Join our mailing list: 
Archive for March, 2013

Wells Fargo Ranked Top Originator for Commercial/Multifamily Mortgages

Wells Fargo has another jewel to add to its crown: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) ranked the bank as the top commercial/multifamily mortgage originator for 2012. Among other categories: Bank of America Merrill Lynch was the top originator for commercial bank loans, while Red Mortgage Capital, LLC was No. 1 for loans guaranteed by Ginnie Mae or the Federal Housing Administration. Cohen Financial was the top originator for specialty finance.

For the full article, please click on the link below.
http://www.themreport.com/articles/wells-fargo-ranked-top-originator-for-commercial-multifamily-mortgages-2013-03-25

Chase Changes Policies Regarding Payday Lenders

For immediate release.
Chase Press Release – Payday Lenders

HUD, Census Release Survey on Multifamily Housing Characteristics

The Census Bureau and HUD released the results of its new 2012 Rental Housing Finance Survey, revealing that one in five American households live in multifamily rental buildings. The survey, which was conducted in the winter and early spring of 2012, found that there are nearly 2.3 million multifamily rental properties in the United States, 67 percent of which are owned by households or individuals. Among other findings: 1,337, or 59.4 percent, of multifamily rental properties examined in the survey have at least one mortgage.
To read the full article, please click on the link below.
http://www.themreport.com/articles/hud-census-release-survey-on-multifamily-housing-characteristics-2013-03-18

Capital Economics: ‘No Signs of Imminent Slowdown’ in Housing

House prices increased 9.7 percent year-over-year in January, continuing a recent trend, and prices show “no signs of an imminent slowdown,” according to Capital Economics. As of the fourth quarter of 2012, houses were undervalued between 1 percent and 5 percent compared to rents. Regardless, “house prices can keep rising for a good while yet,” according to Capital Economics, and in fact, rising prices will help prompt some homeowners to sell, helping to boost inventory, according to the firm.

To read the full article, please click on the link below.
http://www.themreport.com/articles/capital-economics-2013-03-13

Study Finds Evidence of Gender Discrimination in Loan Approvals

Women are less likely to be approved for mortgage loans than their male counterparts, even when loan-to-income ratios are equal, according to a new study from the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based, nonprofit research and policy organization. The findings reveal an 8 percent disparity between the likelihood of a woman and man with similar loan-to-income ratios receiving a purchase loan and a 21 percent disparity among approval rates for male and female refinance applicants.
For the full article, please click on the link below.
http://www.themreport.com/articles/study-finds-evidence-of-gender-discrimination-in-loan-approvals-2013-03-14

Fed Governor: Consumer Protections May Come with a Cost

As the industry prepares to implement the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new ability-to-repay rules, Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke warns new consumer protections may come at a cost to the industry as lower-quality-credit borrowers are precluded from the housing market. As the broader economy continues to improve, household formation will increase, according to Duke, “but if credit is hard to get, these will be rental rather than owner-occupied households.”
For the rest of this article, please click on the link below.
http://www.themreport.com/articles/fed-governor-consumer-protections-may-come-with-cost-2013-03-12

New Report – California in Crisis: How Wells Fargo’s Foreclosure Pipeline Is Damaging Local Communities

A new report issued by ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment), the Center for Popular Democracy and the Home Defenders League called California in Crisis: How Wells Fargo’s Foreclosure Pipeline Is Damaging Local Communities, shows a $3.3 billion loss to community wealth and state and local coffers from impending Wells Fargo foreclosures.

The report recommends:

1.       Wells Fargo should commit to a broad principal reduction program.

2.       Wells Fargo should report data on its principal reduction, short sales, and foreclosures by race, income, and zip code.

3.       Wells Fargo should immediately stop all foreclosures until the first two demands are met.

Federal Housing Finance Administration Details Objectives for 2013

While Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), anticipates the gradual reduction of the GSEs in the housing market, he does not believe either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will exit conservatorship and return to the private sector. As such, FHFA’s goals for this year expand on last year’s three main goals of building an infrastructure for the future of the secondary market, contracting the GSEs’ role in the market, and maintaining the GSEs’ foreclosure prevention and credit availability efforts.

For the full article, please click on the link below.
http://www.themreport.com/articles/fhfa-head-details-objectives-for-2013-2013-03-05

QM Critics: Mortgage Rule to Set Up Another Meltdown

In an article released March 3, Edward Pinto and Peter Wallison, two fellows at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), assert that the QM rule is “simply another and more direct way for the government to keep mortgage underwriting standards low.” While the two authors acknowledge that the rule’s provisions–described by them as “draconian”–would “probably have addressed the problem of low underwriting standards,” they say the lack of down payment or credit history requirements doom it to failure.

To read the full article, please click on the link below.
http://www.themreport.com/articles/qm-critics-mortgage-rule-sets-up-another-meltdown-2013-03-05

Credit Union Earnings Rise to All-Time High in 2012

Federally insured credit unions brought in record-high earnings last year, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) reported. NCUA reported earnings of $8.5 billion across the industry in 2012, the highest annual figure ever posted. Earnings last year were 36.1 percent higher from the $6.3 billion reported in 2011. The rise in earnings came largely from reductions in loan loss reserves, “a positive sign of improving economic conditions,” NCUA said in a release.

Read more by clicking the link below.
http://www.themreport.com/articles/credit-union-earnings-rise-to-all-time-high-in-2012-2013-03-04