Mortgage

LOS ANGELES, CA - November 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal grand jury has indicted a Sherman Oaks woman for her role in a $2 million mortgage fraud scheme in which she allegedly filed fraudulent loan applications that in some cases falsely claimed she and her husband earned nearly $50,000 per month.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 19, 2010. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 2.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 1.1 percent compared with the previous week.

COLUMBUS, OH - November 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) today announced the launch of the New Home Sweet Home Program that allows homebuyers to obtain a conditional loan reservation to lock their mortgage interest rate during new-home construction. The New Home Sweet Home Program is an extended lock option for homebuyers who purchase a new home and want to use OHFA's first-time homebuyer programs. By allowing for a conditional loan reservation, a lender can offer a rate lock for up to 180 days while a builder completes the construction of the home. The interest rate at the time of reservation will be set at .25% higher than OHFA's standard rate which is currently 4.25% for unassisted loans and 4.75% for loans with down payment assistance.

Atlanta, GA - November 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- On November 19, 2010, the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance’s (“Department’s”) Amended Notice of Intent to Revoke Annual License of Mortgage America, LLC, located at 3720 Farragut Avenue, Suite 500, Kensington, Maryland 20895, mortgage lender’s license number 22659, Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System number, 119791, became final

Detroit, MI - November 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online lender and a top-five retail mortgage lender, announced it ranked highest in “customer satisfaction” among all home loan lenders in the United States in a benchmark study of the mortgage industry by J.D. Power and Associates, the global marketing information services company.

Washington, D.C. (November 18, 2010) – Patrick “P.J.” Harrigan of Franklin American Mortgage Co. has been named the chairman of the Mortgage Action Alliance Steering Committee, the grassroots advocacy affiliate of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)

McLean, VA - November 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today issued the company's Monthly Volume Summary for October 2010. The summary, available on the company's Web site at www.FreddieMac.com/investors/volsum, provides information on Freddie Mac's mortgage-related portfolios, securities issuance, risk management and delinquencies, including data on seriously delinquent mortgage loans in related mortgage Participation Certificate (PC) pools.

Washington, DC - November 23, 2010 - (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 4.49 percent based on loans closed in October. This is a decrease of 0.06 percent from the previous month.

November 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General John Kroger today announced the conviction of a Medford-area developer and mortgage broker in a complex real estate Ponzi scheme to defraud investors

McLean, VA - November 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) said today its maximum conforming loan limits for the first nine months of 2011 will be unchanged from those in effect during 2010 as the result of new calculations from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

McLean, VA - November 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) today announced that generally beginning December 1, 2010, the company will issue Jumbo/Super Conforming Pools under the three following prefixes

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Homeowners will be protected by a new Federal Trade Commission rule that bans providers of mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification services from collecting fees until homeowners have a written offer from their lender or servicer that they decide is acceptable

TRENTON, NJ - November 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a woman was sentenced to state prison today in connection with a million-dollar mortgage and credit card scheme she and others conducted in Bergen County.

TRENTON, NJ - November 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that an employee of the Essex County Division of Welfare pleaded guilty today to falsifying employment records in order to qualify for a $357,050 loan to buy a home in Newark

Las Vegas, NV - November 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Division of Mortgage Lending continues to diligently enforce mortgage lending laws by disciplining four entities for various violations of those laws.

BOSTON, MA - November 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A real estate investor and a local mortgage broker have pled guilty for their roles in a complex scheme in which fraudulent documents were used to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in real estate transactions involving 26 distressed properties in the Greater Boston area, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has announced.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Homeowners will be protected by a new Federal Trade Commission rule that bans providers of mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification services from collecting fees until homeowners have a written offer from their lender or servicer that they decide is acceptable.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A group of 17 U.S. Senators, led by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), are urging Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to make a series of alterations to the federal foreclosure prevention program so that more responsible but struggling homeowners can modify their mortgages. Menendez, who chairs the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development, and his colleagues wrote Geithner to express concern over the slow pace of mortgage modifications and the reluctance of some banks to cooperate in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). They suggested specific changes to the program, including

