Monday 14 December 2015

November retail sales show holiday season gains

Commerce reported that November retail sales at $448.1 billion were up 0.2 percent compared to November-for its best showing since July-and up 1.4 percent annually, on the heels of 1.7 percent, 0.1 percent, and 0.2 percent, in October, September, and August, respectively.

Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: Will Fed raise interest rates in December?

It’s finally here. It’s the week of the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The question up for debate: Will the Federal Reserve interest rates? According to most sources, the answer is yes. Also, ever tried to explain what you do for a living to your friends? Make them what this Hollywood motion picture.

Friday 11 December 2015

House follows Senate’s lead, passes STB Reauthorization Act

Railroad service issues and rates remain front and center, as has been the case in previous incarnations of this legislation. The bill is focused on addressing inefficiencies within the STB, which serves as the federal regulatory body responsible for economic oversight of the U.S. rail system, with regulatory jurisdiction over railroad rate reasonableness, mergers, line acquisitions, new rail-line construction, line abandonment, and other issues.

Ally Financial getting back into mortgage business

Two years after being completely driven from the mortgage business due to the losses suffered by its former subsidiaries, GMAC Mortgage and Residential Capital, also known as ResCap, Ally Financial is getting back into mortgages. Click the headline to read more.

Wednesday 9 December 2015

Here's the current status of the top three housing markets

Although the buyer traffic index did improve, it is still below agent expectations as persistent issues with short supplies of quality inventory and buyer resistance to higher prices remain significant concerns. This is the latest update on the top markets in the nation based on single-family building permits.

ISM semiannual report’s ‘special questions’ focus on falling oil prices and strength of U.S. dollar

The December 2015 Semiannual Economic Forecast issued yesterday by the Institute for Supply Management took on two items that have been prevalent in addressing current trends in the form of: sharply lower oil prices the strength of the U.S. dollar. Each question was presented to the ISM’s manufacturing and non-manufacturing member respondents.

Tuesday 8 December 2015

Retailer-Supplier Collaboration: Identifying and Eliminating Barriers to Improve Supply Chain Perfor

Everyone seems to agree that collaboration between retailers and suppliers promotes a leaner, more profitable supply chain for all. But the pace of collaborative initiatives has been slow.

$6 billion Fannie, Freddie bulk servicing portfolio available for sale

Buyers looking to get their hands on some Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage servicing rights have that opportunity, as a $6 billion bulk residential mortgage servicing rights portfolio that features loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is available for sale.

Monday 7 December 2015

More ocean carrier consolidation looms as CGM makes offer to buy NOL

In a much-anticipated move, CMA CGM announced a pre-conditional voluntary general cash offer for Neptune Orient Lines (NOL).

Freddie Mac publishes single-family loan-level data for all fixed-rate mortgages

Freddie Mac announced Monday that it is making single-family loan-level data publicly available for all fixed-rate mortgages as part of an effort to provide investors with more information about its credit risk-sharing deals.

Saturday 5 December 2015

Resilience requires transparency

U.S. multinationals engaged in Pacific Rim commerce also appear to have a high threshold for risk, notes recent research done by Resilinc, a cloud provider of supply chain resilience and risk management intelligence and analytics

Trulia: 3 predictions for housing in 2016

With 2016 less than a month away, Trulia published a blog on what it predicts will happen in the housing market over the next year. One of these predictions is that buying will still be a more financially wise decision compared to renting.

Friday 4 December 2015

November non-manufacturing activity still showing growth, reports ISM

The index ISM uses to measure non-manufacturing growth—known as the NMI—came in at 55.9 in November (a level of 50 or higher indicates growth), which was down 3.2 percent compared to October. The PMI is 1.4 percent below the 12-month average of 57.3.

HLP, Freddie Mac, NFL legend Tim Brown partner to help minority families become homeowners

HLP, Freddie Mac, the Hispanic Action Outreach Network, and NFL Hall of Famer Tim Brown announced a partnership designed to help low and moderate-income African-American and Hispanic families buy their own homes.

Wednesday 2 December 2015

How Tracking/Managing Energy Consumption Drives Real Cost Savings

The spacious, expansive nature of the warehouse or distribution center (DC) makes it a prime candidate for managing energy consumption and cutting costs

Exclusive: Josh Rosner and Glen Corso on why it's time for true GSE reform

In an exclusive commentary, Graham Fisher & Co.'s Josh Rosner and Glen Corso, the executive director of the Community Mortgage Lenders of America, discuss why now is the right time for comprehensive reform to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae, and plot a roadmap for the future of the GSEs.

