Origination

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Wednesday it has finalized amendments to the Ability-to-Repay rule first handed down in January this year. The rule, set to take effect January 10, 2014, establishes basic requirements designed to ensure consumers don't take on loans they can't pay back. According to CFPB, Wednesday's amendments are the result of months of input offered by industry groups and the public at large, embodying the bureau's efforts "to make reasonable changes to rule."

In Florida, ISGN Corporation announced the addition of former Xerox executive Nancy Alley as the company's chief product officer.

Ellie Mae announced that Veterans United has selected Encompass360 as its mortgage management solution.

Mortgage refinance applications continued to suffer last week as mortgage rates climbed to their highest level in a year, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported in its Weekly Applications Survey. The survey's Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, declined a seasonally adjusted 8.8 percent for the week ending May 24, MBA reported. Unadjusted, the index dropped 9 percent week-over-week. The Refinance Index decreased 12 percent, the largest single-week drop in refinance volume so far this year.

Lender Processing Services' (LPS) Home Price Index (HPI) averaged $213,000 in March, an increase of 1.4 percent month-over-month and 7.6 percent year-over-year.

FirstClose, an aggregator in mortgage settlement services based in Austin, announced the hiring of Chip Caldwell to manage its Southeast territory.

Nearly one-quarter of Americans say they have encountered problems with their credit report, according to a survey from FindLaw.com, a legal information website. Twenty-three percent of Americans surveyed said they have had a problem with their credit report at one point or another, with inaccurate or outdated personal/credit information being the most common complaint. Other errors include incorrect credit scores and identity theft/mix-ups.

In Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, GMH Mortgage Services announced a strategic marketing alliance with Realty Executives Boston West. The new partnership will combine GMH Mortgage's lending expertise and new marketing technology platforms with Realty Executives' strong regional brand awareness.

A new report from the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) calls for an end to the "too-big-to-fail" banking culture the group says has been destructive to the American economy. Citing remarks from Eric Holder in which the attorney general admitted some institutions have too much influence in the global economy for them to be prosecuted, ICBA asserts that large banks use their estimated $83 billion annual subsidy to "unfairly compete, profit and grow even larger, exacerbating industry consolidation."

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index continued to improve in May as Americans recovered from the economic shocks that plagued the year's first few months. "Consumer Confidence posted another gain this month and is now at a five-year high," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board. "Consumers' assessment of current business and labor-market conditions was more positive and they were considerably more upbeat about future economic and job prospects."