November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The second of two Prior Lake men was sentenced earlier today in federal court in Minneapolis for his role in a scheme that defrauded mortgage lenders out of more than $2.5 million by causing them to make loans based on false information. United States District Court Judge David S. Doty sentenced Christopher Glenn Kennedy, age 31, to 48 months in prison on one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in connection to that crime. On November 10, 2010, Judge Doty sentenced Beau Wesley Gensmer, age 29, to 36 months in prison on the same charges. Both men were indicted on April 21, 2010, and pleaded guilty in August of 2010. A third co-defendant has pleaded guilty in the case and awaits sentencing.

LOS ANGELES, CA - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- More than 5,500 first-time home buyers were approved for the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) Housing Affordability Fund (C.A.R.H.A.F.) Mortgage Protection Program (MPP), which provides mortgage payment assistance in the event of a job layoff

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- CampusMBA, the award-winning education division of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), today announced it has extended its partnership with Stamford, Connecticut-based Insurance Advisors LLC. Under the agreement, CampusMBA, in conjunction with Insurance Advisors, will offer live online workshops addressing insurance issues for commercial/multifamily real estate loans.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties decreased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.13 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the third quarter of 2010, a decrease of 72 basis points from the second quarter of 2010, and a decrease of 51 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate decreased one basis point to 9.39 percent this quarter from 9.40 percent last quarter. The delinquency rate includes loans that are at least one payment past due but does not include loans in the process of foreclosure.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties decreased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.13 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the third quarter of 2010, a decrease of 72 basis points from the second quarter of 2010, and a decrease of 51 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate decreased one basis point to 9.39 percent this quarter from 9.40 percent last quarter. The delinquency rate includes loans that are at least one payment past due but does not include loans in the process of foreclosure.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Improving financial conditions and recent encouraging signs from the labor market should set the stage for an above-par growth trend by mid 2011, according to the November 2010 Economic Outlook released today by Fannie Mae's (FNMA/OTC) Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group. Despite challenges, including uncertainty on the domestic fiscal policy and international fronts, improvement in economic activity will likely occur at a gradual pace moving into 2011. The economy showed a slight pickup in growth in the third quarter to 2.0 percent at an annualized pace, up from 1.7 percent in the previous quarter, and consumer spending posted the best showing since the end of 2006. Even with stronger than expected economic growth in the third quarter, the group forecasts continued sluggish growth at least through the first quarter of 2011.

PLEASANTON, CA and LA JOLLA, CA - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Ellie Mae®, the enterprise mortgage origination technology provider for mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, community banks, credit unions and other mortgage lenders, and Closing.com, the largest one-stop-shop for real estate closing services on the Web, have announced the launch of Encompass Assured GFE™ service powered by Closing.com’s SmartGFE® Service. With Encompass Assured GFE, Encompass360™ users can now create Good Faith Estimates, which are backed by a ClosingCorp compliance guarantee, directly from their Encompass360 systems.

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) today issued its 2011 funding calendars, which provide optional announcement dates for Reference Notes® securities and announcement and auction dates for Reference Bills® securities. The 2011 funding calendars are available on the Debt Securities page of the company’s Web site

McLean, VA - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) and the 15-year (FRM) rose dramatically this week, as did the 5-year ARM. The 1-year ARM remained unchanged from the previous week.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) attended a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs today entitled ‘Problems in Mortgage Servicing from Modification to Foreclosure.’ The hearing examined the role that the nation’s largest banks have played in exacerbating the foreclosure crisis in Ohio. Yesterday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report requested by Brown on the practice of "abandoned foreclosures," also commonly referred to as "bank walkaways."

November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), which operates the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (NMLS) on behalf of state mortgage regulators, today announced unique state test components are now available for all 50 states and two territories—the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands.

Washington, D.C. - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) --Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, issued the following statement Tuesday after the committee’s hearing on the major problems in the national mortgage servicing industry: