Origination

Churchill Mortgage recently announced the new hiring of 15 industry professionals across its California, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia branches. The company’s latest additions are an effort to be prepared for National Homeownership Month in June and to support continued growth through the summer months.

Mid America Mortgage, Inc. (Mid America) owner and CEO Jeff Bode announced in a recent press release that the lender has hired David Tracy, former Fannie Mae underwriting consultant as its national underwriting manager. Tracy has over 20 years of residential and commercial mortgage experience and will be responsible for revitalizing Mid America’s underwriting operations nationwide.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a warning to consumers today about the misleading effects of reverse mortgage advertisements. The Bureau released results of a focus group study on reverse mortgage advertisements and found that many participants were left confused about the product. The study found that after viewing the ads, consumers did not understand that reverse mortgages were actual loans. Instead, they were left under the false impression that reverse mortgages are government-issued program that would help consumers stay in their home for the rest of their lives.

Real estate and mortgage industry services provider Clayton Holdings has announced the hiring of Suzanne Singer as senior managing director of business development. Singer, who has a B.A. in Economics from The College of William and Mary, brings more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry to Clayton Holdings. Prior to coming to Clayton, she was the EVP of sales and marketing for Litigation Guard, a provider of mortgage-risk lending risk management tools and technology services.

Democratic Members on the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees announced in a press release that new legislation will provide targeted relief to small financial institutions and protection for consumers. This legislation was introduced in both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate and has the unanimous support of Democratic Members of the respective committees.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on Wednesday morning that a grace period will be in effect for those servicers attempting to comply in good faith with the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) requirements that are scheduled to go into effect August 1. While the CFPB did not push back the August 1 implementation date of the rule, it attempted to ease some of those concerns on Wednesday by saying it would take into account a company's good faith effort to comply with the rule after it goes into effect.

TransUnion recently released their National Consumer Survey revealing that as Americans enter into the peak time of the year to buy a home, three out of four of people are aware that their credit score is important, yet they are not sure about how it will affect them when purchasing a home. The survey found that the majority of those who intend to or are considering buying a home in the next 12 to 18 months are not aware of actions that could enhance their credit and are unsure of how their credit directly affects the home financing process.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported today in its quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report that independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a net gain of $1,447 on each loan they originated in Q1 2015, a sizable increase from a reported gain of $744 per loan in the Q4 2014.

Housing affordability is up nationwide due to low interest rates and home prices as National Homeownership Month begins in June, according to a recent release from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index released in mid-May reports that about two-thirds of new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2015 were affordable to families that earned $65,800, which is the U.S. median yearly income.

Fitch Ratings has released a sector-specific report for rating state housing finance agency (SHFA) bonds secured, on a pass-through basis, primarily by mortgage-backed securities (MBS) called "State Housing Finance Agencies: MBS Pass-Through Bond Rating Criteria." This report will replace the September 2014 state housing finance agency Fitch rating report.