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Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS) has been selected by Gateway Mortgage Group as the company's partner for property inspection and preservation needs. Targeting enhanced efficiency for the property-related management of its servicing portfolio, Gateway chose Florida-based MCS for streamlined support.

In Texas, Churchill Mortgage has added two industry professionals to bolster mortgage loan production in its Houston branch. The company recently announced that Peter Oreziak and Mike Gonzalez have been hired as home loan specialists. Prior to joining Churchill, Oreziak accrued more than nine years of experience in the mortgage business, and he has previously been active in customer service and transaction protection initiatives. Oreziak's new role for Churchill encompasses the provision of client guidance throughout the lending process from application to funding.

Lawmakers seated on the Senate Banking Committee slated five nominees to head up regulatory agencies for full-chamber votes Friday. Committee Chairman Tim Johnson led the voice vote that cleared nominees for boards responsible for the Federal Reserve System, FDIC, and Troubled Asset Relief Program, among others. The nominees set for votes include Jerome Powell and Jeremy Stein for governorships with the Fed; Jeremiah Norton, for a board role with the FDIC; Richard Berner, for directorship of the Office of Financial Research; and Christy Romero, for service as TARP├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós next special inspector general.

In Michigan, United Wholesale Mortgage is adding a new mortgage loan product to its portfolio, recently announcing that the company would begin offering loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. UWM seeks to enhance its existing government platform of Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Affairs loan programs through the extension of USDA loans. The USDA products from UWM will be comprised of 30-year fixed rate, 0 percent down mortgages with finance closing costs, competitively low rates, and financed appliances with minimal restrictions.

Recently released findings from Equifax's March National Consumer Credit Trends Report and CreditForecast.com revealed that originations are on the uptick, with notable increases in the sub-prime segment across all lending sectors. The survey, which evaluated activity for credit cards, auto finance, consumer finance, and student loans, showed that home financing balances fell to $8.7 billion during February. Total consumer debt in the U.S. stood at $11 trillion for February, representing an 11 percent drop since highs seen in the fourth-quarter of 2008.

Another bank fell quiet in Michigan Friday, lifting the national tally to 16 this year but falling short of the pace set by bank failures over the last several years. State regulators shuttered Dearborn-based Fidelity Bank, citing unsafe and unsound conditions in an order that made the FDIC receiver for $818.2 million in total assets and $747.6 million in total deposits. The Huntington National Bank stepped up to assume nearly all of Fidelity├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós assets, along with 15 branches that it rebranded and reopened Saturday.

Mortgage insurance companies wrote $5.4 billion new pools of risk in February, a shift from $5 billion last month. Mortgage Insurance Companies of America revealed Friday that the latest figures reflect a climb up from $4.2 billion. The companies included Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp., Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., and Radian Guaranty Inc. MICA members said that their certificates reached 24,879 borrowers with intentions to buy or refinance their homes last month. Insurance-in-force for the companies roughly amounted to $398 billion for February.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac entered federal conservatorship in 2008, as lawmakers and presidents stepped in to stymie a freefall for the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós largest mortgage companies, just as words like subprime and systemically important institutions gained traction for the public. Four years and roughly $180 billion in taxpayer funds later, old hands, regulators, and freshman lawmakers alike struggle with a vexing riddle. How can a system polarized by politics safely shrink companies responsible for more than $11 trillion in mortgages without blowing the recovery ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and what will it mean for mortgage finance?

Consumer spending grew 0.8 percent in February, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday, fueling expectations for a stronger first quarter economic surge than economists have forecast. Personal spending grew faster than the 0.6 percent market consensus. Personal income, BEA reported, grew just 0.2 percent in February, half the rate of growth expected by economists. In dollars, spending increased $86.0 billion in February while income ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô from all sources ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô grew $28.2 billion. Spending for the first two months of the quarter averaged $10.9 billion.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau threw its weight into the courtroom recently by filing a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the tenth circuit. The issue at stake: Whether homeowners can cancel their loans within a three-year period stipulated under the Truth-in-Lending Act ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and whether a plaintiff need sue within the same timeframe before the right of rescission expires. The case in Denver involves one Jean Rosenfield, who sued for an injunction against servicer HSBC in 2009 when an earlier notice of rescission went unnoticed by the servicer and lender.