Servicing

Bank brand values across the globe are on the rise, charting their highest values ever and double their values in 2009, during the financial crisis, according to the results of an annual study by Brand Finance. The most valuable bank brand worldwide is Wells Fargo, with a $26 billion brand, according to the study.

Global DMS, a Lansdale, Pennsylvania-based technology provider for the real estate industry, announced this week the addition of a new role and a seasoned professional to fill that role. Jody Collup joined Global DMS as VP of marketing.

If businesses had any reluctance to hire in December because of fiscal cliff concerns, they didn't make up for it in January: Payrolls expanded by 157,000, down from December, but the unemployment rate moved to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent a month earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday.

A taxpayer watchdog agency accused Treasury of lacking a concrete plan to help Ally pay back taxpayers and move toward financial stability. Although Treasury made three investments into Ally, totaling $17.2 billion, the report says Treasury never required the company to "spell out a plan" to address issues surrounding Residential Capital, Ally's mortgage arm that caused most of the company's losses.

While home prices are expected to increase by 5 percent on the national level, analysts at Capital Economics say some regions are more likely to see little to no growth at all.

Churchill Mortgage, a provider of conventional and government-insured mortgages, announced the opening of a new branch in Atlanta, Georgia. For the new opening, Churchill recruited Johnny Meany and David Carr, who together have more than 26 years of industry experience.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Steve Antonakes will serve as acting deputy director while the agency continues searching for a replacement for departing deputy director Raj Date. CFPB announced in November that Date would depart at the end of January 2013.

Fixed mortgage rates took a major leap up last week amid news of a growing economy led in part by the recovering housing market.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance jumped 38,000 to 368,000 for the week ending January 26, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected a smaller increase to 350,000 from the prior week's 330,000 initial claims. The weekly jump in initial claims was the first in three weeks. It reflected, in part, a drop in the seasonal adjustment factor the Labor Department applies to the raw data, which includes holiday workers whose jobs were eliminated.

McLean Mortgage Corporation, a privately held full-service mortgage lender based in Fairfax, Virginia, announced that the company closed more than $1.5 billion in mortgage volume in 2012, a 140 percent increase in production levels over 2011.