5.09 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.45 discount and origination points

McLean, VA - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which shows a drop in long-term fixed rates this week.

Washington, D.C. - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the former treasurer of the one-time largest non-depository mortgage lender in the country with aiding and abetting a $1.5 billion securities fraud scheme and an attempt to scam the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday issued a final rule and requested public comment on a second rule under Regulation Z to revise the escrow account requirements for certain home mortgage loans. The revisions to the regulation, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), are being made pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. house prices fell in the fourth quarter of 2010 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI). The HPI, calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages, was 0.8 percent lower on a seasonally adjusted basis in the fourth quarter than in the third quarter of 2010. The unadjusted national decline was 2.2 percent. Over the past year, seasonally adjusted prices fell 3.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2010

Washington, DC - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Housing Finance Agency 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 ARM contracts, was 4.71 percent based on loans closed in January. This is an increase of 0.13 percent from the previous month.

McLean, VA - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) announced today that it will not issue a Reference Notes® security on February 24, 2011. The company’s 2011 Reference Notes calendar designates dates that it may use to announce the issuance of Reference Notes securities.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Akinola George, 40, of Washington, D.C., has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit bank/mail fraud in a scheme that led to $2.4 million in losses.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 13.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 18, 2011