Headlines

Leading online real estate marketplace Auction.com has named its chief financial officer, Tim Morse, as CEO of the company while Auction.com co-founder Jeff Frieden will stay on with the company as executive chairman.

With National Homeownership Month well underway, new research from Bankrate.com found that Arizona hosts three metro areas in the top ten cities for senior citizens to retire, while New York hosts some of the worst areas to retire. Phoenix, Arizona was named as the best place to retire, while New York City was named the worst city to retire.

Law360's John Kennedy reported that a New York state jury found Abacus Federal Savings Bank not guilty of residential mortgage fraud, falsifying business records, and grand larceny charges on Thursday, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.'s office confirmed to the site.

Ernst Publishing Company, the leading provider of technology and closing cost data for the real estate and home finance industries for the past 25 years, recently announced that Chris Dufault, an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, will join the company as director of product management. In his new role, Dufault will lead a team that will direct the company’s future product development as well as the enhancement of the company’s industry leading offerings.

American Tax and Property Reporting, Inc. (ATPR), announced in a press release that Shannon Cobb has been hired to join its leadership team as EVP reporting to President, Alok Datta. ATPR, a subsidiary of SLK Global, is a provider of technology focused solutions for the real estate and settlement services industry.

Alliant National Title Insurance Company, a title insurance underwriter that partners with independent agents to improve their competitive position in the marketplace, recently announced in a press release the promotion of Jeff Stein to SVP and Southeast regional counsel after five years of working with the company.

Deutsche Bank recently released research titled “The Outlook in MBS and Securitized Products” finding that although a large piece of the market focuses on bank demand for mortgage-backed securities (MBS), not much focus has been placed on the shape of that demand. The report also noted that banks are adding longer lengths on MBS that would drop in value as rates go up.

For May, mortgage credit availability experienced an increase, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report that analyzes data from Ellie Mae's AllRegs Market Clarity business information tool. According to the index, the MCAI increased 0.5 percent to 122.6 in May.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a complaint in federal district court against RPM Mortgage, Inc. and its CEO, Erwin Robert Hirt, for illegally paying loan originators bonuses and higher commissions to encourage them to draw consumers toward higher mortgages, according to a recent press release. The CFPB also filed a proposal that would require RPM to pay $18 million to consumers and a $1 million civil penalty.

Churchill Mortgage recently announced the new hiring of 15 industry professionals across its California, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia branches. The company’s latest additions are an effort to be prepared for National Homeownership Month in June and to support continued growth through the summer months.