Headlines

Various legislation has been introduced by Republicans in an attempt to reduce the power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the last year, but there has not been any law proposed to completely eliminate the Bureau – until now. U.S. Representative John Ratcliffe and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, both Republicans from Texas, have combined to sponsor a bill that would completely abolish the CFPB, according to announcements on both lawmakers' websites.

Due to increasing demand and limited supply of homes, the national median sales price of homes has reached a new record high. Additionally, existing-home sales increased in June to their highest pace in over eight years, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors released Wednesday.

Selene Finance LP, a specialty servicing business, recently announced that its Board of Directors has named Joseph A. Pensabene, residential mortgage servicing and originations veteran as the company’s next CEO, effective August 3. Along with this new position, he will also be elected to the company’s Board of Directors.

Freddie Mac recently announced the election of Lance F. Drummond as a director on the company's board. Drummond, age 60, is a senior business leader with extensive experience specializing in business transforming strategy development and execution, operations, technology, and process re-engineering.

Parkside Lending, LLC, a national wholesale and correspondent lender, recently announced that their very own Matthew Ostrander, co-founder, majority owner, chairman, and CEO of Parkside Lending was re-elected as president of Residential Real Estate at the California Mortgage Bankers Association for the 2015-2016 term.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finally set an official effective date for the Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure rule, also called the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures rule, after much debate and numerous industry requests to delay the rule. The CFPB issued a final rule moving the effective date to Saturday, October 3, 2015 on Tuesday.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015 marks the fifth anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. As Dodd-Frank turns five, congress members and industry leaders examine just how effective the reform act has been within the government agencies to which it was applied.

Net revenues for Morgan Stanley reached $9.7 billion for the second quarter ending June 30, 2015, compared with $9.9 billion in the first quarter of 2015, and $8.6 billion a year ago, according to the company’s second quarter earnings statement released Monday.

Nationwide lender for single-family rental (SFR) property investors B2R Finance announced this week that Darren Thompson has been hired as CFO and EVP of strategy. Thompson brings more than 30 years of experience in the real estate and mortgage industries to B2R Finance. His previous positions include executive leadership roles with American Express, Fannie Mae, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs. Most recently, he was a founding member of Railfield Partners, a real estate and financial services advisory and asset management boutique.

The U.S. Census Bureau and HUD jointly announced today in a press release new residential construction statistics for June 2015 finding single-family building permits rose slightly, while housing starts and housing completions both declined.