Tuesday 1 December 2015

loanDepot closes first $150M securitization of personal loans

The online mortgage lender officially moved into marketplace lending on May 13, becoming the first national nonbank lender to offer both home and personal loans nationwide. Since then, loanDepot has funded more than $250 million in personal loans, leading to the company’s first $150 million securitization of unsecured personal loans.

Trailblazers: Tavant Technologies

Tavant adds flexibility to its clients’ business and technology initiatives by keeping their investments in large enterprise systems (such as an LOS) intact and providing a “surround and extend” strategy and infrastructure that allows them to provide unique business differentiators to their customer base.

Trailblazers: SecureView

Boarded houses advertise a property’s vacancy, increasing vandalism and other crimes. Seeing the neighborhood blight that resulted from these plywood-boarded properties inspired Robert Klein, founder of Safeguard Properties, to develop a new product that solved these problems: SecureView.

2015 Trailblazers: Nationwide Title Clearing

Nationwide Title Clearing's broad service offerings range from recording and title clearing services for loan originators to post-closing audits, mortgage assignment, pre-sale audits and payoff services — covering the entire lifecycle of a loan. The company has seen a stunning 350% growth in the last four years and can track and fulfill county document requirements in all 3600+ recording jurisdictions nationwide.

2015 Trailblazers: National Real Tax Tracking

National Real Tax Tracking provides lenders, servicers, investors and title companies with the information they need for research, due diligence and compliance. By functioning as an outsourced tax division, NRTT empowers companies to research, monitor and manage everything they need related to property tax status, in a compliant and transparent way.

2015 Trailblazers: Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corp.

Mason-McDuffie utilizes the Kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement, which places a high value on each employee and empowers them to spot and eliminate waste. From a practical standpoint, it means that the company’s collaborative structure is focused on making changes, monitoring results and adjusting accordingly.

2015 Trailblazers: Global DMS

Global DMS has developed an appraisal work-flow engine — eTrac Enterprise — that gives users a single-source valuation management platform to centralize all aspects of the appraisal process. This work-flow engine eliminates the need for manual intervention within specified processes because all of the steps and notifications are automated.

2015 Trailblazers: Equifax

Today, many lenders verify an applicant’s employment and income themselves, often by having consumers provide W-2s and pay stubs. This is not only a time-intensive process that relies on consumers, but it also increases the risk to lenders due to a potential for fraud because the employer is removed from the process.

2015 Trailblazers: Black Knight Financial Services

To support lenders and their network of settlement agents with their efforts at TRID compliance, Black Knight’s Closing Insight solution offers online integrations with major title and settlement platforms to facilitate lenders’ efforts to generate the new closing disclosure forms and enable lenders and settlement agents to reconcile fees within mandated timelines.

2015 Trailblazers: Arch MI

With its commitment to real innovation, including Arch MI RateStar and Arch Mortgage Guaranty Company, Arch MI has proven itself to be the partner that can transform and expand lending horizons.

2015 Trailblazers: Alight Mortgage Lending

Alight Mortgage Lending helps answer key questions like: What happens if mortgage rates skyrocket? Will it be better to open a new branch this quarter or next? Is there enough cash to build franchise value by retaining servicing? Using Alight, lenders can make this kind of scenario-driven analysis a critical part of day-to-day business for all teams across their enterprise.

Company Spotlight: LenderLive

As a true end-to-end solutions provider, LenderLive specializes in enabling key functions for a lender’s organization including loan origination, document management and document preparation, settlement services, loan servicing, due diligence and operational compliance. Moreover, LenderLive’s expansion into loan subservicing comes at the right time for mortgage companies, banks and credit unions looking for help with subservicing. LenderLive offers these companies a complete subservicing solution enabling these lenders to benefit from LenderLive’s scale.

The next big thing in SFR: Lending to landlords

Tighter regulation and higher risk aversion — both to actual risk and to headline risk — in the world of mainstream lending mean that despite the opportunity available with SFR investors, traditional lenders have by and large not jumped on this opportunity. That leaves these nontraditional national lenders a bigger share of the pie in a market that in the past has been largely the domain of local and regional hard-money lenders.

Economies of scale: Why consolidation may be just what SFR needs

On the multi-borrower side, the potential for volume is massively larger than on the single-family side, but the challenge until now has always been on how to scale this side of the business.

Embracing the science of income analysis

Despite the ever-increasing pressures in this area, most lenders still approach income by leaving it up to the underwriter to pull everything together. If technology can improve processes in so many areas of mortgage banking, why can’t it add efficiency to one of the most traditional aspects of the loan process, income calculation?

