Headlines

Witnesses offered testimony to the subcommittee that senior HUD employees violated federal employment law practices as well as HUD policies by hiring Debra Gross, a former registered lobbyist, for a position with HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing.

In a note to stakeholders released Thursday, Faris reviewed a handful of the regulatory hurdles Ocwen has had to deal with in the past year, including a long-running investigation from New York's top financial regulator that eventually resulted in a $150 million settlement.

The refinance boom may be losing steam, but near-record low mortgage rates encouraged more borrowers to refinance in Q4, according to Freddie Mac's 2014 Q4 Refinance Report released Wednesday. Mortgagors who refinanced their loans in 2014 are projected to save on net a total of about $5 billion in interest over the next year, according to the report.

In Denver, Titan Lenders Corp., a firm specializing in mortgage services, is headed into 2015 strong after closing the book on one of its best years yet, according to an announcement.

Bank of America was ordered to pay a $1.27 billion penalty in July 2014 as a result of its alleged role in the "Hustle" case. The bank had been fighting to overturn that verdict since, claiming that the HSSL program ended prior to its acquisition of Countrywide.

LenderLive Network, a national mortgage services provider headquartered in Colorado, introduced on Tuesday the two newest regional account executives for its Correspondent Lending division: Andrew Lion and Wendy Lovett.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said Wednesday that mortgage loan applications rose a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent for the week ending January 30. It was the third increase of the month, following a minor holiday-adjusted drop the previous week.

Houston-based mortgage banking firm Envoy Mortgage has recruited Andrew Pettola to serve as regional VP for the Northeast, according to an announcement.

December's compound annualized rate decline of 26.4 percent for the gross mortgage portfolio was the eighth-highest rate for any one month since the Federal Housing Finance Agency's conservatorship of Fannie Mae began in September 2008. The highest rate of decline occurred in January 2010, when it dropped by 44.8 percent.

In an opinion released Monday, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman didn't present substantial evidence that Wells Fargo—one of five major servicers that originally entered into the deal with 49 state attorneys general—neglected its servicing obligations under the terms of the settlement.