Category: Top National News

National Mortgage News, May 4, 2018–Brad Finkelstein (subscription)An increase in title orders opened helped Fidelity National Financial improve its first-quarter net income by 59% over the same period last year.

HousingWire, May 4, 2018–Ben LaneThe bank announced Friday afternoon that it reached a new settlement over its sales practices and will pay $480 million to a group of shareholders who accused the bank of making “certain misstatements and omissions” in the company’s disclosures about its sales practices.

Mortgage Daily, May 4, 2018A barometer of prospective mortgage production, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortgage Daily, climbed more than a 10th during the seven-day period that finished on May 4 from one week earlier.

UExpress, May 4, 2018–Lew SichelmanIt’s a good bet that your next home will have at least two bathrooms, and perhaps more. Of all the new houses built in 2016, only a scant 3 percent had 1-1/2 baths or fewer, according to the latest figures from the Census Bureau. Even the number of new places with 2-1/2 baths or fewer fell in 2016.

National Mortgage Professional, May 3, 2018–Phil HallThe past several weeks has been a busy period of the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America, a trade group dedicated to the inclusion of minorities and women in the mortgage industry. NAMMBA and the Mortgage Bankers Association announced they were pursuing a strategic partnership to advance their shared goals.

Washington Post, May 3, 2018–Dion HayesAccording to the Freddie Mac report, mortgage rates were mixed: The 30-year fixed-rate average dropped to 4.55 percent with an average 0.5 point. It was 4.58 percent a week ago and 4.02 percent a year ago. The 30-year fixed rate of 4.58 percent reported last week hadn’t been that high since August 2013. (MBA mention)

CNN Money, May 3, 2018–Tami LubyJoshua Hager always knew he’d return to the mortgage industry. One of the many casualties of the housing crisis, he had been forced out a decade ago. Then 29 and living in New Jersey, he was laid off from his job as a mortgage underwriter at Aurora Loan Services, a subsidiary of the now-shuttered Lehman Brothers that provided loans requiring little or no documentation.

Reuters, May 3, 2018–Brendan Pierson, Nate RaymondU.S. prosecutors on Thursday suffered dual setbacks in a crackdown targeting deceptive mortgage bond trading practices as a federal appeals court overturned an ex-Jefferies Group trader’s conviction and a jury acquitted a former Cantor Fitzgerald employee.

HousingWire, May 3, 2018–Kelsey RamirezFannie Mae reported an increase in its net income in the first quarter of 2018, rising from the loss last quarter that was driven by a remeasurement in the company’s deferred tax assets, according to the company’s earnings release.

Urban Institute, May 3, 2018–Karan Kaul, Edward GoldingIn 2016, the Federal Housing Administration insured 9,507 mortgages it should not have insured. The Urban Institute analysis shows this could cost the FHA $41 million in losses.