Mortgage

Washington, DC - April 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The NAACP will announce the opening of the NAACP Financial Freedom Center, the next phase of an historic agreement with Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) to provide financial education and banking resources to consumers. The Center will be the headquarters of the NAACP Financial Freedom Campaign, an initiative to influence change in the banking industry, prevent unfair mortgage lending practices, protect the community against predatory mortgage lending practices, improve fair credit access, and promote sustainable homeownership, financial education and wealth building strategies in historically disadvantaged communities. The agreement with Wells Fargo and NAACP was initiated last year, and also includes a process for sharing data, assessing Wells Fargo's lending and servicing practices, and shared accountability for progress.

Las Vegas, NV - April 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Local Realtors and Short Sale Experts, Bill and Francoise Myers receive Top Honors at the International Century 21 Convention. This years International Century 21 Convention was held at the Bellagio Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

DALLAS, TX - April 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A 29-count indictment, returned last week by a federal grand jury in Dallas and unsealed this week, charges five individuals with various felony offenses related to a mortgage fraud scheme they ran for nearly three years in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas (NDTX).

Washington, D.C. - April 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has presented its annual Burton C. Wood Legislative Service Award to Bill Cosgrove, President and CEO of Union National Mortgage Company, at its 2011 National Policy Conference.

CLEVELAND, OH - April 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- County Prosecutor Bill Mason and the Cuyahoga County Mortgage Fraud Task Force operating under authorization of Ohio Attorney General and Ohio's Organized Crime Investigations Commission announced that Daniel R. Hagen was indicted on five counts of mortgage fraud offenses including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. Arraignment is scheduled April 12, 2011.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 31, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Member of the Media: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Quarterly Data Book for the fourth quarter of 2010. The Data Book compiles the most up-to-date information on topics of interest to commercial/multifamily real estate finance industry participants and observers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 31, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- John A. Courson, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), today announced the appointment of Thomas T. Kim as Vice President of Commercial Regulatory Policy.

March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- PETER J. SMITH, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and GEORGE C. VENIZELOS, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today a former York County woman has been charged with defrauding 14 mortgage lenders, 35 homeowners and five individual investors in Cumberland, Dauphin, York, and Adams Counties out of approximately $2,700,000 between 2006 and 2008.

Washington, DC - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (NC-5) voted today for a bill that ends a failed government mortgage modification program, saving taxpayers up to $29 billion. The program, known as Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), came into existence in 2009 and is widely criticized by government watchdogs like the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The bill, HR 839, passed the House 252-170

MADISON, WI - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen today filed a lawsuit against First American Funding Company, LLC of N4365 State Highway 73, Columbus, WI for violations of the state's No-Call and Direct Marketing laws. Michael S. Eisenga is listed in the complaint as the mortgage company's owner and operator

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Small business owners with eligible commercial real estate mortgages maturing after Dec. 31, 2012, will be able to secure more stable, long-term financing through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s temporary 504 refinancing program as a result of a change that will be published in The Federal Register by April 6.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 7.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 25, 2011.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- John A. Courson, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), issued the below statement following today's release of the risk retention proposed rule.

Washington, DC - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- High down payment requirements being proposed by federal regulatory agencies as part of the upcoming rulemaking under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will unnecessarily burden homebuyers and significantly impede the economic and housing recovery, according to the National Association of Realtors®

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev., today issued the following statement on legislative proposals by Congressional leaders to effectively eliminate the role of the GSEs in the U.S. mortgage market:“The National Association of Home Builders strongly supports efforts to modernize the nation’s housing finance system, including reforms to the government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We can’t go back to the system that existed before the Great Recession, but it is critical that any reforms be well-conceived, orderly and phased in over time.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Michael D. Berman, CMB, Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, testified today before the Senate Banking Committee at hearing titled, “Public Proposals for the Housing Finance System.”

Washington, DC - March 29, 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 4.79 percent based on loans closed in February. This is an increase of 0.08 percent from the previous month

VIENNA, VA - March 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in its new report, Mortgage Loan Fraud SAR Filings In Fourth Quarter and Calendar Year 2010, today released full year data showing the number of suspicious activity reports involving mortgage loan fraud (MLF SARs) increased 4 percent in 2010 to 70,472 compared with 67,507 MLF SARs filed in 2009. The report also shows that the growth rate of MLF SARs began to slow over the last two to three years. Looking at just the 2010 fourth quarter, filers submitted 18,759 MLF SARs, a 1 percent decrease from the 18,884 filings over the same period in 2009.

