Government

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Mike Fratantoni has been appointed chief economist following the departure of Jay Brinkmann.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has appointed Tricia Migliazzo as VP of membership for the association's Residential Policy & Member Services Group.

Freddie Mac has made available a Spanish version of CreditSmart, the company's free online tutorial designed to educate families on building savings and personal credit, making wise financial choices, and becoming successful homeowners.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered two mortgage banks to pay civil penalties for violating the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) with allegedly inaccurate for applications from 2011. According to a release from the agency, Mortgage Master (a nonbank headquartered in Walpole, Massachusetts), and Washington Federal (a Seattle-based bank), failed HMDA reviews when it was determined "that their compliance systems were inadequate and that they had severely compromised mortgage lending data."

Mortgage Returns, a provider of customer relationship management (CRM) technology and automated marketing solutions, has launched its new Storefront marketing solution, an enhanced feature of the company's CRM system.

JPMorgan Chase will soon welcome Dana Deasy as its new CIO. He brings more than 27 years of experience to his new role.

Clayton Holdings LLC, a provider of loan due diligence, surveillance, and consulting services for the mortgage industry, announced that it has expanded its securitization group in preparation for the private market's return.

Atlanta-based Equifax announced the launch of a new tool designed to enhance underwriting and help lenders make predictive decisions based on consumer behavior.

Founded by what used to be the IT staff at National Default Exchange (NDeX), assured360 fully owns and operates two geographically diverse Tier 3 data centers: one in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and the other in Carrollton, Texas.

A new index from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and First American suggests that about one in seven housing markets have returned to or surpassed their pre-recessionary levels of activity. According to the association, the index registered a score of 0.85 nationwide, indicating that the national housing market is running at 85 percent of normal activity. Of the nearly 350 metro markets examined, 52 have reported levels of activity at least equal to those before the recession hit.