Tag Archives: Lenders & Servicers

President Barack Obama stopped by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau earlier Friday to welcome the staff and new director Richard Cordray. The chief executive sent shockwaves around the mortgage servicing and lending industries Wednesday by making the controversial decision to recess appoint Cordray as CFPB director. The move bypassed lawmakers in the Senate, namely 44 Republicans that vowed earlier this year to block any nominee for the bureau, no matter the party affiliation.

The U.S. economy soldiered ahead by adding 200,000 jobs over December, lowering the unemployment rate to 8.5 percent as more employers picked up seasonal staff members for the holidays. The Labor Department reported Friday that total private-sector employment reached 212,000 last month, alongside fewer jobs for local and state governments, marginal declines in real estate services, and a notable pickup in residential construction around the country. Real estate, rental and leasing services lost jobs by 1.3 percent on average in December.

More Americans still feel uneasy about their household finances, leaving only 5 percent interested in refinancing their mortgage, according to a recent Harris Poll. Polling 2,237 adults across the country in mid-December, the research firm found respondents overwhelmingly despondent about the fiscal state of the nation. When it came to housing issues, the poll found Americans about as interested in home improvements and equity lines of credit as they were in refinancing their mortgages.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made clear Thursday that it will exercise its full authority to supervise a host of nonbank financial entities, with mortgage originators, brokers, servicers, and others in plain view. The bureau, newly empowered by Richard Cordray├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós recess appointment Wednesday, offered up a video in which the new director addressed a virtual audience Thursday. The bureau released an 800-plus-page manual for nonbank examiners detailing their examination procedures, which focus on an entity├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós volume of business, services, and products.

John Burns Real Estate Consulting is adding a new member to its management personnel. The company recently announced that Carl Reichardt, Jr., would join the John Burns Real Estate family as its managing director of research.

Uncertainty in the markets helped ring in the New Year with record lows for mortgage rates, as concerns over debt crises and job growth lingered for wary investors. Finance Web site Bankrate.com and mortgage company Freddie Mac released their findings for mortgage rates Thursday in two separate weekly surveys. Bankrate.com reported interest rates for the 30-year loan hitting a record 4.18 percent this week, down from 4.21 percent last week. Freddie likewise found rates for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sliding from 3.95 percent last week to 3.91 percent this week.

Ushering in the new year with a name change, NewDay Financial has announced that it will now officially be known as NewDay USA LLC. The updated moniker was added in order to better identify with the company's client base, according to a statement from NewDay USA.

Juries around the country resolved to start the New Year with an effort to clean up allegations of mortgage fraud, with several business owners, Realtors, attorneys, and others accused of complicity and direct involvement in millions of dollars of fraud. A few news outlets delivered stories for the latest in MReport's mortgage fraud blotter, with 18 indictments against a business owner in Colorado and numerous other charges against a group of brokers, Realtors, and others in Florida.

An executive shake-up is underway at PHH Corp. The company's president and CEO, Jerome Selitto, recently announced his resignation, and simultaneously, PHH moved to appoint Glen Messina to the position. Messina, who has acted as PHH├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós chief operating officer since July 20ll, has previously been the chief financial officer and CEO for the mortgage division of General Electric Co. The personnel swap follows negative ratings and estimates for PHH; the company's stock has dropped by 25 percent during the past month and is down 45 percent from numbers seen six months ago.

One Army veteran is enjoying a happy start to 2012, thanks to an important gift bestowed by GMAC Mortgage, LLC.The company recently donated a newly renovated home to a First Sergeant who was wounded overseas while serving the country in 2005. GMAC confirmed that the recipient of the property is 1st Sgt.