News

Quicken Loans, a Detroit-based mortgage lender reported today that the difference between appraiser and homeowner perceptions of home values continued to increase for the fourth consecutive month in May. For the first time in 22 months, appraiser opinions of home values were 1.15 percent lower than homeowner estimates, according to Quicken Loans’ national Home Price Perception Index (HPPI).

Mountain America Credit Union’s eClosing capability has reached 500 closings since their first transaction with Pavaso's Digital Close solution on December 31, 2014, according to a recent press release. The Digital Close technology is part of Pavaso’s platform and suite of solutions from the real estate company.

Freddie Mac recently announced that Sean Becketti, an executive with broad experience in the private sector, government, and academia was selected to be VP and chief economist for the GSE, according to a press release. In his role as chief economist, he will be expected to lead a team that forecasts mortgage and housing market trends and conducts analysis and research on economic and policy issues affecting Freddie Mac.

Leading online real estate marketplace Auction.com has named its chief financial officer, Tim Morse, as CEO of the company while Auction.com co-founder Jeff Frieden will stay on with the company as executive chairman.

With National Homeownership Month well underway, new research from Bankrate.com found that Arizona hosts three metro areas in the top ten cities for senior citizens to retire, while New York hosts some of the worst areas to retire. Phoenix, Arizona was named as the best place to retire, while New York City was named the worst city to retire.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro is scheduled to testify before the full House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, June 11, for the second time since becoming the nation's top housing official in July 2014.

Law360's John Kennedy reported that a New York state jury found Abacus Federal Savings Bank not guilty of residential mortgage fraud, falsifying business records, and grand larceny charges on Thursday, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.'s office confirmed to the site.

According to a recent press release, Rep. Steve Israel (D-New York) and Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pennsylvania) have introduced bipartisan legislation to help improve efforts to end homelessness among our nation’s veterans. The Homeless Veterans Assistance Fund Act of 2015 or H.R. 2591, creates the Homeless Veterans Assistance Fund, according to the release. If this legislation is passed, taxpayers will have a chance to help keep nearly 50,000 veterans off the streets by making an optional contribution to the fund on their federal income tax return form.

Ernst Publishing Company, the leading provider of technology and closing cost data for the real estate and home finance industries for the past 25 years, recently announced that Chris Dufault, an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, will join the company as director of product management. In his new role, Dufault will lead a team that will direct the company’s future product development as well as the enhancement of the company’s industry leading offerings.

American Tax and Property Reporting, Inc. (ATPR), announced in a press release that Shannon Cobb has been hired to join its leadership team as EVP reporting to President, Alok Datta. ATPR, a subsidiary of SLK Global, is a provider of technology focused solutions for the real estate and settlement services industry.