The National Association of Mortgage Brokers has joined the coalition of professional entities petitioning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for greater clarification of the Qualified Mortgage rules within the Dodd-Frank Act. Comprised of various trade associations and housing interest groups with ties to the mortgage industry, the coalition recently submitted a letter to CFPB director Richard Cordray. As it stands now, QM legislation could be especially damaging to low- to moderate-income buyers.

The mortgage industry is gaining a new technology tool targeting streamlined loan processing for originators and lenders. Launching the Quantum Mortgage Operation System, Genpact Limited is now offering a platform for real estate and banking professionals. Genpact, a technology company specializing in business processing and management solutions, will provide automation for major elements of the mortgage origination cycle through Quantum. In an official statement, Genpact noted that the platform's use of data eliminates the silos between origination, closing and secondary marketing, enabling lenders to work on each loan file simultaneously.

In Florida, ISGN Corporation has announced the appointment of a new director of corporate technology strategy. ISGN, an end-to-end technology solutions and services provider for the mortgage industry, recently hired Tim Anderson to the leadership role.

In Rockland County, New York, Provident Bank is welcoming a new leader for its commercial banking team. The company, a subsidiary of Provident New York Bancorp, recently announced Marianne McGoldrick as the firm's senior managing director of commercial banking. In her new role for Provident Bank, McGoldrick will handle team leadership for building and cultivating commercial relationships. Prior to joining the company, McGoldrick served as the vice president and senior relationship manager for HSBC's middle market portfolio in the Hudson Valley region.

Rolling out a new online platform for real estate agents, Zillow, Inc., recently announced the launch of Agent Hub. Zillow's tool will give users a place to find and manage information from the website in one location. Additionally, the CRM platform automatically saves leads and connections accrued via Zillow, allowing agents to make individual notations and track high-priority contacts. Other benefits provided through Agent Hub include an analytics dashboard for monitoring listings and agent profiles and metrics.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland has released its spring Forefront report addressing the budget shortfalls throughout the U.S. Examining the risk that weakening public finances have on specific regions of the country, the Cleveland Fed is forecasting an uncertain future for the country's financial stability. The pension funds, which would deliver a shock to the broader financial system upon failure, appear more stable than previous reports have suggested. The bank evaluated bank capital requirements and tax system tradeoffs.

Touting its unique platform, Tradeweb Markets LLC has announced that the company recently reached a new benchmark, with more than $1 trillion in mortgage securities risk offset through the use of its trading technology. Tradeweb credits the company's new round-robin functionality of its programs for its success in the to-be announced-mortgage-backed securities (TBA-MBS) market.

Capitol Hill staffers are getting a chance to learn more about the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. The company recently announced that it will hold a free clinic for Congressional employees on Tuesday, April 17. The financial planning initiative from CFP is part of the 2012 Financial Literacy Day, which was organized by Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. Through the clinic, CFP will offer one-on-one personal finance consultation for participants. Attendees for the CFP event will gain advice on mortgages, debt management, and more.

HomeVestors is celebrating a strong end to the first-quarter of 2012, recently announcing that the company reached record numbers of new franchisees during the period. During the past three months, HomeVestors added 38 franchises to the company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós portfolio.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, also known as Farmer Mac, has added two new members to its board of directors. The organization recently announced that former Iowa Gov. Chester Culver and Bruce Sherrick have joined Farmer Mac├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós directorship. Both Culver and Sherrick were nominated to the prestigious position by President Obama. The two candidates were recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and both were officially sworn in the week of April 2. Culver held the governorship for Iowa from 2006 until 2010.