The heavy surge of mortgage refinance activity that pushed lender profits to record levels in the first quarter of 2009 may rapidly run out of gas as a result of rising interest rates and market skittishness about chasing volume through relaxed lending standards. Refinance...[Includes one chart]
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Freddie Mac widened the scope of its Relief Refinance program for existing borrowers, but the government-sponsored enterprise also raised its risk-premium structure to roughly match the revised loan-level pricing recently announced by Fannie Mae. The GSE streamlined refi...
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Despite the vigilance and best preventive efforts of industry, law enforcement and regulatory agencies, mortgage fraud continues to evolve and grow as a profitable business for perpetrators even in these tough financial times, according to mortgage fraud experts. Panelists on an...
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The use of Federal Home Loan Bank advances continued to drop in the first quarter of 2009, but it’s not just because mortgage lenders can find liquidity elsewhere. In some cases the value of the collateral they pledge to back their advance use is under siege, cutting into the...
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Judicial patience has finally run out in one New York City borough against sloppy lenders that come to court with a defaulted mortgage seeking an automatic order of foreclosure. Ruling on Argent Mortgage v. Mentesana, a Brooklyn judge held that foreclosure is...
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A new nonprofit, the Fair Mortgage Collaborative, was officially launched this week with the goal of promoting safe and fair lending from a network of certified lenders, all in an effort to restore the public’s confidence in the marketplace, group officials said. The effort...
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Distressed mortgage borrowers who take advantage of financial counseling are more likely to avoid foreclosure, according to a new report released by NeighborWorks America. The National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program was authorized by Congress in 2008 to address the subprime...
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