Mortgage

LOUISVILLE, KY - February 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, announced today that a federal grand jury in Louisville returned a superseding indictment against six Kentuckiana men charging them with one count of engaging in a conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud by intentionally devising a scheme to defraud various banks and mortgage lenders by submitting fraudulent mortgage loan information in the purchase of 19 properties in Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana totaling nearly $5 million dollars.

Washington, D.C. - February 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Small businesses facing maturity of commercial mortgages or balloon payments before Dec. 31, 2012, may be able to refinance their mortgage debt with a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan through a new program that begins Monday, Feb. 28.The program, authorized under the Small Business Jobs Act, will be in effect through Sept. 27, 2012

Washington, DC - February 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, issued the following statement today after reports of a deal between the Obama Administration and mortgage servicers to settle systemic fraud issues in the servicing and foreclosure industry

SAN MATEO, CA - February 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) today announced that the Small Business Administration is offering a program that will help small businesses facing maturity of commercial loans or balloon payments refinance their mortgage debt

McLean, VA - February 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) today reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2010 financial results and filed its 2010 annual report on Form 10-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Desiree Brown, the former treasurer of a private mortgage lending company, Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW), pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit bank, wire and securities fraud for her role in a more than $1.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank and TBW.

AUSTIN, TX - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Representative Stefani Carter (Dallas) has filed legislation that will expand the venues in which incidents of mortgage fraud may be prosecuted. Carter worked with the Attorney General's office to craft House Bill 1343, which will enable cases of mortgage fraud to be prosecuted in multiple venues in an effort to alleviate the burden that high case loads are placing on our courts

NEW YORK, N.Y. - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage rates retreated further this week, with the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropping back to 5.09 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.45 discount and origination points

February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- In an effort to encourage first-time homebuyers into the market, Hillsborough County Affordable Housing Department has $1 million in funding available to help qualifying households purchase their first home. The funds are available through the County’s First Time Homebuyer (FHTB) Program from State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Program Funds. The Program helps low to moderate-income homebuyers with closing costs and down payment assistance. Funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

McLean, VA - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which shows a drop in long-term fixed rates this week.

Washington, D.C. - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the former treasurer of the one-time largest non-depository mortgage lender in the country with aiding and abetting a $1.5 billion securities fraud scheme and an attempt to scam the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday issued a final rule and requested public comment on a second rule under Regulation Z to revise the escrow account requirements for certain home mortgage loans. The revisions to the regulation, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), are being made pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. house prices fell in the fourth quarter of 2010 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI). The HPI, calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages, was 0.8 percent lower on a seasonally adjusted basis in the fourth quarter than in the third quarter of 2010. The unadjusted national decline was 2.2 percent. Over the past year, seasonally adjusted prices fell 3.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2010

Washington, DC - February 24, 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 4.71 percent based on loans closed in January. This is an increase of 0.13 percent from the previous month.

McLean, VA - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) announced today that it will not issue a Reference Notes® security on February 24, 2011. The company’s 2011 Reference Notes calendar designates dates that it may use to announce the issuance of Reference Notes securities.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Akinola George, 40, of Washington, D.C., has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit bank/mail fraud in a scheme that led to $2.4 million in losses.

February 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Giuseppe Cracchiolo, 60, of Romeo, Michigan, was sentenced for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme to six months’ imprisonment, followed by three years’ supervised release, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.

SPRINGFIELD, IL - February 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Buyer market conditions remain in most Illinois housing markets as low mortgage interest rates helped spur some early buying in January despite typical slower sales for the winter month. More than half of Illinois counties reported year-over-year increases or no change in home sales for January

ATLANTA, GA - February 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- State Representative Brett Harrell (R-Snellville) today announced the introduction of House Bill 291, legislation prohibiting nontax fees from appearing on property tax bills.

Dallas, TX - February 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and First American Financial Corporation (First American) today partnered with the Dallas (Texas) Area Habitat for Humanity for a Habitat for Humanity homebuilding project in the Cedar Creek Ranch community in Dallas.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 13.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 18, 2011

BEDFORD, N.H. - February 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority recently named its “Top 10” loan originators for 2010. These individuals originated more than 146 loans and generated over $23 million in first-time...

SAN MATEO, CA - February 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) today announced that the Small Business Administration is offering a program that will help small businesses facing maturity of commercial loans or balloon payments refinance their mortgage debt.

February 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Utah Housing Corporation announced the closing of a $74 million bond sale completing the commitment of bond purchases to the US Department of Treasury under a special program under the 2008 Housing and Economic r...

HOUSTON, TX - February 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Melvin Lendall Brown, a Houston area resident, has been sentenced to prison for wire fraud arising from a mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today. This morning, United States District Judge David Hittner sentenced Brown, 48, to 57 months in prison for his wire fraud conviction arising from an elaborate mortgage fraud scheme in which Brown was an organizer and leader. Brown pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud arising from the scheme on April 20, 2010. The scheme, carried out between June 2004 and June 2005, involved numerous misrepresentations on mortgage loan applications prepared for recruited straw purchasers and supported by fraudulent documents.

KNOXVILLE, TN - February 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment against Jerry Kerley, 57, of Kodak, Tenn., and Jeffrey Whaley, 46, of Sevierville, Tenn.. The superseding indictment, which was returned this morning, charges Kerley and Whaley with conspiring to defraud Citizens Bank, located in New Tazewell, Tenn., and SunTrust Mortgage, Inc., located in Richmond, Va., through a mortgage fraud scheme. The indictment alleges that the conspiracy involved a "straw borrower" mortgage fraud scheme in which straw borrowers were induced to obtain mortgage loans in their names based on promises that they would not have to make a down payment or mortgage payments for the property, would receive cash at closing, and would share in the profit following a resale of the property.

LAS VEGAS, NV - February 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A local attorney and a mortgage loan officer have been charged with conspiracy to commit bank, mail and wire fraud for allegedly participating in a scheme to obtain mortgage loans from financial institutions using straw buyers and false loan applications, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

CLEVELAND, OH - February 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- County Prosecutor Bill Mason and the Cuyahoga County Mortgage Fraud Task Force operating under authorization of Ohio Attorney General’s Office and Ohio's Organized Crime Investigations Commission announced that Fred Loewinger was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution. Co-defendant Mitchel Petti was found guilty at trial of 13 felony mortgage fraud charges and will be sentenced March 14, 2011.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties decreased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 8.22 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2010, a decrease of 91 basis points from the third quarter of 2010, and a decrease of 125 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate decreased 46 basis points to 8.93 percent this quarter from 9.39 percent last quarter.

McLean, VA - February 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which shows a drop in long-term fixed rates this week