Over the past 10 years, Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuits have almost quadrupled from some 1,350 cases in 2010 to 5,000 in 2019. FCRA allows plaintiffs to recover attorney fees, which may explain the increase.
Category: News and Trends
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“More than half a century after it was abolished, redlining continues to dictate the racial makeup of neighborhoods, and black families still feel the socioeconomic effects of such a discriminatory housing policy. Black families who were unable to secure housing loans in the neighborhoods where they lived have missed out on one of the major ways to build wealth in this country.”
–Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.
MBA, Trade Groups Urge HUD to Modify FHA Forbearance Indemnification Policy
Sixteen industry trade organizations joined the Mortgage Bankers Association in a letter this week to HUD, expressing concerns with a recently announced FHA policy requiring lenders to provide 20 percent indemnification of the original loan amount for up to two years in relation to borrowers who enter into forbearance due to COVID19-related hardship after closing and prior to FHA insuring their loan.
Clint Salisbury: For eClosing Success, Fine Tune Implementation
Our industry’s reliance on technology is deepening every day as never-before-experienced demands emerge. For example, in a world that demands distance, the ability to perform an eClosing has evolved from nice-to-have to “essential worker” status. Lenders entering this uncharted territory may find setting internal and external eClosing protocols daunting. Whether you adopt a hybrid process or go fully digital, there are best practices consistent for each option that can ensure your successful eClosing implementation.
Industry Briefs (June 11, 2020)
HUD issued a news release this month marking National Homeownership Month, recognizing the importance of homeownership and its impact upon the lives of American families, local neighborhoods and the national economy.
Mark P. Dangelo: The Demise of the Contact Banker
Banking was a “contact” industry—prior to the Great Recession. With the loss of 12,000 branches in the past decade and consumers now doing over 90% of their transactions digitally, public health implications and social unrest, if sustained, may be the catalysts for closing many more branches by 2022.
ATTOM: Home-Flipping Reaches 14-Year High in 1Q; Returns Fall to 9-Year Low
ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., said its first-quarter U.S. Home Flipping Report showed 53,705 single-family homes and condominiums in the United States flipped in the first quarter, the highest number since 2006.
Institutional Investors Lower Their Return Expectations
Institutional investors dramatically decreased their expectations for 2020 commercial real estate returns, the Pension Real Estate Association’s Consensus Forecast Survey reported.
Fed: No Rate Hike Until ‘at Least 2022’
The Federal Open Market Committee yesterday offered cautious hope for an economic turnaround following the body-slam brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. But it soberly noted the economic recovery could take some time.
Zillow: Newly Unemployed Service Workers Owe $1.7 Billion/Month in Housing Payments
Zillow, Seattle, said its analysis found more than $1.7 billion in rent and mortgage payments is owed each month by U.S. service-sector workers currently receiving unemployment benefits as a result of the coronavirus pandemic — payments that could be in jeopardy if expanded local and federal unemployment assistance fades or workers remain without incomes longer than expected.