Tag Archives: Service Providers

Weeks after HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan defended her performance in front of a Senate banking committee, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Acting Commissioner Carol Galante may have earned a new ally on Capitol Hill. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) announced he "feels comfortable supporting [Galante's] bid to become FHA commissioner after receiving a letter detailing her commitment to reforming FHA's underwriting requirements and restoring its Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund to health.

Purchase originations gained a bit more ground on refinances in November, according to Ellie Mae's latest Origination Insight Report. According to the findings, refinance originations pulled back slightly to represent 68 percent of loans closed, down from 69 percent in the October report. Meanwhile, the share of purchase loans increased to 32 percent from 31 percent previously. Though refinances are slowly losing ground, refinance share remains well above its May level, when refinance and purchase shares were fairly equal.

RES.NET is expanding beyond the world of defaults and into the realm of traditional real estate, the company announced. Originally introduced in 2004 as a technology solution for the default space, the California-based firm has evolved its platform to enhance retail (or traditional) real estate transactions.

A sharp decline in refinance applications brought overall mortgage application activity down for the week ending December 14, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

In the Sunshine State, economists have revealed projections for 2013, and their outlook presents a positive, if somewhat sluggish, forecast for the region's housing market. According to experts from Florida Realtors and Fannie Mae, upward trends are set to continue in Florida, while the state's pace of recovery is expected to fall behind the national average.

After rising economic growth in the third quarter, overall economic growth is expected to decline this quarter and in early 2013, according to Fannie Mae. However, the GSE anticipates further strengthening in the housing market. Economists anticipate economic growth of less than 2 percent for the first half of 2013 followed by more accelerated growth for the remainder of the year. However, while the overall economy remains dismal, Fannie's economists finds a bright spot in the housing market.

Carrington Holding Company, LLC, based in Santa Ana, California, announced the hiring of well-known banking industry veteran Christopher Whalen to head the company's investment banking operations. Whalen's title will be EVP and managing director for Carrington Investment Services.

loanDepot.com LLC, one of the country's largest independent mortgage lenders, announced it is holding a job fair and open house at its corporate headquarters in Foothill Ranch, California. The fair, scheduled for Wednesday, December 19 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., is open to all mortgage and other professionals wanting to learn about career opportunities at loanDepot.

Prudential Mortgage Capital Company announced David Durning will replace the outgoing David Twardock as company president in 2013. Durning is currently senior managing director and head of originations for the firm. He joined Prudential in 1988 as an investment analyst and has stayed with the company ever since.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) announced Monday it has filed suit against JPMorgan Securities and Bear Stearns over allegations of falsely representing the quality of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) sold to corporate credit unions. NCUA's complaint alleges that although Bear Stearns' offering documents described the firm's adherence to underwriting guidelines, the originators had in fact "systematically abandoned the stated underwriting guidelines in the Offering Documents."