Recent gains in housing are closely linked to rising consumer confidence, according to numbers juxtaposed and analyzed by Clear Capital in its latest report on home price movements. The feeble underpinnings of price increases, however, could soon topple, according to the real estate valuation company. Threatening to temper consumer sentiment--and in turn, home prices--is the fear Congress will not act in time to avert the looming "fiscal cliff" of $500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that lie in wait at year-end, Clear Capital warns.
Read More »Government Task Force Files Lawsuit Against JPMorgan
Wall Street took notice as the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) Working Group fired its first shot against a major financial institution.
Read More »Interthinx Partners with Firm to Provide Attorney-Backed Compliance
Interthinx and Middleberg Riddle & Gianna are teaming up to offer attorney-backed compliance services to mortgage lenders.
Read More »Mortgage Businesses Faring Better as Banks Endure
Mortgage-related business closings and failures are on track to post fewer incidences in 2012 than any year since the mortgage crisis began. In the third quarter, 17 mortgage-related businesses failed, down from 25 in the previous quarter and 31 in the same quarter last year, according to a findings released by Mortgage Daily. Bank closings followed this trend, falling from 15 failings in the second quarter to 12 in the third. Both numbers are down from the third quarter of last year, when 26 banks failed.
Read More »Fannie Mae’s Book of Business Shows August Growth
According to Fannie Mae's monthly summary, its book of business grew at a compound annualized rate of 1.9 percent in August, bringing its year-to-date growth to 0.4 percent.
Read More »Freddie Mac, MGIC Work Out Business Obligations
MGIC Investment Corporation is on its way to resolving stipulations from Freddie Mac in order to continue issuing insurance.
Read More »California Man Arrested on $3.1M Mortgage Fraud Charge
Alan David Tikal of Brentwood, California, was arrested at his home for a complaint that he scammed more than 1,000 homeowners out of millions of dollars in a fraudulent foreclosure rescue scheme. He allegedly convinced homeowners that he could work out their mortgage debt and replace it was a lower debt to his own company, KATN Trust. Having been instructed to ignore all correspondence from their original lenders, victims paid thousands of dollars in upfront fees and then made regular payments on their new loans.
Read More »Construction Spending Continues to Slide in August
Having reached its apparent peak in June, construction spending continued its backward slide in August, the Census Bureau reported.
Read More »Moody’s Predicts Bright Days Ahead for Homebuilders
Despite some heavy risks hanging over the industry, Moody's is projecting a positive future for the nation's homebuilders, the agency revealed.
Read More »Illinois Bank Falls, Marking Nation’s 43rd Failure in 2012
The fall of an Illinois bank brought the year's national bank failure tally to 43, FDIC announced Friday. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's Division of Banking closed First United Bank in Crete, Illinois, appointing FDIC as receiver. To protect depositors of the failed bank, FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Old Plank Trail Community Bank in New Lenox, Illinois.
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