DALLAS, TX - March 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- MRG Document Technologies (MRG), a provider of mortgage document preparation software and compliance technology to banks, credit unions and other lenders nationwide, has successfully completed full lifecycle eNote certification through Xerox Mortgage Services' BlitzDocs® eVault.

March 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Fulton County Grand Jury returned multiple Residential Mortgage Fraud indictments against ten individuals for their roles in perpetuating mortgage fraud in south Atlanta.

March 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage Cadence, LLC, a leading provider of Enterprise Lending Solutions (ELS), Default Servicing Technology and Document Services for the financial services industry, today announced its Cloud-based, Symphony Loan Origination System (LOS), an affordable, on-demand origination solution for lenders of any size. The product fills a current gap within the marketplace by making available enterprise-level power in a pre-configured solution that locks down compliant processes and any lender can implement and put into production in just a few weeks

NEW YORK, NY - March 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) and Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan & the Bronx); Mike Hickey, Executive Director of the Center for New York City Neighborhoods; Willie Rapfogel, CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty; Mitchell Kent of the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs; Bisoondaye Maharaj, a struggling Queens homeowner who has benefitted from federal mortgage programs; and housing advocate Seema Agnani, Executive Director of the Chhaya Community Development Corporation, gathered at City Hall to release a report detailing the impact on New York City of Republican efforts to terminate federal foreclosure-avoidance programs. At a time when our economy and real estate market remain fragile, Republicans have offered no alternative plans to stem the foreclosure crisis.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - March 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage rates marked a slight increase, with the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate rising to 4.96 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.41 discount and origination points.

LANSING, IN - March 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senate Democratic Floor Leader Tupac A. Hunter (D-Detroit) today lauded Bank of America for their announcement that they would make assistance more readily available to their mortgage customers facing foreclosure, and that they would work with Mayor Dave Bing to help stabilize city neighborhoods.

MIAMI, FL - March 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today Fannie Mae and Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida (NHSSF) celebrated the one-year anniversary of Fannie Mae's South Florida Mortgage Help Center. Since opening its doors in March 2010, the South Florida Mortgage Help Center has reached out to more than 5,000 South Floridians and worked with more than 1,000 struggling families with loans owned by Fannie Mae. The South Florida Mortgage Help Center was the first of six Help Centers Fannie Mae opened in hard-hit cities across the country. Additional Help Centers are expected to open this year.

Reston, VA - March 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) --The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Wyoming ruled last week in favor of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS), upholding the company’s ability to take any action required of a lender, including assigning the mortgage

Atlanta, GA - March 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- On March 21, 2011, an Order to Cease and Desist issued by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (“Department”) to Lenox Financial Mortgage, LLC dba www.lenoxfinancial.com dba Technology and Workflow Management Corporation located at 6 Piedmont Center, Suite 500, 3525 Piedmont Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30305 became final.This Order to Cease and Desist was issued by the Department after it obtained evidence that Lenox Financial Mortgage, LLC dba www.lenoxfinancial.com dba Technology and Workflow Management Corporation engaged in residential mortgage brokering/lending activities without a license or under an applicable exemption in violation of O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1002.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 2.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 18, 2011.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) WHAT:The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) 2011 National Policy ConferenceOn March 30-31, 2011 the real estate finance industry will convene in Washington, D.C. to educate the Administration and the Congress on issues that matter most to our industry. MBA's National Policy Conference 2011 gives attendees the opportunity to speak directly to lawmakers about what they do in their community, as well as the practical effect proposed changes may have on their business and the industry

SAN DIEGO, CA - March 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Estate Mortgage Network, Inc. (REMN), a national mortgage lender based in River Edge, N.J., is happy to announce today the hiring of Tom Conklin as the company’s western division sales manager. Based in San Diego, Conklin will oversee REMN’s wholesale sales operations as the company continues to grow along the west coast.