Tag Archives: Lenders & Servicers

In Texas, Pacific Union Financial, LLC announced the hiring of Ron Fountain as EVP and chief legal officer. Fountain joins the company from JPMorgan Chase, where he was SVP and managing director. During his time there, he directed all aspects of compliance relating to Chase Bank mortgage servicing operations, including regulatory and investor reviews and audits and the acquisition and disposition of mortgage assets.

According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.51 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending May 16, a significant climb from last week.

In sharp contrast to reports of improving builder confidence, housing starts plunged at the steepest rate in more than two years in April.

Lender Processing Services, Inc. introduced the web-based Workout Interaction Tool (WIT), which provides data from its MSP servicing system to and from Fannie Mae's Servicing Management Default Underwriter (SMDU) platform.

The latest Residential Price Index (RPI) from FNC, Inc., shows home price gains continuing in March for the 13th straight month. The index, which is based on recorded sales of non-distressed properties in the nation's 100 largest metros, rose 0.4 percent month-over-month in March and 5.5 percent year-over-year. On a quarterly basis, prices were up 0.7 percent from Q4 2012 and 5.7 percent from Q1 2012 as of the end of March, FNC reported. As usual, growth was more accelerated in the smaller 30- and 10-metro indexes.

FDIC announced Tuesday the closure of Central Arizona Bank (Scottsdale) by the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions. To protect depositors of the failed bank, FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Western State Bank (Devils Lake, North Dakota).

In Connecticut, Total Mortgage Services, LLC announced the launch of its new and improved website offering users with a dynamic browsing experience across all devices.

According to Ellie Mae's findings, purchase loans made up 42 percent of loans closed in April, up from 38 percent in March, while refinances represented 58 percent. According to Ellie Mae president and COO Jonathan Corr, the last time purchase loans broke the 40 percent mark was July 2012. Among purchase loans, the closing rate was about 58.2 percent, while the rate for refinances was 50.5 percent. The overall closing rate for loans analyzed in the sample was 53.2 percent, a pull back from March.

Nationwide Title Clearing, Inc., a Florida-based post-closing services provider for the residential mortgage industry, released a new white paper outlining the ten hottest issues servicers must consider when undertaking the lien release.

According to MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, applications dropped 7.3 percent for the week ending May 10.