News

A recent survey of mortgage professionals shows that a majority are ready for regulation changes to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. Most of those polled believe requirements for collecting, analyzing and reporting data, coupled with a lack of resources to manage the mortgage data, contributes to the rising cost of loans. Nearly a quarter share President Trump’s sentiment that policy changes to the mortgage industry would be beneficial to the lending market.

The mortgage industry has taken a big step toward diversification thanks to one its largest professional groups. On Wednesday, the Federation of REO Certified Experts—or FORCE, for short—announced the launch of its Diversity Council, a team dedicated to embracing and encouraging diversity in the REO, default servicing, and mortgage industries at large. The council will consist of six unique committees: Latino Professionals in FORCE, Asian Professionals in FORCE, Black Professionals in FORCE, Women Professionals in FORCE, LGBT Professionals in FORCE, and Veteran Professionals in FORCE.

Perfect Practice, an Orlando, Florida-based provider of legal management services technology, announced this week a partnership with Affinity Consulting Group, which offers technology and management solutions for law firms and legal departments. “The partnership will create a streamlined array of services,” according to Perfect Practice.

Year-over-year pending home sales indexes are down across the country in April for a second straight month due to a lack of inventory and an increase in prices. However, home sales activity still remains historically high, even during the downturn. Experts believe the market is still on track to post end-of-the-year increases, especially once real-estate investors decide to unload their rental properties.

Elm Street Technology (EST), who offers a portfolio of real estate technology and marketing services companies for agents, teams, and brokerages, recently announced the acquisition of Consolidated Knowledge, a technology platform provider to the residential real estate and multi-family industries. EST aims to offer a single technology solution for lead generation. The acquisition is the next step in EST’s ongoing efforts to consolidate the real estate industry’s leading technology and marketing service providers.

Reverse mortgages are one of the most-complained about financial products for older Americans, with a new CFPB report showing servicing issues, communication problems, and difficulty changing loan terms as a common concern for consumers 62 and older. This group also reports issues with financial scams, confusion around deferred-interest credit cards, and being charged for unauthorized add-on products and services. Aging Americans are at a higher risk for financial exploitation, according to CFPB Director Richard Cordray.

New data shows defects on loan applications are up across the country—both for the month and over the year. The culprit? Riskier lending practices on both purchase loans and refinances. North Dakota, Montana, and Vermont had the highest defect frequency at the state level, while McAllen, Texas, and Knoxville, Tennessee, took the cake in terms of metro markets.

In a recent radio interview, HUD Secretary Ben Carson said that with “the right mindset,” many Americans using HUD’s low-income housing subsidies could overcome their struggles. Carson discussed topics of poverty, housing, and the government’s role in both, just days after President Trump’s 2018 budget blueprint was released. The plan cuts $6.2 billion from the HUD budget, ends the Community Development Block Grant program, and slashes funding for the department’s rental assistance program.

On Tuesday, the S&P Dow Jones published its data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, a trio of indexes that measure change in the prices of residential homes on a national composite average, a 10-city composite average, and a 20-city composite average. March’s data shows a slow but steady rise in the price of homes on all three of the indexes measured, a trend which David Blitzer, the Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones, thinks will continue in the months ahead.

New data shows that Baby Boomers may be just as saddled with student loan debt as millennials—maybe even more. Between 2005 and 2015, people aged 60 or older saw their student debt increase eight times, while debt for those under 30 increased just twice. Many Boomers are taking out loans and refinancing their homes to either return to school or help their children and grandchildren with college tuition.