Government

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the appointment of Janell Byrd-Chichester as the organization's new chief of staff.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently sent a letter to the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) urging the agency to adopt a cautious approach as it puts greater scrutiny on brokers operating under the "mini-correspondent" lender model. The letter comes months after the bureau signaled it will be watching out for brokers trying to skirt its compensation rules by operating the same way under a different label.

President Barack Obama met with financial regulators this week to commend them for progress made since the Dodd-Frank Act became law in 2010, the White House announced. The president also exhorted the regulators and participants in the meeting to "consider additional ways to prevent excessive risk-taking across the financial system."

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced the appointment of Kathy Murphy as the agency's senior deputy comptroller for management and CFO.

Many mortgage professionals believe the outlook for their business in the next six months is "grim," according to a report from the Collingwood Group. Only 30 percent of mortgage industry professionals surveyed for the report believe that business conditions will be better in the next six months, while 41 percent said conditions will stay the same and 29 percent said they believe conditions will be worse.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on Monday a 60-day extension for the comment period for proposed rule to revise membership requirements for Federal Home Loan Banks. FHFA gave as its reasons for extending the comment period the importance of the issues being addressed, the high interest level in the proposal, and requests from stakeholders for more time to evaluate the proposal.

After slowing for the fourth straight month in August, the Federal Reserve's gauge of conditions in the labor market made a slight recovery in September. The Fed's labor market conditions index, which the central bank said it will now release on a monthly basis, added 2.5 points in September after increasing only 2 points in August—its lowest pace of growth in 13 months.

Midland States Bancorp, headquartered in Effingham, Illinois, will originate $8 million in mortgage loans in minority neighborhoods over the next three years to resolve charges that it previously avoided doing business or establishing branches in predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods in St. Louis and northern Illinois, according to an announcement from HUD.

According to an announcement from the bureau, Lighthouse Title, which operates in branches throughout the state, entered into marketing services agreements (MSAs) with various companies "with the understanding that the companies would refer mortgage closings and title insurance business to Lighthouse."

After giving a soft performance in August, the labor market came back strong last month, knocking the national unemployment rate down below the 6.0 percent mark for the first time in more than six years.