Servicing

The American Land Title Association (ALTA) has named RedVision as an Elite Provider for the company, according to a press release. The Elite Provider program is made up of service providers that offer comprehensive benefits to the title insurance and settlement services industry.

A federal judge has ruled that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., is liable for facing certain legal claims that FDIC-insured JPMorgan Chase inherited from its 2008 acquisition of Washington Mutual, according to media reports. JPMorgan acquired the failing Seattle-based bank for $1.88 billion in 2008 during the onset of the financial crisis, after the Office of Thrift Supervision seized Washington Mutual and appointed the FDIC as receiver.

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.

In the wake of the recent storm disaster that swept through Texas and Oklahoma in late May, Freddie Mac, one of the largest investors in residential mortgages, announced today in a press release that it will provide disaster relief polices for eligible residents. These policies are being offered to homeowners whose home were damaged or destroyed due to the incessant storms that affected these areas.

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.

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.

According to a recent press release, CoreLogic, Inc., a leading global property information, analytics, and data-enabled services provider, announced that its nationwide building permit database has reached over 28 million residential, commercial, and industrial building permits. It also now tracks more than 35 permit types, covering 65 percent of the U.S. residential and commercial market.

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.