What's driving mortgage lending behavior?

That lenders may be holding back a bit is not surprising as lessons from behavioral finance studies suggest that individuals tend to weight recent experience more than the past. Applied to the mortgage business and compounded by rising compliance costs, recent experience with heavy credit losses of the crisis could be dampening management enthusiasm for credit expansion in an otherwise expanding, albeit tepid economy.

5.8 million foreclosures, and counting

Over the past eight years, housing counselors and the mortgage servicing industry have learned a lot, and it’s our joint responsibility to avoid the mistakes of the past, to maintain momentum, and to create new pathways for homeowner-centric loss mitigation practices that have sustainable homeownership as the No. 1 objective.

Tech Innovator: Centric Technology Solutions refines the appraisal process

For appraisers, the platform’s embedded guidelines mean fewer revisions, so they can not only complete more valuations, but do so with greater clarity. New appraisers can be brought on board quickly with educational opportunities built into the platform, which could shorten the appraiser’s learning curve by 60% to 80%.

Hot Seat: Patrick Nackley of Superior Home Services

We don’t want servicers to get shorted on pricing, depreciation, being paid overhead and profit. If you are maximizing the value of each settlement and anticipating using that money to repair, you are reducing the incidents of corporate contribution.

2015 HW Vanguard Award winners

All of the sectors of the housing economy now — real estate, lending, servicing and investing — are navigating unchartered territory. The challenges are new and the processes scrutinized as never before. Against that backdrop, we at HousingWire thought it was appropriate to recognize the tremendous leadership within the mortgage space with our first annual HW Vanguard Awards. Companies in our business couldn’t have survived the crisis, or formed in this brave new world, without serious leadership.

Appraisal volume tumbles amid Thanksgiving holiday

Appraisal volume significantly tumbled after last week’s slight rise. However, according to Kevin Golden, director of analytics with a la mode, "This apparently dramatic drop is not something to be concerned about."

LenderLive adds Scott Banks as senior vice president of finance

In this newly created role, Banks will be responsible for overseeing the investor reporting, treasury and bank reconciliation functions, as well as the development of budgets, forecasts, financial reporting, and analyses to support new business initiatives and show return on investment, the company said.

Network Funding unveils several non-QM lending programs

Network Funding, a private residential mortgage lending company, announced a series of new lending programs designed to "help people achieve financing that wouldn’t typically qualify for a mortgage due to typical guideline restrictions."

Congress reaches highway deal without controversial use of Fannie, Freddie fees

Thanks to a landmark agreement between the Democrats and Republicans in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it’s looking increasingly likely that the fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to guarantee loans will not be used to fund new roads.

Genworth survey: Compliance with TRID still weighs heavily on housing industry

As the two-month anniversary of the implementation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure rule approaches, concerns over complying with the TRID rules are still weighing heavily on mortgage industry professionals, a new survey showed.

[Report] The housing market can withstand a Fed interest rate hike

Despite some concerns that an interest rate hike could devastate the housing market, a new report from Capital Economics said that housing looks well placed to withstand a rate hike. However, there are more issues that the industry needs to overcome other than just rising interest rates.

HomeUnion expands again; begins lending to single-family rental investors

HomeUnion, an online real-estate investment management firm, is expanding from helping investors identify single-family rental properties to purchase to actually helping them buy the properties. HomeUnion announced Tuesday that it is launching a new division, HomeUnion Lending, which will focus on lending to single-family rental investors.

HW Vanguard Awards: Leadership has never been more important

We created the HW Vanguard Awards to highlight the leaders in every sector of housing who are forging a new path toward profitability and sustainability. We received a lot of outstanding nominations, but every one of the 27 executives we chose in this first year were clear winners.

CoreLogic: Home prices rise 6.8% in October

According to the latest Home Price Index from CoreLogic, home prices continued to post "healthy" gains in the month of October. And CoreLogic expects that prices are going to continue to trend in the same direction as we head into 2016.

Monday 30 November 2015

TRID is a real obstacle to mortgage process

Despite reports saying that TRID hasn’t caused any major lending delays, the key word in all the reports is 'yet.'

Buy this super-green California home, get a free Tesla

Over the years, we’ve seen some creative efforts when it comes to trying to sell a home. About this time last year, the owner of a 16,000-square-foot mansion in Dallas offered up a free 2015 Bentley to the real estate agent or Realtor who secured a buyer for their home – in addition to their normal commission. But a new listing in California takes the automobile sweetener to a higher, and greener, level.

