News

In a prepared statement that it submitted to the Senate Financial Institutions Subcommittee, the American Bankers Association aired concerns about a dry-up in risk in the financial markets, an increasingly serious dilemma that it blamed on Congress for trying to prevent past mistakes from occurring again. The ABA delivered the statement in response to a new loan officer compensation law, a voluminous text with multiple rules and regulations that drove up costs and lost hours for brokers.

As it gears up for a formal operations launch in July, the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to accept comments from the public on the Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure program, which it opened to commentary in May. But there is something else unusual about the commentary period. The CFPB wants the public to participate in the finalizations for Know Before You Owe by logging into their social media accounts and literally comment about the rule online. This is in addition to other commentary.

In a statement released Friday, Floridian Community Bank announced that it hired four new mortgage professionals to its residential mortgage team.

According to a study from the University of Virginia, property values could rise if banks provided lending services to the under-served, particularly minorities. The survey focused for the most part on Latino households in Virginia and North Carolina, documenting an array of variables affected by the presence of the Latino Community Credit Union. The study shows Latinos contributed $9.8 billion in property appreciation, representing nearly a 3.8 percent increase in property value for the counties in which the branches were located.

Wary of an uncertain economic climate, new regulatory legislation, and the potential for burdensome capital restrictions, the nation's top lenders financed fewer mortgage loans in 2010 than in 2009 to keep their ledgers in the black a cumulative pattern that analysts and news reports say hampers housing and, potentially, recovery in the broader economy. According to analysis conducted by The Wall Street Journal, the 10 largest mortgage lenders in the country denied 26.8 percent of loan applications last year, up from 23.5 percent in 2009.

Kinecta Federal Credit Union released a statement Tuesday announcing that it will repackage HomePath mortgages from Fannie Mae with new incentives and financing terms, with additional incentives offered by the GSE that include revised closing costs and a selling bonus for agents.

Mortgage banker group Lenders One Mortgage Cooperative announced Tuesday that Susan Malpocker will helm national correspondent lending and mortgage product services as national sales director, with the hiring of Diane Dunger as regional manager of the Western region. According to the statement, Malpocker rose to her new position by previously serving as regional manager of Lenders One's western region. Prior to her new job, she oversaw services as national client manager, business development specialist and sales manager over the past 20 years with companies like Nexstar Financial Corp. and CitiMortgage. Her new position has the industry veteran heading up member recruitment and the coordination of overall membership services.

The National Association of Realtors released statistics showing a northerly thrust for commercial markets, as job growth and brightening spots in the U.S. economy contributed to a growing level of confidence.

Last week Churchill Mortgage released a statement announcing its expansion into the Houston market, marking a grab for the mortgage company with branches and services in 25 states.

Angling to get ahead of new fears that the U.S. market may veer off-track with European financial markets in a sovereign default scenario, several members of Congress released a statement Thursday that called for the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, citing the vulnerability of growth to changes in international derivatives markets. Recent news reports suggest added risk in the European financial and derivatives markets, which possible sovereign defaults may impact.