Government

The Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act of 2012, introduced this month by Sens. Robert Menendez and Barbara Boxer, received backing from witnesses at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. The bill aims to address what the senators say are barriers impeding the success of the recently revised Home Affordable Refinance Program, commonly referred to as HARP 2.0. The bill aims to eliminate all upfront fees and appraisal costs for refinances, prohibit second-lien holders from unreasonably hindering refinances, and more.

Seeking to provide industry insight into the borrowers' perspective when purchasing a mortgage, eLynx has revealed the findings from its recent panel discussion with lenders and customers. To conduct its survey, eLynx, a portfolio company of American Capital, assembled an advisory group that included both lending professionals and borrowers, tapping the participants for feedback on the initiatives that could improve the mortgage loan experience and reduce stress during the process.

Brokers will have a new resource to tap into, with the launch of United Wholesale Mortgage's Elite program. The mortgage lender will use the new product to offer broker's access to the best conventional rates and pricing in the industry, according to a company statement.

A surge in refinance applications could propel mortgage originations by more than $200 billion in 2012, increasing to $1.28 trillion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group attributed estimates ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô upwardly revised from $1.26 trillion in 2011 ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô to account for a refinance boom sparked by the crises in debt-saddled Europe. The MBA said that it expected refinance originations would amount to $870 billion this year, an amount nearly identical to forecasts from last year, when HARP led the way in estimates.

Home prices ticked up modestly over the first quarter this year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Wednesday. The agency recorded a 0.6 percent increase on a seasonally adjusted basis for its home price index, with prices rising 0.5 percent year-over-year. The index registered a 1.3 percent decline over the last four quarters. Purchase-only house prices went up 0.5 percent year-over-year. Inflation-adjusted prices for homes fell some 2.6 percent over the last year. The home price index rose over the first quarter in 30 states.

A new vice president of operations and contract underwriting has been appointed at zIngenuity, Inc. The company recently named Scott Friedberg to the leadership role.

In Minnesota, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services has established an agreement with The Reinvestment Fund (TRF). The two entities will work together to integrate TRF;s PolicyMap application with Wolters Kluwer's software solutions for the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and fair lending compliance.

Investors fleeing Europe once more helped drive mortgage refinance applications to 3.8 percent this week, up from the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA's Refinance Index climbed 5.6 percent from the week before, signaling a rise for the third consecutive week and helping reach highs not seen since February earlier this year. The four-week moving average ticked up by 4.83 for the index. The refinance share of mortgage activity leapt to 76.6 percent of total application volume.

New homes sales rose 3.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 343,000, the Commerce Department and HUD said jointly Wednesday. Sales for March were revised upward from 328,000 to 332,000. Economists had expected the report to show a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 335,000 new home sales in April. New home sales in April were up 9.9 percent from April 2011, the seventh straight month of year-over-year increases. The increase came despite survey results that showed new home shoppers had fallen.

The FDIC reportedly filed suit Friday against a number of large bank holding companies, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan Chase. Media outlets reported that the FDIC seeks to recoup some $92 million for two banks that failed in 2009. The suit alleges that banks like the big four are responsible for misrepresenting mortgage-backed securities to Citizens National Bank and Strategic Capital Bank. Speaking with MReport, FDIC spokesperson David Barr declined to comment on the story. Bank of America and Citigroup reportedly appear as the only defendants cited in all three cases.