According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications report, mortgage applications have decreased 4.6 percent from last week. The Market Composite Index, which measures the amount of mortgage loans, decreased 4.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending May 1. The Index experienced a 4 percent decrease compared to last week on an unadjusted basis.

LenderLive Network Inc. (LenderLive) recently announced Mark Litzel as their new VP of national sales for the company’s Settlement Services division. LenderLive is a domestic-based mortgage services provider that provides six service offerings to clients originating, servicing, and purchasing loans–outsource services, correspondent lending, loan servicing, document services, settlement services, and due diligence.

With the deadline for the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rules going into effect on August 1, many lenders are increasingly concerned about possible penalties should they not be fully compliant by this date. To address these anxieties, Congressmen Steve Pearce (R-New Mexico) and Brad Sherman (D-California), joined forces to introduce a bill (H.R. 2213) that would provide temporary leniency from lawsuits and law enforcement. If passed, it would remain in effect until January 1, 2016.

Interthinx released its quarterly Mortgage Fraud Risk Report, revealing that the National Mortgage Fraud Risk Index is 101 for Q4 2014, a 3 percent increase from the last quarter and the exact same as last year. Trends at the state, MSA, and ZIP-code levels reveal fraud triggers, according to Interthinx.

According to the March 2015 CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI), home prices, including distressed sales, have increased by 5.9 percent in March 2015 in comparison with March 2014. Short sales and REO transactions are both included in distressed sales.

According to a study released by Zillow, low income and rising home values have made homeownership unaffordable and unattainable for the country’s lowest paid workers. Over the past two years, one-third of Americans have not been able to afford homes due to low wages. As the housing market recovered, incomes did not.

Arch Mortgage Insurance (Arch MI), a provider of private mortgage insurance and a wholly owned subsidiary of Arch Capital Group Ltd, will host a complimentary webinar discussing the recent release of their Spring 2015 Edition of its Housing and Mortgage Market Review. The webinar will discuss the latest findings of the report, including the latest trends that influence the housing market today and a discussion of how states in the oil market could be affected by the recent drop in oil prices. Arch MI aims to help industry professionals understand what is happening in the nation’s housing market and why with their exclusive Housing Update Webinar.

Lenders' share of mortgage purchase volume increased for the first time in 2015, jumping 5 percent according to the latest Origination Insight Report released by Ellie Mae, a leading provider of on-demand software solutions and services for the residential mortgage industry. The report found that purchases represented 46 percent of lenders’ overall volume in March, compared to 53 percent in mortgage refinancing volume.

The Mortgage Collaborative, an independent lending cooperative serving small and mid-sized mortgage lenders and community-based lending institutions, has deepened its senior executive team with the addition of two new hires, the Collaborative’s Chairman, John Robbins, CMB announced.

Accurate Group, a leading provider of real estate appraisal, title, and compliance services based in Northeast Ohio, announced that it has made two promising employee acquisitions.