National Mortgage News, Feb. 29, 2016–Passy, Jacob
Ocwen Financial Corp. and Walter Investment Management Corp. both recorded full-year losses in 2015, though that is where comparisons between the two companies cease.
Category: Top National News
Is ‘The Big Short’ an Accurate Description of the Financial Crisis?
HousingWire, Feb. 29, 2016–Swanson, Brena
The results for the 2016 Oscars are in, and The Big Short won Best Adapted Screenplay. But despite the new Hollywood proof that the film is impressive, it doesn’t mean that the movie is the most accurate source for how the financial crisis unfolded.
Lead Poisoning Crisis Sends Flint Real-Estate Market Tumbling
MarketWatch, Feb 17, 2016–Goldstein, Daniel
The Flint real-estate market had long been depressed after the loss of many jobs in the nearby auto industry. The water poisoning crisis at the end of December dropped selling prices to $30,700, according to Zillow.com. “The difficult issues raised in Flint go beyond just Fannie and Freddie, but essentially they revolve around the balance between protecting the health of borrowers without decimating home values in an area that is already facing serious struggles,” said David Stevens, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Fannie Mae Sees Unspectacular Economic Growth in 2016
Wall Street Journal, Feb. 17, 2016–Dulaney, Chelsea
Fannie Mae said economic growth could remain “unspectacular” this year despite a healthier labor market, according to a new report from the mortgage-finance company.
Wall Street Girds for Real Estate Debt It Must Invest In
Bloomberg, Feb. 17, 2016–Mulholland, Sarah
Wall Street firms are readying themselves for new rules aimed at requiring them to eat what they cook. A provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that takes effect in December forces banks to keep a stake in the commercial-property loans they package into securities and sell off to investors.
Mortgage Servicers Face Added Legal Risks with Autodial Calls
Scotsman Guide, Feb. 16, 2016–Whitman, Victor
Since this past summer, mortgage servicers have been at greater risk of getting slapped with a class-action lawsuit or stiff fines for making unwanted robo calls, legal analysts say. In February, the Mortgage Bankers Association wrote to several housing regulators, pointing out the conflicts created by federal policy on autodial calls.
Minneapolis Fed Chief: Break Up the Too Big to Fail Banks
National Mortgage Professional, Feb. 16, 2016–Hall, Phil
In his first speech as the new president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, Neel Kashkari took on a strikingly political edge by complaining about the limits in enforcing the Too Big to Fail aspect of a Dodd-Frank Act. Speaking at the Brookings Institution, Kashkari noted that his regional Fed bank was taking aim at the issue and then challenged Capitol Hill to do the same.
S&P: January Consumer Credit Default Rates Hold Steady
Standard & Poor’s, New York, said consumer credit default rates showed little change in January.
Despite Volatility, Freddie Mac’s 4Q Net Income Jumps to $2.2B
HousingWire, Feb. 18, 2016–Swanson, Brena
Freddie Mac recorded fourth quarter net income of $2.2 billion, a jump after net loss of $475 million for the third quarter of 2015, which marked the first loss in four years. The government-sponsored enterprise also posted a comprehensive income of $1.6 billion, up $2.1 billion from a comprehensive loss of $501 million for the third quarter of 2015.
Mortgage Servicers Feel Burden of Regulatory Pressure
Housing Wire, Feb. 18, 2016–Wheeler, Sarah
If there’s one unofficial yet overriding theme of this year’s National Mortgage Servicing Conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association, it has to be the pain of regulatory pressure on servicers.