News

International Document Services, Inc. (IDS), a Utah-based mortgage document preparation vendor, reported a spike in home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) through the year's first three quarters.

Midland States Bancorp, headquartered in Effingham, Illinois, will originate $8 million in mortgage loans in minority neighborhoods over the next three years to resolve charges that it previously avoided doing business or establishing branches in predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods in St. Louis and northern Illinois, according to an announcement from HUD.

Mortgage loans are aging, particularly loans to borrowers with lower credit scores, according to the latest data from Jacksonville, Florida-based Black Knight Financial Services. In fact, the average loan age is currently at an all-time high of 54 months, according to the firm. The average mortgage loan age has been on the rise for about nine years, although the uptick in loan originations last year brought on a "temporary slowdown," according to Black Knight.

A ruling issued by a federal judge this week clears the way for investors to proceed with a class-action suit against JPMorgan Chase, meaning that all the investors can be represented by a lead plaintiff in the case. Investors are accusing the bank of misleading them by making false statements regarding the RMBS when the securities were packaged and sold to the investors in 2007, a year before the subprime lending crisis.

Out of 884 community bankers currently active in the mortgage space, 31 percent expect their institution's residential mortgage holdings at the end of the year will be less than their level last year, according to findings released by the Federal Reserve and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Of those who anticipate reductions in the dollar value of their mortgage holdings, most pointed to increased regulation and compliance costs at the reason.

According to an announcement from the bureau, Lighthouse Title, which operates in branches throughout the state, entered into marketing services agreements (MSAs) with various companies "with the understanding that the companies would refer mortgage closings and title insurance business to Lighthouse."

After posting a slight increase in July, Freddie Mac's mortgage portfolio declined at an annualized rate of 0.4 percent over the month of August, according to the GSE's latest monthly volume summary. Year-to-date, the portfolio's annualized growth rate has averaged -1.6 percent, bolstered by declines near or higher than 2 percent in each of the first five months of the year.

After giving a soft performance in August, the labor market came back strong last month, knocking the national unemployment rate down below the 6.0 percent mark for the first time in more than six years.

Fannie Mae's book of business shrank in August at its steepest rate in more than a year, according to the company's latest volume summary. The company reported a compounded growth rate of -4.0 percent in its book for August, putting its total value down to $3.1 trillion. It was the ninth straight month of contraction.

JPMorgan Chase reports it has completed nearly a quarter of its consumer relief obligations required under a landmark mortgage-backed securities (MBS) settlement last year. According to a report issued Wednesday by the settlement's monitor, Joseph Smith Jr., the megabank expects to be credited for more than $862 million it provided through various borrower relief measures in the second quarter.