Kal Raman resigns as CEO of Nationstar's Xome

In the last year, Nationstar Mortgage has transformed Solutionstar, one of the company’s wholly owned subsidiaries, into Xome, which boasted that it offered consumers a one-stop shop for the entire real estate experience. Nationstar tasked Kal Raman with shepherding that transition, adding Raman as CEO of Solutionstar in Nov. 2014. But now, just over one year after he took over Solutionstar, Raman is resigning.

HUD watchdog issues warning on fraudulent, inflated reverse mortgage appraisals

In the run-up to the financial crisis, fraudulent appraisal schemes ran rampant in the housing industry, eventually leading to the complete overhaul of the property appraisal system and the rise of appraisal management companies. As it turns out, schemes like that have not been completely forced out of the industry.

Fed adopts new rule limiting 'too big to fail' bailouts

Amid pressure from Congress to rein in its power to prop up a troubled financial institution, the Federal Reserve did just that Monday, adopting a new rule that will limit its ability to bail out failing financial institutions.

Inventory shortages restrict growth in pending home sales

Pending home sales barely moved in October as the housing market starts to flatline in the fall. A main cause and concern behind the drop: inventory shortages.

Here's how Chinese homebuyers are reshaping U.S. housing

Chinese money is becoming a major force in real estate around the world and in America. A new luxury development 35 miles northwest of Dallas is only the latest frontier for Chinese buyers.

To acquire or not to acquire?

Stories of firms beating their own 2015 projections are widespread, which means the gaze for 2016 is shifting to future growth. It’s possible you are considering the on-boarding of new branches as a way to keep filling your origination coffers. It only takes one branch manager or regional manager changing employers to influence the migration of entire origination teams and change a firm’s future outlook.

Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: 10 commandments for mortgage loan officers

As the Thanksgiving holiday wraps up and the housing industry gears up for the end of the year, these two loan officers from Solano Mortgage published a hysterical piece on the Ten Commandments of applying for a home mortgage. Meanwhile, are you looking at the big picture when you choose to renovate your home? If not, it could cost you.

[Charts] Here are the home price breakdowns in the 10 largest states

As a whole, home prices barely increased, growing 0.1% in September. However, going a little deeper, these charts show what is going on in the 10 largest states.

Saturday 28 November 2015

October truck tonnage levels remain in familiar territory

Seasonally-adjusted (SA) for-hire truck tonnage in October at 135.7 (2000=100) was up 1.9 percent compared to September’s 133.1, and the ATA’s not seasonally-adjusted (NSA) index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by fleets before any seasonal adjustment was 139.8 in October, which was 0.9 percent ahead of September.

The missing question in Yellen’s Congress discussion

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen achieved the primary goal of any new Fed chief and avoided any obvious land mines. But what was lacking in the dialogue, both from Yellen and the media, was a serious discussion of what’s next for national economic policy.

Thursday 26 November 2015

It's official: Obama signs bill limiting Fannie, Freddie CEO pay

In what has become a complete and total rebuke of an effort put forth by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt to award $3 million raises to the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, President Obama signed into a law a bill that caps the salaries of Fannie Mae CEO Timothy Mayopoulos and Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton. Click headline to read more.

Feds announce 2016 threshold for smaller, 'higher-priced’ loan appraisal exemption

The Federal Reserve Board, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced the annual adjustment of the dollar amount used to determine whether a small loan is exempt from the special appraisal requirements that apply to higher-priced mortgage loans.

[Infographic] What do Millennials look for in real estate agents, housing?

There are a plethora of reports and studies out there all defining what the Millennial generation looks like. This latest infographic from UpNest puts a lot of that information into one creative graphic.

Consumers make saving a main priority

The latest report from the Commerce Department said that consumer spending is barely increasing since households are taking advantage of rising incomes to boost savings to their highest level in nearly three years.

Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates drift lower

Mortgage rates reported little change for the week, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate staying just barely below 4%. Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sean Becketti noted that it’s a quiet week leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday.

MBA: Mortgage applications drop 3.2%

After the jump in mortgage applications last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest survey found that applications changed direction and dropped 3.2%.

Wednesday 25 November 2015

New home sales beat expectations

While sales of new single-family houses in October beat expectations, it still remains volatile month-to-month. As one economist puts it, going forward, housing is likely to continue to be a positive contribution to headline activity although limited.

FHFA announces 2016 conforming loan limits

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2016. Despite some predictions that the loan limits would rise for 2016, the FHFA said the conforming loan limits will remain unchanged for much of the country, but not everywhere.

