Government

A Dallas-based lender lost privileges Friday when HUD announced that it had permanently banned it from underwriting and originating new mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration. Effective immediately, AmericaHomeKey, Inc., will no longer have the ability to churn out loans guaranteed by federal mortgage insurance. The department leveled a number of charges against AHK, claiming that it failed to properly document borrower eligibility for loans in accordance with closing costs, income requirements, and unallowable fees.

New-homes sales fell 1.6 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 313,000, the second straight monthly decline, the Commerce Department and HUD jointly reported Friday. Sales for January were revised downward from 321,000 to 318,000. The median price of a new home in February jumped to $233,700 from $215,700. The median price in February was the highest since last June when the median price hit $240,200.The median price in February was 6.2 percent higher than figures for the same seen in February last year.

The Senate cleared a bill Thursday that bans bonuses for executives with either of the GSEs and requires mortgage disclosures from senior-level government officials. The bill ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô passed by a count of 96 to 3, according to news outlets, and combines an earlier House version with Senate amendments. Except in certain circumstances, under the law, government officials and their spouses will need to disclose report on and disclose information about their mortgage loans. GSE executives will be eligible only for federal pay grades.

Prompting the delay of the company's annual meeting, CoreLogic has announced its intention to add new, independent members to its board of directors. The decision represents the continuation of CoreLogic's initiative to bolster its board, which the company previously put on hold in order to conduct a strategic review process. Giving the company's nominating and corporate governance committee sufficient time to consider the potential additions to the board, CoreLogic will postpone its annual stockholders meeting until the summer of 2012.

Renewed hope for Europe and the U.S. economy helped interest rates reach their highest peak since December and drove down mortgage applications by 7.4 percent last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association found in a weekly survey that application volume declined by 7.1 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis from the week earlier. The refinance share of mortgage activity fell to 73.4 percent of total volume, the lowest figure since July last year. The Refinance Index saw declines by 9.3 percent and 4.31 percent for the four-week moving average, respectively.

On the West Coast, Washington Mutual, Inc., has finalized the company's Chapter 11 restructuring process. The financial institution announced the completion of its proceedings under Seventh Amended Joint Plan of Affiliated Debtors Pursuant to Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which became effective on March 19. Under the plan, WMI will begin the distribution of an estimated $7 billion in funds to parties-in-interest as related to their allowed claims. WMI will move forward with the distribution of substantially all of the stock.

Standard and Poor's has revealed the inaugural winners of its recently launched SPIVA Awards program. The new initiative is granted by S&P Indices, and the organization plans to extend the awards, which honor excellence in research on the topic of index-related applications, on an annual basis. This year's first place SPIVA Award recipients are Yuliya Plyakha, Grigory Vilkov and Raman Uppal, and the team of researchers was selected for the $50,000 prize based on their comprehensive, comparative evaluation of equal-weighted portfolios and value-and-price weighted portfolios within Standard and Poor's Indices.

RiskSpan, Inc., has named a new senior vice president of business development. The company recently announced the appointment of industry veteran James W. Horne to the leadership position.

Good news about the economy and better results in Greece helped reverse declines for still-low mortgage rates for the first time in five months, according to Zillow. The real estate Web site delivered a Mortgage Marketplace report that fielded 3.97 percent for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, up 23 basis points from 3.74 percent last week. The interest rate for a 15-year loan climbed to 3.16 percent, just as rates for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages hovered near 2.85 percent. Interest rates for mortgage loans stayed near record lows as a result of the ongoing debt crisis in Europe.

The House Budget Committee unveiled a budget plan for the next fiscal year that proposes raising guarantee fees for the GSEs and dismantling the Dodd-Frank Act. Committee chair Rep. Paul Ryan billed the so-called Path to Prosperity as a measure that will slash $6.2 trillion in government expenditures over the next decade and draw down the deficit by more than $4.4 trillion in contrast with President Barack Obama├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós budget. House Republicans proposed raising guarantee fees, downsizing portfolios for the GSEs, and eventually leaving housing finance to only the Federal Housing Administration.