Servicing

Boosting its mortgage sales and leadership development programs, XINNIX announced the addition of Bruce Grant as a new trainer within the department. With more than 26 years in the industry, Grant is set to join XINNIX in a role that encompasses instructing new and existing loan officers on business development, leadership skills, and executive communications.

Alongside the Dow Industrial plunge and news that the U.S. economy added 117,000 jobs, the Census Bureau released a report signaling more troubled waters ahead for homeowners and Americans with the desire to one day live in their own houses. Homeownership rates fell to 65.9 percent, one percent less than rates for the same over the second quarter last year. Homeownership sits at its lowest levels since 1998, according to Census data, matching homeownership levels from 1965.

Fresh on the heels of a 512-point nosedive by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the U.S. economy added 117,000 jobs over July, beating less ideal estimates and soothing markets anxious about a recession repeat. The number of unemployed people and the unemployment rate moved ever so slightly over July, as joblessness hovered at 13.9 million nationally and the latter continued at 9.1 percent. The total labor force stayed somewhat static at 153.2 million last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of unemployed people dipped.

The South Florida mortgage banking community is immersed in scandal, as a result of four indictments released this week by the U.S. Attorney├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Office in Miami, Florida. The separate filings target 27 individuals who are accused of diverse fraud schemes waged against lenders and homeowners in the region. Charges encompass more than $30 million in faulty mortgage loans, plus mail fraud, insurance fraud, and arson. Twenty-five of the 27 indicted individuals are in custody, and each could ultimately face up to 20 years in jail.

The government sponsored enterprises are feeling the heat from Bank of America. A recent filing from BAC targets Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, stating that the criteria by which the GSEs are ultimately willing to resolve claims have become more rigid over time. By the numbers, BAC sold an estimated $1.1 trillion in mortgage loans to Fannie and Freddie between 2004 and 2008, and during the second quarter of this year, approximately $121 billion of the GSE-owned loans were in default or more than 180 days in arrears.

On the heels of disappointing news in the broader economy, mortgage rates fell precipitously alongside Treasury bond yields Thursday, with Freddie Mac and Bankrate releasing reports that saw new lows for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, 15-year rates, and 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages. Freddie Mac signaled the lowest pullback in 30-year fixed-rate mortgages for the year, with data for the category showing up at 4.39 percent on average, just down from 4.55 percent last week.

CoreLogic was the bearer of some positive housing market news recently, with its announcement that home pricing is on the rise for the third consecutive month. Data from CoreLogic indicates that the results from its Home Price Index for June demonstrate a 0.7 percent increase in the market, building on similar statistical improvements recorded in May and April. CoreLogic notes that pricing is still depressed by 6.8 percent compared to last year's numbers.

BancorpSouth, Inc., is bolstering its audit committee with the addition of Warren A. Hood, Jr. The bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Board of Directors approved Hood as its replacement for former board member, R. Madison Murphy, who recently resigned from the company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós directorship and was a member of the audit committee. Hood is the CEO and chairman of the board for his own enterprise, Hood Companies, Inc., which is comprised of three separate corporations. Current operations within Hood Companies include the manufacturing and distribution of building materials, consumer packaging products, and industrial packaging needs.

SunTrust is going global with United Way Worldwide. Recently named as a Global Corporate Leadership partner for the philanthropic organization, SunTrust has committed a $2.88 million gift from its SunTrust Foundation to the cause. Additionally, SunTrust already contributed $8.4 million during 2010, $4 million of which was pledged by the company's employees, and logged more than 100,000 volunteer hours with United Way via SunTrust's Solid Gives Back initiative.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland has released its commentary on the broader economic effects of the recent closure of local bank branches, as lenders struggle to maintain bottom line viability in the marketplace. The brief, developed by Emre Ergungor and Stephanie Moulton, is titled, Do Bank Branches Matter Anymore?, and the authors├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó conclusions indicate that the general answer to that large and looming question is a resounding yes, with considerable social impact as a net loss in communities.