Headlines

Stewart Title Guaranty's operations group, which supports the company’s growing network of independent title agencies, has announced in a press release that Deloitte & Touche LLP (Deloitte & Touche) will now offer its compliance attestation to Stewart’s independent title and settlement agents.

The American Land Title Association (ALTA) has named RedVision as an Elite Provider for the company, according to a press release. The Elite Provider program is made up of service providers that offer comprehensive benefits to the title insurance and settlement services industry.

Borrowers who owe more money to banks than their home is worth is slowing decreasing, however more than half of these borrowers are stuck in an underwater free fall with little to no hope of resurfacing. According to Zillow’s first quarter Negative Equity Report released today, although the negative equity rate is falling, more than half or 4 million homeowners owed the bank at least 20 percent more than the worth of their home.

McLean Mortgage Corporation has announced it has hired Chad Freeman as the Bethesda, Maryland office branch manager, according to a recent press release. McLean provides turn-key service to real estate agents and customers and was recently was named the 6th Largest Mortgage Lender in the Washington, DC area by the Washington Business Journal.

For the 27th consecutive month, cash sales made have fallen to 34.6 percent of total home sales nationally in March 2015, down from 39 percent in March 2014, according to CoreLogic data released today.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services recently announced that former federal regulator Sandra Braunstein will provide compliance management and Community Reinvestment Act consulting services to the company’s U.S. banking clients.

Mortgage applications increased by 8.4 percent for the week ending June 5, 2015 from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Last week’s data included an adjustment due to the Memorial Day holiday.

A new survey of housing attitudes released by the MacArthur Foundation found that a majority of Americans believe the country is still not past the housing crisis that began seven years ago. The 2015 How Housing Matters Survey found that three in five Americans believe we are “still in the middle” of the housing crisis or “the worst part is yet to come” of the crisis.

Mountain America Credit Union’s eClosing capability has reached 500 closings since their first transaction with Pavaso's Digital Close solution on December 31, 2014, according to a recent press release. The Digital Close technology is part of Pavaso’s platform and suite of solutions from the real estate company.

Freddie Mac recently announced that Sean Becketti, an executive with broad experience in the private sector, government, and academia was selected to be VP and chief economist for the GSE, according to a press release. In his role as chief economist, he will be expected to lead a team that forecasts mortgage and housing market trends and conducts analysis and research on economic and policy issues affecting Freddie Mac.