Tag Archives: Lenders & Servicers

Nationwide, RE/MAX has ranked among the Franchise Times Top 200 annual survey. Coming in at number 15 on the elite list, RE/MAX received its third consecutive award within the franchise competition this year. Joining other top organizations including McDonalds, 7-Eleven, and Subway, RE/MAX ranked among survey honorees thanks in part to its worldwide sales volume.

Even as fewer banks fail nationally, the FDIC recently filed suit against former 11 directors and officers of the institution for which it now serves as receiver, with the goal to collect $23.92 million in damages from the defendants. Citing negligence and oversight failure, the federal agency filed suit against Alpha Bank & Trust, an Alpharetta, Georgia-based bank closed by state regulators in 2008. The FDIC claimed $214.5 million in approximate costs to the Deposit Insurance Fund.

A case over unearned mortgage fees reached the desk of the nation's highest judicial authority Tuesday, as the Supreme Court accepted to hear a suit over unearned fees that mortgage lenders allegedly charged their borrowers. The defendant: Detroit-based QuickenLoans, which an amicus curae brief, filed by borrowers in Louisiana, accuses the lender of failing to abide by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the 1974 law responsible for banning financial benefits for lenders and servicers involved in federal loans.

Stocks and shares for mortgage lenders and homebuilding companies got swept into a market updraft following news reports that major European economies had agreed to bail out their Mediterranean counterparts. Several weeks of speculation trail the news, with investors fleeing, then returning to shares and stocks on wobbly notions that Europe├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós two biggest economies, France and Germany, will pull debt-ridden laggards Greece, Italy, and potentially others away from a default scenario.

A recently leaked memo outlining the proposed Volcker rule sent market watchers and industry insiders into a tizzy, according to multiple news outlets. The tentative rule itself ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô required by the Dodd-Frank Act and named after former Fed chief Paul Volcker ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô remains in development at federal regulatory agencies like the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The proposed rule defines short- and long-term proprietary trading and rules out third-party brokers, agents, and custodians.

NewDay Financial has another reason to celebrate, announcing that the company's servicing portfolio has ballooned to more than $500 million in government loans. News of the entity's growth within its servicing sector directly follows NewDay's recent honor from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, which named NewDay as the recipient of its annual Corporate Partner award.

Risk management and loss mitigation company zIngenuity, Inc., has hired a new vice president of business development, with the recent addition of Bob Voll. Charged with handling all sales and marketing activities, Voll will also work with zIngenuity├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós leadership team as the company prepares new product initiatives.

Shareholders in Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC, can now take a look at all proxy paperwork in preparation for the company's annual meeting. Better known as MuniMae, the entity has filed its proxy materials with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission in advance of the 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which will take place on November 9. Listed among the OTC's collection of companies, better known as the riskier "Pink Sheets," MuniMae is part of the entity's OTCQB tier.

Making the mortgage fraud blotter Friday, a real estate agent received a 20-month sentence and $5.6 million in fines, while a former attorney convicted on charges related to adoption fraud now also has mortgage fraud to his name. Meanwhile, a convict allegedly tried to orchestrate a hit on a co-defendant from a mortgage fraud scheme that sent him to the slammer in the first place. As with other blotters, MReport culled stories from a number of local, regional, and national news outlets.

Homeownership rates remain at depths not seen since the Great Depression, according to new Census Bureau numbers. Market watchers chalk up the lows to tight lending conditions, concerns about the regulatory environment, and fears about a double-dip recession. Releasing Housing Characteristics: 2010 Thursday, the bureau found homeownership rates deflating by some 1.1 percent to 65.1 percent over the last decade ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô the biggest decline since between the years 1930 and 1940.