Origination

JPMorgan Chase reaped a net income of $461 million in first-quarter income from mortgage production and servicing, a slight change of pace from $1.1 billion seen in net losses last year. The bank said that the results came off 33 percent in application volume from the first quarter. Except for repurchase losses, revenue stemming from mortgage production climbed to $1.6 billion, up 80 percent from the previous year. Repurchase losses hovered at $302 million, a carry-over from $420 million in repurchase losses seen last year.

Democratic state attorneys general circulated a letter Thursday that called on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and their regulator ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô to move forward with principal reductions. FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco continues to resist calls by lawmakers and policymakers to implement new loan modifications for homeowners, stressing the agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£preserve and conserve├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø mandate. Coakley and others were joined this week by International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagarde.

A brokerage owner and three mortgage loan officers in New York faced future in prison Thursday as the authorities prepared to sentence the former and the latter pled guilty to mortgage fraud. MReport culled the latest accounts of fraud from a news publication and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Of the three loan officers, one may reportedly face up to 30 years in prison, while the other two each face 50 years. Tens of millions of dollars lost in their schemes resulted in loan defaults and bilked lenders.

Mortgage rates fell once more as economic worries accelerate on the heels of a disappointing jobs report and debt crises overseas, with rates for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage slamming into new lows. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac found the 15-year loan cresting at 3.11 percent, a new all-time low below 3.13 percent seen in early March. Freddie also said that the 30-year loan yet again averaged 3.88 percent, down from 3.98 percent last week. The 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage fell from 2.86 percent to 2.85 percent, while the 1-year ARM went up to 2.80 percent from 2.78 percent.

First time claims for unemployment insurance jumped 13,000 to 380,000 for the week ended April 7, the Labor Department reported Thursday, the highest level since the end of January. At the same time the previous week's report was adjusted upward by 10,000, wiping out what had been a four-year low and showing an increase of 4,000 initial claims instead of an originally reported drop of 6,000 for the week ending in late March. Economists had expected initial claims would increase - from the original report - to 359,000. The week-over-week jump in first time claims was the second straight of the year.

In Georgia, SunTrust Banks, Inc., has appointed a new leader within its consumer division. The financial institution recently announced the addition of Reginald Davis as SunTrust├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós executive vice president and head of consumer deposit products. Prior to joining SunTrust, Davis was the president of RBC Bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós U.S. operations. In his role for RBC, Davis headed up all aspects of the bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós consumer, mortgage, wealth management, and commercial units.

Fannie Mae has approved a new underwriter for debt securities. Multi-Bank Securities, Inc., recently announced that it has now been added as part of Fannie├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Access program. Michigan-based MBS operates as a fixed-income securities broker-dealer, and the company serves credit unions, banks, municipalities, and other institutions around the U.S. Through its underwriting activities, MBS also provides wholesale deposits to various financial institutions.

The economy continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace from mid-February through late March, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in its periodic Beige Book. The central bank reported faster and solid growth in Kansas City and Minneapolis but moderate or modest growth in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco Cleveland, and St. Louis. New York reported economic growth picked up somewhat while Philadelphia and Richmond cited improving business conditions. Banking conditions remained stable, the Beige Book said, with modest improvements in demand for lending.

Ally Financial will soon take leave of mortgage broker-dealer activities and exit its share of the marketplace. The source said that Ally will honor all existing trades. Ally said that it will continue to operate broker-dealer activities in the insurance share of the marketplace. News outlets report that the federal government owns 74 percent of the company, the result of more than $17 billion in bailout money it received to withstand the financial crisis. Many reportedly expect Ally to file for bankruptcy for the Residential Capital mortgage subsidiary it owns.

HomeVestors is celebrating a strong end to the first-quarter of 2012, recently announcing that the company reached record numbers of new franchisees during the period. During the past three months, HomeVestors added 38 franchises to the company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós portfolio.