Origination

First-time claims for unemployment insurance edged up by 4,000 to 367,000 for the week ended September 29, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week's report was revised upward to 363,000 first time claims from the originally reported 359,000. Although initial claims appear to have plateaued (occasional weather-related spikes notwithstanding) first time claims fell in only five weeks during the third quarter, with a wide range: As high as 388,000 in the week following the July 4 holiday week and 385,000 in each of the two weeks following Hurricane Isaac, but as low as 352,000 when the quarter began.

Tree.com, Inc., and LendingTree, LLC, are welcoming a new senior leader to their ranks. The entities recently announced that Nikul Patel has been appointed as senior vice president of products.

Commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) delinquencies have posted substantial declines over the past two months, according to Trepp.

Ocwen will buy the Dallas-based servicer and originator from private equity firm WL Ross & Co. The breakdown for the transaction includes $588 million in cash and $162 million in Ocwen convertible preferred stock. Atlanta-based Ocwen won't need to raise additional equity capital to complete the transaction.

Radian Guaranty, Inc., a private mortgage insurer and subsidiary of the Radian Group, announced it will reward current insured borrowers through the Responsible Homeowner Reward program, which is administered by Loan Value Group LLC, a company founded in 2008 to provide borrower incentives to protect investors and servicers.

Mortgage applications saw increased activity in the last week of September, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported.

Missouri-based Mortgage Returns is celebrating a strong 2012 thus far, recently revealing that the company's revenue has grown significantly since January. The database management and automated marketing services provider has reported a 50 percent uptick in revenue since the start of the year.

One of the nation's oldest privately-owned financial services companies announced its acquisition of Florida-based residential mortgage lender FBC Mortgage, LLC. Sterne Agee Group, Inc., founded in Alabama in 1901, signed a definitive agreement to acquire FBC, a retail and wholesale loan originator.

Responding to Moody's Investors Service Inc.'s decision to extend the review period for potential downgrades for portions of the company's debt, Genworth Financial, Inc., has issued an official statement on the pending evaluations. Noting that Genworth is proceeding with urgency in its dealings with Moody's, the company expressed confidence in the outcome of the review process.

Recent gains in housing are closely linked to rising consumer confidence, according to numbers juxtaposed and analyzed by Clear Capital in its latest report on home price movements. The feeble underpinnings of price increases, however, could soon topple, according to the real estate valuation company. Threatening to temper consumer sentiment--and in turn, home prices--is the fear Congress will not act in time to avert the looming "fiscal cliff" of $500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that lie in wait at year-end, Clear Capital warns.