Category: Top National News

National Mortgage News, Mar. 13, 2017–Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Lenders have long held out hope that investments in technology will create efficiencies that will allow them to reduce sales staff expenses. While some are certainly experimenting with self-service technologies, it’s particularly tough in a purchase-driven market, where sales have historically been more often conducted face-to-face.

HousingWire, Mar. 14, 2017–Brena SwansonHSBC is officially finished with its consumer relief requirement under the National Mortgage Settlement, providing more than $371 million in consumer relief, according to the latest update on the company from Joseph Smith, monitor of the NMS.

National Mortgage Professional, Mar. 10, 2017–Phil HallIn a letter to leaders of the Senate and House, the Mortgage Bankers Association announced its backing of S. 563 and H.R. 1422, both named the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act.

HousingWire, Mar. 10, 2017–Ben LaneA consortium of the housing industry’s top trade organizations [including the Mortgage Bankers Association] declared their collective support for an ongoing effort in Congress to permanently bar the use of funds raised from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s guarantee fees to cover federal spending in areas not related to mortgages.

MarketWatch, Mar. 10, 2017–Andrea Riquier Adjustable-rate mortgages are more popular now than at any time in more than two years as interest rates start climbing, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 10, 2017–Jacob Passy (subscription)Sixty percent of executives said that millennial talent acquisition was among their top priorities, representing the most common trend found in a survey mortgage industry leadership conducted by mortgage hiring firm Rick Glass Executive Search. But hiring within this demographic can pose some challenges.

HousingWire, Mar. 10, 2017–Sarah WheelerThe last formal session of the Ellie Mae Experience conference was also its liveliest. The compliance experts on the official panel on the podium were joined by an unofficial group of GSE leaders on the front row, who gamely jumped in when called upon.

American Banker, Mar. 10, 2017–Kate Berry (subscription)In their drive to revamp the Dodd-Frank Act, Republicans have repeatedly asserted that the 2010 financial reform law has increased the cost of consumer lending and cut off access to credit. Yet the available data indicates otherwise.

Washington Post, Mar. 10, 2017–Thomas HeathFor decades, department stores such as Macy’s and Sears have anchored sprawling suburban malls. Now as their business has languished and they board up shop, another sort of tenant is trying its luck in their place: grocers.

HousingWire, Mar. 10, 2017–Brena SwansonEarlier this month, the House passed (241 to 104) the “OIRA Insight, Reform, and Accountability Act,” H.R. 1009, which would subject independent regulatory agencies to the regulatory review process of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget.