Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
For the third month in a row, home lenders have been more aggressive about which loan applicants they will approve. Conforming credit eased the most.
That is according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index, which was 180.2 in August. The index is a standardized quantitative index focused on mortgage credit.
Compared to the previous month, the index ascended 0.7 percent. A month-over-month increase is an indication that lending standards are loosening.
From:: Financing
The holiday week took a toll on new mortgage business, with adjustable-rate mortgage activity erasing prior-week gains. Jumbo business was the only category to rise.
An indication of upcoming loan originations, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortgage Daily, was 132 in the week ended Sept. 8.
The index, which is based on per-user rate-lock volume at OpenClose, retreated 15 percent from the preceding week. No adjustment was made for the Labor Day holiday.
From:: Financing
The Federal Reserve Board has issued a prohibition order against a sales executive at Caliber Home Loans Inc. over his practices at another company.
Daniel X. Brennan was previously employed as a mortgage production manager at Regions Bank in Birmingham, Alabama.
But during that period it was determined that Brennan engaged in improper practices in the origination of residential loans.
From:: Financing
Your current and prospective borrowers can take steps to mitigate the massive breach at Equifax Inc. of personal data on more than 140 million Americans.
On July 29, the Atlanta-based credit repository discovered that starting as early as May, information was stolen on an estimated 143 million U.S. residents.
Among the stolen data was names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and — in some instances — driver’s license numbers.
From:: Financing
Executives who recently found new homes at mortgage banking firms come from a variety of backgrounds including financial compliance, information technology and subprime mortgage lending.
Growth in Cenlar FSB’s subservicing business is expected to be supported by the appointment of Rob Lux to executive vice president and chief information officer, a Sept. 1 statement said.
Lux, who starts his new job on Oct. 2, will assume responsibility for providing overall technology strategy and oversight of information systems. He was recruited from Freddie Mac, where he held the same position, and has three decades’ experience.
From:: Financing
President Donald J. Trump’s nominations for the Comptroller of the Currency and a Federal Reserve Board official have been approved by a key senate committee.
Randal Quarles was nominated by the president to be the Fed’s vice chairman for supervision. It’s a new position created after the financial crisis that has yet to be filled.
The Senate Banking Committee approved the investment fund manager for the Fed position on Thursday by a 17-6 vote.
From:: Financing
As a result of Hurricane Harvey, hundreds of thousands of residential loans could become newly delinquent, with many becoming seriously delinquent.
Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on Houston and other Texas communities during the final week of last month, reaching category 4 status.
Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson was quoted as telling Fox Business Network that 39 Texas counties were affected by the storm.
From:: Financing
Fixed interest rates on residential loans improved over the past seven days, The odds over the next seven days are for further improvement.
During the week that concluded on Sept. 7, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey had 30-year fixed rates averaging 3.78 percent.
Thirty-year mortgage rates have not been this low since the week ended Nov. 10, 2016, when fixed rates averaged 3.57 percent.
From:: Financing
A sharp increase over the preceding month was recorded for U.S. consumers who resorted to the bankruptcy courts. But filings eased somewhat from a year ago.
Including commercial and non-commercial bankruptcies, there were 68,117 filings during August 2017. That was an 11 percent increase from the prior month.
But businesses and consumers filed fewer new cases compared to the same month last year, with a less than 1 percent year-over-year retreat recorded.
From:: Financing
The origination and securitization of loans that don’t meet Qualified Mortgage requirements has been expanding, and performance is strong. But higher rates are leading to higher prepayments.
A recent expansion has been noted in the origination of loans that don’t meet the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s QM criteria, which became effective in January 2014.
A majority of non-QM loans, which presume a borrower satisfies Ability-to-Repay assessments, are either carried on the lender’s balance sheet or traded as whole loans.
From:: Financing