Latest news from http://www.mortgagebiznews.com http://www.mortgagebiznews.com http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news28251/va-loans-see-near-14-percent-annual-rise-2011 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:01:37 -0500 Accoring to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), mortgages guaranteed by the VA continue to have the lowest serious delinquency and foreclosure rates in the industry. Veterans have also taken advantage of their home loan benefit in record numbers, as VA loan originations reached their highest total in eight years. Since 1944, when home loan guaranties were first offered under the original G.I. Bill, the VA has guaranteed more than 19.4 million home loans worth... 28251 at http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news28249/bill-introduced-stop-excessive-gse-bonuses Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:45:48 -0500 U.S. Sens. Mark Begich (D-AK) and John Thune (R-SD) have introduced SB 2054, the Stop the Outrageous Pay (STOP) at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Act, and act which prevents the distribution of undisbursed bonus money and moves all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac employees onto a structured pay scale similar to that of other federal financial regulators. The Begich-Thune bill follows a series of events from November of 2011, when reports surfaced that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA... 28249 at http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news28247/cash-out-volume-hits-16-year-low Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:19:36 -0500 Freddie Mac has released the results of its Q4 refinance analysis showing that homeowners who refinance continue to strengthen their fiscal house. In the fourth quarter of 2011, 85 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage either maintained about the same loan amount or lowered their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing table, a 26-year high.Click to continue 28247 at http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news28246/new-york-housing-counselor-sentenced-72-months-prison-loan-mod-practices Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:10:43 -0500 The U.S. Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York William J. Hochul Jr., have announced that Lori J. Macakanja of Dunkirk, N.Y., who was convicted of mail fraud and theft of government money, was sentenced to 72 months in prison and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara. Judge Arcara also ordered the defendant to pay $298,639 in restitution to... 28246 at http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com 40.75 -74.1 http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news28245/new-york-ag-schneiderman-seeks-legal-action-against-mers-and-major-servicers-deceptive-pra Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:03:08 -0500 New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed suit against several of the nation’s largest banks charging that the creation and use of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) has resulted in a range of deceptive and fraudulent foreclosure filings in New York state and federal courts, harming homeowners and undermining the integrity of the judicial foreclosure process.Click to continue 28245 at http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com 40.75 -74.1 http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news28236/distressed-home-sale-prices-drop-47-percent-2011 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:37:06 -0500 CoreLogic has released its December Home Price Index (HPI) report showing that distressed sales home prices in the U.S. decreased 4.7 percent in 2011 (compared with December 2010). This year-end report shows that home prices continued the trend of year-end decreases, the fifth consecutive year with a decrease in the HPI. The HPI, excluding distressed sales, showed that home prices decreased by 0.9 percent in 2011, giving an indication of the impact of distressed sales on home prices in 2011.... 28236 at http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news28235/ryan-menerey-joins-reverse-it Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:24:16 -0500 Urban Financial Group Inc. has announced the addition of Ryan Menerey as an account executive for its Reverse it! wholesale lending team. Menerey is a former regional account manager for Genworth Financial with nearly a decade of collective experience in the sales and mortgage industry and several years in the reverse sector specifically. Click to continue 28235 at http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news28233/hope-now-steps-foreclosure-mediation-efforts-military-homeowners Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:16:13 -0500 HOPE NOW has wrapped up two days of high level strategic meetings focused on issues related to military homeowners as well as those involving foreclosure mediation. HOPE NOW, which has sponsored 120 face-to-face homeowner outreach events since 2008 and has collected data on loan modifications since 2007, is expanding its efforts to reach at-risk military homeowners.Click to continue 28233 at http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news28230/nationwide-title-clearing-hit-accused-faulty-practices-illinois-ag-madigan Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:08:57 -0500 Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit against Nationwide Title Clearing (NTC) for filing faulty documents with Illinois county recorders. NTC is a Florida-based company that prepares documents for mortgage servicers to use against borrowers who are in default, foreclosure or bankruptcy. “The practices that NTC used were a key contributor to the mortgage crisis by undermining the integrity and accuracy of the mortgage servicing and foreclosure process,” Attorney... 28230 at http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news28228/mortgage-rates-dip-387-percent-market-misses-projections Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:55:43 -0500 Freddie Mac has released the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), showing average mortgage rates dropping to new all-time record lows of 3.87 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending Feb. 2, 2012, down from last week when it averaged 3.98 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.81 percent. Also this week, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.14 percent with an average 0.8 point, down from last week when it was... 28228 at http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com