Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
The recent appellate court decision in PHH Corp.’s lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will keep the young regulator in check.
Framers of the Constitution empowered government officials to restrain one another — servicing as checks and balances among the branches of government.
But control of the CFPB was given to a single, nearly unaccountable director. This is unlike the multi-member panels that oversee other independent agencies.
From:: Financing
After reaching the highest level in nearly a year last month, the degree of home builder confidence has retreated thanks mostly to current sales conditions.
The seasonally adjusted Housing Market Index, which provides insight into how builders view market conditions for new houses, was 63 in October.
That turned out to be a two-point decline from the previous month, when the index ascended to the highest level it has been since October 2015.
From:: Financing
Serious delinquency on first mortgages dipped last month. While a more significant improvement was made on second mortgages, the category has seen deterioration from a year ago
Based on the Composite Consumer Credit Default Index, 90-day delinquency on consumer credit was 0.84 percent in September. The rate was off a basis point from a month earlier.
Compared to a year earlier, the index — which reflects performance on auto loans, bank cards, first mortgages and second mortgages — indicated that the 90-day rate was down 5 BPS.
From:: Financing
Quarterly new business climbed, the book of business expanded and loan performance improved at MGIC Guaranty Insurance Corp. Still, earnings deteriorated.
Before income taxes, MGIC earned $84 million from July 1 through Sept. 30, according to the mortgage insurance company’s third-quarter earnings report.
Income sank compared to the prior period, when the Milwaukee-based organization earned $165 million, and a year prior, when earnings were $127 million.
From:: Financing
The attorney who represented PHH Corp.in its lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau talked about the implications from last week’s appellate court decision.
Last week, the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an opinion in the case that reined in the power of the regulator and bodes wall for the mortgage industry.
Serving as PHH’s counsel in the appellate court was Mitchel H. Kider, who is the chairman and managing partner at Weiner Brodsky Kider PC, which is based in Washington, D.C.
From:: Financing
A financial institution and an established mortgage banker have reached agreements to acquire a pair of residential lending firms, while two other companies are getting new capital.
Cousins Home Lending is being acquired by Granite Bank, according to a Sept. 28 statement. The acquired entity will operate as a division of the Portsmouth, New Hampshire bank.
Twenty-year veteran Anna-Lisa Cousins, who founded Cousins Home Lending in 2002, will develop the new bank division as senior vice president, residential mortgage lending.
From:: Financing
The PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s quarterly home-lending volume rose and delinquency fell. The servicing portfolio was flat.
Income before income taxes and non-controlling interest at PNC came to $1.3 billion during the three months that ended on Sept. 30.
The Pittsburgh-based firm provided the details, along with other operational and financial metrics, in its third-quarter earnings report.
From:: Financing
As expected, new residential lending activity slowed during the holiday week, with purchase financing and refinancing activity both taking a similar hit. Jumbo business fared worst.
The U.S. Mortgage Market Index from OpenClose and Mortgage Daily, which provides insight into prospective home lending activity, was 129 in the week ended Oct. 14.
Compared to the previous week, the index — a reflection of average per-user rate locks by OpenClose clients for the seven days ended Thursday at midnight — tumbled a fifth.
From:: Financing
As the mortgage servicing portfolio continued to diminish at Citigroup Inc., the rate of delinquency deteriorated. Home-lending activity was mostly flat.
The New York-based firm reported in its third-quarter 2016 earnings results that income from continuing operations before income taxes was $5.6 billion.
Earnings at Citi slipped from the prior quarter, when income was $5.8 billion, and declined from the year-prior quarter, when the total came to $6.2 billion.
From:: Financing
With just a year on the job, the head of Walter Investment Management Corp.’s operating subsidiary is departing — continuing a series of executive shakeups at the company.
David C. Schneider was named president of Ditech Financial LLC’s servicing business in September 2015 when the unit was created from the consolidation of two subsidiaries.
Then in February 2016, Schneider additionally took over the role of the president of Ditech’s origination business. He filled a vacancy created from the departure of Patti Cook.
From:: Financing