Archives

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 9, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- A former Los Angeles resident, who fled to Canada and was a federal fugitive for 12 years, pleaded guilty today to aggravated identity theft and bankruptcy fraud in connection with leading a nearly 15-year foreclosure-rescue scam that fraudulently postponed foreclosure sales for more than 800 distressed homeowners, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California André Birotte Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Melinda Haag, Assistant Director in Charge Bill L. Lewis of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office and Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program

NEW YORK, NY - April 8, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New York office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has executed an agreement to renew its lease for 595,000 square feet at 425 Lexington in Midtown Manhattan. Encompassing 26 floors of the 31-story building, the lease will be reset to expire in 2033. The lease extension will become effective subject to typical lender consent or upon completion of the sale and payment of the mortgage, which is due in August 2013.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 8, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- This month Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTC) marks the 25th anniversary of its Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS®) program, a unique risk-sharing model that provides financing to the multifamily housing market. Fannie Mae relies primarily on the DUS network of 24 financial institutions and independent mortgage lenders to execute its multifamily business. In 2012, 98 percent of the multifamily debt Fannie Mae acquired was delivered through the DUS platform. Since the program was formally announced to participating lenders on April 4, 1988, Fannie Mae and its lender partners have provided more than $270 billion in liquidity to the mortgage market under the DUS program to finance more than 5.8 million units of multifamily housing

ALEXANDRIA, VA - April 8, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal grand jury has charged Robert Mikail, 40, and Ging-Hwang “Felicia” Tsoa, 58, both of Ashburn, Virginia, with conspiracy and bank fraud charges related to their alleged roles in a $20 million mortgage fraud scheme involving more than 35 homes.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) --The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced four enforcement actions to end what the Bureau believes to be improper kickbacks paid by mortgage insurers to mortgage lenders in exchange for business. The CFPB filed complaints and proposed consent orders against four national mortgage insurance companies in order to stop these practices, which have been prevalent for more than 10 years. The proposed orders require the four mortgage insurers to pay more than $15 million in penalties to the CFPB.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Justice Department announced today that under its 2011 settlements with BAC Home Loans Servicing LP, a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, and Saxon Mortgage Servicing Inc., a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, 316 service members whose homes were unlawfully foreclosed upon between 2006 and 2010 are due to receive over $39 million in monetary relief for alleged violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

Fairfax, VA WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement blasting a push by the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve to once again loosen mortgage lending standards to increase the pool of eligible homebuyers

Washington, DC - April 4, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement in response to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on banking regulators’ review of foreclosure abuses:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) has come out in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) release of the Consumer Complaint Database, a public database of federal consumer financial complaints, containing more than 90,000 individual complaints on financial products and services. One of NAMB's core beliefs is the protection of consumers and their rights to fair and equal credit as it pertains to the residential mortgage market. It is NAMB’s belief that the CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database will assist consumers in identifying reputable and efficient sources for obtaining credit needed to purchase a home in today's heavily regulated market.

Reston, Virginia - April 3, 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 Newsroomfor a full list of news releases.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 3, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 4.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 29, 2013.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks made an average profit of $2,256 on each loan they originated in the fourth quarter of 2012, down from $2,465 per loan in the third quarter, as increasing costs outweighed higher revenues, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported today

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its fourth quarter 2012 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Quarterly Data Book.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senior households now have more equity in their homes than at any time since mid-2009, according to data released by NRMLA. The new information comes from the NRMLA/RiskSpan Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI), which analyzes trends in the home values, home equity, and mortgage debt of homeowners 62 and older. The RMMI is updated quarterly and tracks back to the start of 2000.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage Cadence LLC, a leading provider of Enterprise Lending Solutions (ELS), Document Services and Compliance for the financial services industry, announced today that Elfcu, Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is converting to its Symphony platform this spring. Symphony is one of two comprehensive Enterprise Lending Systems offered by Mortgage Cadence. Known for its comprehensive, cloud-based architecture, Symphony ushers mortgage loans from origination through closing, including documents, imaging and secondary marketing.

Washington, DC - March 28, 2013 - (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 3.43 percent based on loans closed in February. There was an increase of 0.08 from the previous month.

Washington, DC - March 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) - The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will offer a new, simplified loan modification initiative to minimize losses and to help troubled borrowers avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. Beginning July 1, servicers will be required to offer eligible borrowers who are at least 90 days delinquent on their mortgage an easy way to lower their monthly payments and modify their mortgage without requiring financial or hardship documentation.

Washington, DC - March 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed more than 540,000 foreclosure prevention actions during 2012 with 130,000 in the fourth quarter alone. This brings the total foreclosure prevention actions to nearly 2.7 million since the start of conservatorship in 2008, including more than 1.3 million permanent loan modifications. These actions, which have helped more than 2.2 million borrowers stay in their homes, are detailed in the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s fourth quarter 2012 Foreclosure Prevention Report, also known as the Federal Property Manager’s Report.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 7.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 22, 2013.

BOSTON - March 26, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Milton man was convicted today of bank and wire fraud charges in connection with a property flipping scheme. Edward Johnson, 52, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper to bank fraud and six counts of wire fraud.