Government

Ellie Mae. is growing its customer base and mortgage origination facilitation through the acquisition of Del Mar DataTrac, Inc. The recently announced transaction is projected to increase Ellie Mae's market share, putting them on track to originate nearly 30 percent of all residential mortgages in the U.S. this year.

WFG National Title Insurance Company has a new vice president of sales and marketing, with the hiring of Wendy Lunt. Lunt├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós appointment is WFG├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós most recent step in growing its newly acquired Puget Sound division.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau joined an exclusive law enforcement club Monday as it announced an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission that makes it a full-fledged member of the Consumer Sentinel Network. Law enforcement agencies and personnel will now be able to view consumer complaints the CFPB submits about credit issues, debt collection, and - eventually - mortgage lending practices that complainants report. An FTC spokesperson says the CFPB will eventually add mortgage lending complaints.

New Jersey loan specialist, Shelley Solari, has been honored among the state├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós top mortgage professionals. New Jersey Monthly├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós New Jersey 2011 Mortgage Professionals list recently honored Solari for her service.

A new director is taking over at Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC. Frederick W. Puddester was recently announced as the company's new director and was also appointed to its audit committee.

In an endeavor to get ahead of mortgage-related woes from the financial crisis, mortgage giant Bank of America has offered to sell a chunk of its mortgage portfolio servicing rights to GSE Fannie Mae, according to the Wall Street Journal. The sale of bad loan rights to the government entity may shift new bulk onto federal balance sheets at a time when the GSE recently posted second-quarter losses and announced plans to petition the government for more taxpayer funds.

More brokers, loan officers, realtors, and others defrauded lenders, servicers, and homeowners over 2010 despite improving conditions in the housing market at large, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which released a comprehensive report Friday. Mortgage fraud cases and investigations amounted to 3,129 cases over the year, 12 percent more than in 2009 and some 90 percent above the same trends in 2008. Referencing CoreLogic, the FBI said that applicants fraudulently filed some $12 billion in loan applications last year.

While Treasury yields plummeted on low notes sounded by investors over panicked markets, recently downgraded GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to see spikes in interest from investors over their mortgage-backed debt. The Financial Times attributes the investor rush to the market bonanza created by the Federal Reserve, which decided Tuesday to keep interest rates at historically low levels until 2013. Some analysts say the investor rush to agency debt could crimp financing for U.S. federal debt and potentially frustrate mortgage rates.

On the heels of Standard & Poor's controversial downgrades for U.S. debt ratings, Congress passed the deficit reduction axe to a bipartisan, six-member "super-committee" for each chamber, with both parties finally naming lawmakers to the commission Thursday. Capitol watchers say important housing laws and provisions may await the congressional guillotine, with the mortgage tax rate deduction, mortgage debt, and other housing-related giveaways in line. The appointments follow a recent deduction-slashing proposal.

A new senior vice president has joined Walker