American Banker, Dec. 6, 2018–Kate Berry (subscription)The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Village Capital & Investment, a nonbank mortgage lender in Henderson, Nev., to issue refunds and pay a fine for allegedly misleading veterans about refinancing their mortgages.
Category: Top National News
Mortgage Rates Drop: How Soon Until the Next Recession
Daily Bulletin (Calif.), Dec. 6, 2018–Jeff LazersonEconomic slowdown storm clouds are here…Look no further than U.S. Treasury rates for more ominous recession signals.
Wells Fargo to Pay $17 Million to Illinois Pension Fund over Crisis-Era Mortgage Bonds
HousingWire, Dec. 6, 2018–Ben LaneWells Fargo will pay more than $17 million to a series of Illinois pension funds after settling with the state over the bank’s “misconduct in its marketing and sale of risky residential mortgage-backed securities leading up to the 2008 economic collapse,” Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced.
U.S. Household Net Worth Rose by $2.070 Trillion in 3rd Quarter
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 6, 2018–Harriet Torry (subscription)The total net worth of U.S. households rose to $109 trillion during the third quarter of 2018, as higher property and stock prices boosted the wealth of Americans.
Mortgage Applications Rise 2%, But Buyers Seem Unimpressed by Lower Rates
CNBC, Dec. 5, 2018–Diana OlickTotal mortgage application volume rose 2 percent last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Volume was nearly 19 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
OCC Seeks Public Comment on Raising Appraisal Exemption Threshold
HousingWire, Dec. 5, 2018–Kelsey RamirezThe Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recently released a proposal that would increase the appraisal requirement from $250,000 to $400,000, meaning that certain home sales of $400,000 and below would no longer require an appraisal. This would be the first increase to the threshold since 1994.
The Impact of Price Trends on Mortgage Defaults
DS News, Dec. 5, 2018–Radhika OjhaA number of factors drive default rates in mortgage, but a new study by Collateral Analytics has found that price uncertainty and actual and expected home equity are important drivers.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell Draws Congressional Support, Even as Trump Bashes Him
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 6, 2018–Nick Timiraos (subscription)President Trump’s attacks against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have failed so far to gain traction with an important constituency: Congress.
New Phishing Scam Targets Banks and Mortgage Lenders
National Mortgage Professional, Dec. 5, 2018–Phil HallA global network of digital miscreants has reportedly created a list of 50,000 executives at banks and mortgage companies to target for online scams.
Risk is Building in the Housing Market
National Mortgage News, Dec. 5, 2018–Lynn M. Fisher, Edward J. Pinto (subscription)American Enterprise Institute economists warn if the economy were to experience a downturn or worse in the next few years, home prices, which have boomed over the last six years, will surely realize a price correction and foreclosure rates could increase “dramatically.”