Category: Top National News

Everybody knows how important credit scores are to obtaining a home mortgage. But are lenders lately playing a numbers game with consumers – claiming they’re willing to accept lower scores while actually approving applicants with higher scores on average than they did last year or even earlier this year?

Nearly 20 trade groups representing lenders, banks, credit unions, title companies and others are urging federal regulators to provide guidance on how they plan to enforce a new mortgage disclosure regime that goes into effect Oct. 3.

Traditional bank mortgages are losing ground to nonbank lenders, especially in cities with a hot housing market.

According to a bulletin sent by Freddie Mac to its servicers on Wednesday, Freddie Mac is making several changes to its guidelines for standard and streamlined modifications.

Federal Reserve officials aren’t near an agreement to begin raising short-term interest rates heading into a crucial week of private discussions before their Sept. 16-17 policy meeting, according to their recent comments.

Primary new mortgage insurance slipped to $4 billion, according to MGIC Investment’s August operational summary of its insurance subsidiaries for its primary mortgage insurance slightly down from $4.5 billion in July and June.

After last week’s disappointing jobs report, there’s some good news on the employment front. Job openings hit a new record high of 5.75 million in July, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

Millennials aren’t only a rapidly-growing consumer base, they’re also the encroaching workforce. To recruit this group and sustain future growth, companies have to build a brand and culture that we want to join. Bill Cosgrove, Mortgage Bankers Association chairman and CEO of Union Home Mortgage, says it well: “A diverse workforce does not show up at your door. You must have the strategies to get it, and it needs to be a long-term strategy.”

The majority of Lenders One mortgage banker members (60%) expect 2016 will be a sellers’ market and the vast majority (89%) of members believe the market could weather a possible interest rate increase this fall.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Connecticut on Tuesday brought charges against three former traders at New York-based brokerage firm Nomura Securities International who allegedly lied about the prices of residential mortgage-backed securities to make money.