Government

The monitor responsible for reviewing $25 billion in settlement funds announced Monday that his office has selected BDO USA, LLP, to serve as the primary professional firm needed to oversee the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós servicers. The firm will play a critical role in the oversight process as Joseph A. Smith, Jr., the former North Carolina banking commissioner selected by 49 state attorneys general to head up the settlement, begins the footwork necessary to fulfill terms and conditions under the landmark deal.

More than a year after releasing a white paper that set forth three options for housing finance reform, Treasury and HUD struggle to determine the best path forward for America's housing finance system. Speaking before an audience at a meeting of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, Counselor to the Treasury Secretary for Housing Finance Michael Stegman explained that rather than answering the broader question of what the future of housing should look like, each proposal seems to ignite a slew of additional critical questions.

GFI Mortgage Bankers filed a motion Friday to dismiss a suit from the Justice Department that alleged discrimination in GFI's lending practices. GFI's motion asserts that the disparate impact discrimination statutes cited by the Justice Department in its suit - the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act - do not contain language that permits anti-discrimination claims. The company also argues that the practice of allowing employees discretion when pricing loans is standard policy and widely accepted in the industry.

The number of loans refinanced through HARP in the first quarter of 2012 was nearly double the number of refinances in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's March 2012 Refinance Report released Friday. The report showed that 180,185 loans were refinanced through HARP during the year├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós first quarter, nearly twice the 93,190 refinances in the previous quarter. The month of March alone saw 79,470 loans refinanced with HARP, implicating nearly one in seven loan refinances in the quarter.

Pennsylvania-based GMH Mortgage Services LLC announced Thursday that Joseph Macchione will serve as the company's CEO.

Consumer spending grew just 0.3 percent in April, up slightly from 0.2 percent in March, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday. Economists had expected spending to be up 0.3 percent. At the same time, personal income grew 0.2 percent in April, BEA said, compared with market expectations of a 0.

The economy added just 69,000 jobs in May compared with a revised 77,000 in April down from the originally reported 115,000, the Labor Department reported Friday. The closely watched unemployment rate inched up to 8.2 percent ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô a function of an increase in the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós labor force to the highest level ever. Payroll gains for March and April were revised, subtracting 11,000 from the last published numbers for March and 38,000 from the preliminary report for April. A sharp drop in construction jobs ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô 28,000 ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô led payrolls down.

As the debt crisis in Europe continues to worsen and investors look to Treasury bonds for security, fixed mortgage rates fell to all-time record lows in the last week of May. According to the results of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed averaged 3.75 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending May 31. This is down from 3.88 percent the previous week and 4.55 percent at the same time last year. The 15-year fixed rate mortgage also fell, bringing three of the four benchmark mortgage rates under 3 percent.

First time claims for unemployment insurance rose to 383,000 up from the prior week├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós 373,000, revised up from the previously reported 370,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists had expected the report would be unchanged at 370,000 initial claims.

Interthinx released its quarterly Mortgage Fraud Risk Report Wednesday, showing that the national Mortgage Fraud Risk Index has dropped below the 140 mark for the first time since 2009. The report, put together by an internal team of fraud experts at Interthinx, showed that the National Mortgage Fraud Risk Index decreased to 139, 4.3 percent down from last quarter, 3.1 percent from the first quarter of 2011, and lower than it has been since the second quarter of 2009. The number of "very high risk" metropolitan statistical areas also fell.