Tag Archives: Attorneys & Title Companies

According to RE/MAX's National Housing Report for September, closed transactions fell 18.5 percent month-over-month, following the trend that usually occurs as summer passes into autumn. Year-over-year, sales increased 10.7 percent, making September the 27th consecutive month in which sales rose on an annual basis. The company also reported a slowdown in the rate of inventory decline. Compared to September 2012, inventories were down 13.4 percent, bringing the month supply to 5.0 at the current sales pace.

JPMorgan Chase is reportedly set to pay a record $13 billion to the government to settle questions surrounding its sale of bonds backed by poor loans. An unidentified source reportedly told Bloomberg that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon discussed the deal on Friday with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. According to that source, the discussed deal does not release the bank from potential claims of criminal liability at the insistence of Holder, who earlier this year remarked that some institutions may be "too big to jail."

The Residential Standards Governance Committee of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) has elected Randy Gilster as its chairman.

Joseph A. Smith, the monitor overseeing fulfillment efforts put forward by each servicer involved in the National Mortgage Settlement, has issued a report on their progress satisfying consumer relief obligations outlined in the agreement. Smith's report covers servicer activities through December 31, 2012, which have been vetted and verified by the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight. Each servicer's internal review group provided Smith with information on the servicers' crediting progress in February of this year.

Collateral Analytics, appointed James R. Follain, Ph.D. as its SVP of research and development. Dr. Follain is an economist with over 35 years' experience in the analysis of housing and mortgage markets, much of which involved the measurement and management of the risks associated with lending and investing as well as public policies.

Despite a decline in homeownership rates since the recession, Hispanics are even more likely to view homeownership favorably than the general population, according to Fannie Mae. The downside is that Hispanics are also more likely to anticipate difficulties in obtaining mortgage loans. Forty percent of homeowners in the overall population expressed concern about their ability to obtain a mortgage loan, but among the Hispanic population, 63 percent have concerns.

August's rising mortgage rates continued to impact refinance numbers reported by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) latest data.

The recent fast-paced home price appreciation across the country led some markets to the brink of a bubble, but deceleration over the summer months has Zillow analysts breathing a sigh of relief as the bubble threat deflates. Home value appreciation has declined steadily for three months, according to Zillow, and half of the nation's 20 largest metros experienced negative appreciation in September. "Far from being a negative sign, we're relieved to see more noticeable signs of cooling in the market," said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Mike Fratantoni has been appointed chief economist following the departure of Jay Brinkmann.

The dollar volume of homes donated or sold at a discount through JPMorgan Chase's Community Revitalization Program has crossed the $250 million mark, the bank announced Thursday.