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For going on two months, Ocwen Financial Corporation, the country’s largest nonbank mortgage loan servicer, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have been at odds. Beginning in late April, the CFPB sued Ocwen and its subsidiaries claiming that they have been “failing borrowers at every stage of the mortgage servicing process.” Now, a federal judge has delayed Ocwen’s bid to test the constitutionality of the CFPB.

Since the housing crash and recession of 2008, most metro areas have fully recovered while others are still lagging behind the housing recovery. Using the Federal Housing and Finance Agency’s Home Price Index, a report has been put together on the top and bottom 10 metros that have recovered the most and the least respectively. Five more metro areas were considered “fully recovered” this quarter.

One of the industry’s biggest professional groups appointed new leaders this week. The Federation of REO Certified Experts—more often referred to as “FORCE”—announced new members to its Advisory Council on Thursday. Among the new appointees are Hugh Morrow of RE/MAX Preferred in Birmingham, Alabama; Tara Nagelhout of Emerald Valley Real Estate in Eugene, Oregon; Steve Pagano of Coldwell Banker in Huntington Station, New York; Terry Rasner-Yacenda of Reno Tahoe Realty Group in Reno, Nevada; and Dick Thackston of R.H. Thackston & Company in Winchester, New Hampshire. Nancy Braun was named Chairperson, replacing Mike Truitt.

The Dodd-Frank Act is being voted on by the House this upcoming Wednesday. In mid-April, Republicans proposed a reform to the financial system, The Financial Choice Act, which is essentially an “off-ramp” for financial institutions. Find this and more in the Week Ahead.

RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. announced Tuesday the immediate appointment of COO Adam Contos to RE/MAX Co-CEO sharing responsibilities with Co-Founder and now Co-CEO Dave Liniger.

Wells Fargo Home Lending announced that Liz Bryant will now lead the company’s retail sales organization reporting to Head of Mortgage Production, Michael DeVito.

Bank boards might see less directives from the Federal Reserve if Jerome Powell has his way. The Federal Reserve Governor would like to allow banks’ board of directors to spend more time worrying about management and less time on day to day tasks. He also acknowledges the industry’s frustration with the lack of transparency in the CCAR, and would like to amend it to make it more efficient and effective.

Discouraging results in the May 2017 Employment Situation are leading experts to believe there could be a rate hike in 2017. Unemployment rates were fairly stagnant and though total nonfarm payroll increased, results were well under predictions. Wage growth showed no improvement. 

According to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey ending May 31, 2017, mortgage applications decreased since last week’s report. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage ...

In a new survey, more homebuyers cited that their reasoning for buying a home was personal choice—build equity, move to a good school district, have a larger yard or living area, secure a vacation home—than out of necessity. Twenty-six percent said sudden or unexpected changes to their life, such as pregnancy, marriage, divorce, a death in the family, financial hardship, or health reasons necessitated their purchasing of a phone, as opposed to the former 31 percent. Unsurprisingly, those who wanted to buy were more likely to secure a FHA loan to pay for their home, while those who felt like they needed to buy took a 30-year mortgage or paid cash.