Origination

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, also known as Farmer Mac, has added two new members to its board of directors. The organization recently announced that former Iowa Gov. Chester Culver and Bruce Sherrick have joined Farmer Mac├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós directorship. Both Culver and Sherrick were nominated to the prestigious position by President Obama. The two candidates were recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and both were officially sworn in the week of April 2. Culver held the governorship for Iowa from 2006 until 2010.

Mortgage rates fell to lows not seen in a month on the heels of an underwhelming jobs report and concerns that Spain may follow Greece into default-scenario territory. Real estate Web site Zillow found interest rates for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage zigzagging across the country, just as it fell from 3.81 percent to 3.73 percent this week. Rates for the 15-year loan hovered near 2.95 percent, while those for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages slumped to 2.56 percent. The Labor Department flattened expectations by reporting that the economy added only 120,000 jobs in March.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau steamed ahead with proposals for new rules Tuesday that would require mortgage servicers to notify homeowners about changes to their interest rates and insurance policies. The CFPB said it would publish proposals for the rules this summer and seek to finalize them by January next year. Under the new rules, servicers would need to tally up mortgage payments for homeowners every month, issue notifications about interest-rate changes for many adjustable-rate mortgages, and stay transparent about so-called force-placed insurance policies.

Home prices slid 0.9 percent in January before likely slowing to a crawl in February, analytics provider Lender Processing Services said Monday. The company released a Home Price Index that showed home prices averaging $195,000, signaling a seventh straight month of price declines. Of nearly 600 metro areas, 524 encountered price declines, with a dip in prices for 39 states. Pittsburgh emerged from the largest 26 metro areas as the only city to experience increases in average home prices since January 2005.

For many Americans, 2012 may be the year to own a new home and trade up on the mortgage, if results from Fannie Mae's latest survey say anything. The mortgage giant released results Monday that found 33 percent of respondents with the expectation that home prices will increase over the next year, a 5 percentage point climb from the month before and the highest over the last 12 months. The respondents said that home prices could tick up by 0.9 percent over the next year, just as 39 percent of Americans agreed that mortgage rates will likely ascend in the next year.

An old hand from the banking regulatory community took office Monday as the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós newest comptroller of the currency. The Senate confirmed Thomas Curry to helm the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in March. President Barack Obama first nominated Curry, an FDIC director, last year. He then served as chairman of the agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós assessment appeals and case review committees. His record of service includes stints as first deputy commissioner and assistant general counsel in the Massachusetts banks division.

Mortgage solutions company Calyx Software has announced the addition of a new account sales representative. Calyx recently revealed that Jim Dymek has joined its roster of sales professionals. [IMAGE] In his new role for the company, Dymek will focus on small-to-midsize lenders.

Residential Finance Corporation has hired a new director of operations for the company's recently opened location in Charlotte, North Carolina. The national mortgage lender has named industry veteran Leslie Bondy to the leadership position for RFC. With more than 20 years of industry experience, Bondy will be responsible for all mortgage lending operations in RFC's Charlotte branch. Her duties encompass processing, underwriting, and closing loans for the company. Bondy joins RFC from her previous role as a senior program manager and operations director for Zenta Mortgage Services.

In Idaho, DocuTech has added two new team members within its mortgage document compliance division. The company recently hired Sandra Griebe to head up DocuTech's integration team, along with appointing Gregg Holsapple as vice president of product management. Griebe joins DocuTech as the company's director of integrations for its mortgage document compliance software. In her new role, Griebe will be responsible for managing and improving integration operations with national technology partners, ensuring that users benefit from simple access methods and product offerings.

A new study from FICO revealed that banking professionals are raising their expectations for loan repayments and credit availability. The survey, which was conducted by the Professional Risk Managers' International Association (PRMIA) on behalf of FICO, showed a reversal in sentiments among U.