Servicing

McLean Mortgage Corporation, a full-service mortgage lender headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, announced the release of a new program designed to help prospective homebuyers and Realtors in a market characterized by low inventory and increased competition from cash bidders.

Walter Investment Management Corp. announced Tuesday that its wholly owned subsidiary, Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. (RMS), has acquired a reverse mortgage servicing portfolio containing more than 76,000 loans from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. The portfolio has an unpaid principal balance of about $12.2 billion and is expected to transfer to RMS during the third quarter of 2013, Walter Investment said in a release. The transaction will double the size of Walter Investment's serviced book, according to CEO and chairman Mark J. O'Brien.

Even as prices continued to rise in last year's fourth quarter, American homeowners found themselves paying less in monthly mortgage payments compared to pre-bubble norms.

Prudential Real Estate released Tuesday the results of its first-quarter Consumer Outlook Survey, revealing Americans' sentiment toward real estate is growing more and more favorable.

Chicago-based Guaranteed Rate announced the hiring of seasoned mortgage industry vet Tom Gamache as national director of retail production. Gamache brings more than two and a half decades of industry experience to Guaranteed Rate, recently serving in executive sales positions at MetLife Home Loans and Bank of America, where he led his sales team to exceed quarterly and annual production goals.

Fiserv, Inc., announced that its Common Origination Platform and LoanServ solutions have been integrated to provide real-time, full-circle loan boarding processes for all mortgage loans.

Class Appraisal, Inc. appointed a former mortgage banking executive to manage sales in the middle market. Tim Perkins was selected to lead the company as a consultant and business developer. Over the years, Perkins has held key positions with large mortgage banking companies such as Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase.

In Oklahoma, AmeriBid LLC announced the promotion of chief marketing officer John Pellow to VP. Pellow joined the company in 2009, serving before then as director of marketing for a real estate auction and brokerage services firm, where he was responsible for the marketing and sales support of several divisions.

Arizona's Gold Canyon Bank became the fifth FDIC-insured bank to fail in 2013, the agency announced. The Arizona Department of Financial Institutions closed the bank Friday, appointing FDIC as receiver. To protect depositors, Gold Canyon Bank's estimated $44.2 million in deposits has been assumed by First Scottsdale Bank, National Association, which has also agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's $45.2 million in total assets.

GMH Mortgage Services LLC, based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, continues to expand its reach with the addition of Ed Moloney as a new loan officer in its Boston, Massachusetts, branch.