Tuesday 24 November 2015

Supply Chain Evolution: Technology’s Role in the New Digital Supply Network

This year, it's all about the digital supply network. In this virtual conference, we will define the challenges currently facing supply chain organizations and offer solutions designed to transform linear operations into dynamic, automated networks that offer seamless communication, visibility, and the ability to respond and optimize processes at any given time.

Fannie Mae joins e-document revolution

Fannie Mae joins the electronic document revolution. The government-sponsored enterprise announced that it is partnering with DocuSign to provide an "easy, fast, and secure way" to execute agreements with Fannie Mae by allowing electronic signatures on several of its documents.

Recruiters in multi-million dollar mortgage fraud sent to prison

A Virginia man and woman will each spend two years in prison for leading a scheme that recruited straw buyers into a multi-year, multi-property mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded 10 different lenders of millions of dollars.

Move, Realtor.com name Suhail Ansari chief technology officer

Move, Inc., which operates Realtor.com for the National Association of Realtors, announced the appointment of Suhail Ansari as the company’s new chief technology officer. At Move, Ansari will be responsible for overseeing the company’s technology strategy.

Freddie Mac offering second actual loss high-LTV risk-sharing deal

After offering its first risk-sharing deal that featured the actual loss position on loans with loan-to-value ratios ranging from 80% to 95% earlier this year, Freddie Mac is bringing another high LTV risk-sharing deal to market.

Google launches mortgage comparison tool with Zillow

Well, it’s official. Google has come to mortgages. After first being reported earlier this year, Google is launching its own mortgage comparison tool via its Compare service. Here's more about Google's big mortgage move with Zillow and LendingTree.

How much will Thanksgiving impact your real estate business?

While it is not a shocker that the holidays, Thanksgiving included, cause a slow down in real estate, realtor.com decided to find out just how severe the impact is on business.

Is your company leading the technology revolution? Prove it

The technological revolution is happening, right now. Here at HousingWire, we see that innovation happening and feel it deserves some serious kudos. The shouting it from the rooftops kind, to be exact. It’s in that spirit that HousingWire honors the most innovative innovators who’ve innovated in the most innovative ways in the last year.

Monday 23 November 2015

Here are 4 reasons to stay invested in US housing

While the stock market has been volatile the past few months, the housing market hasn’t. In a sponsored content piece in Quartz, PIMCO outlined four reasons why there are still plenty of opportunities left in housing.

Despite decrease, existing-home sales maintain healthy pace

Although total existing-home sales decreased 3.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million in October, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a sales cooldown in October was likely given the pullback in contract signings the last couple of months.

Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: Rate-hike implications and a warning from Yellen

Visions of turkey and stuffing are dancing in our heads, but there will still be plenty of housing news this week, including October existing and new home sales data. And what's with this Orange County house with 19 bathrooms?

Black Knight: Delinquency rate reverses course after recent increases

The “first look” October 2015 report from Black Knight Financial Services finally posted different results after two months of consecutive increases in the delinquency rate. This month the total delinquency rate declined by nearly 2% from September and nearly 12% from last year.

These 6 steps can help build your credit for your first home

It’s never too early to start preparing for buying your first-home, especially if you’re trying to build your credit score. This list from Freddie Mac gives six easy steps to build credit in time for your first home.

TRID hasn't caused any major lending delays…so far

Unlike some predictions, the mortgage industry did not implode once TRID went into effect. And according to results from the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, the impacts so far are minor.

Saturday 21 November 2015

World Shipping Council updates ocean carrier forecast

Christopher L. Koch., who just retired from a 15-year tenure as president and CEO of the World Shipping Council (WSC), and continues to serve as its senior advisor, is still telling shippers to stay the course.

International manhunt ends in arrest of field servicer on child prostitution charges

[Editor's note: The following story contains graphic details.] Mickey Snow, the owner and operator of a multi-state field services provider that until recently provided services to one of the government-sponsored enterprises, was arrested in Thailand after leading authorities on a worldwide chase to avoid prosecution on child prostitution charges.

Freddie Mac breaks record with largest credit risk deal with insurers

Freddie Mac announced late Friday that it obtained its largest insurance policy to date designed to cover much of the remaining credit risk associated with one of its Structured Agency Credit Risk transactions from earlier this year.

Agent Ace acquires fypio; rebrands as OpenHouse

Agent Ace, a data-driven real estate agent recommendation service, announced this week that it acquired fypio, a real estate company that provides homebuyers with a personalized, lifestyle-driven search experience. The two companies will rebrand and relaunch as OpenHouse.

Crapo fights against using Fannie, Freddie fees for Federal infrastructure costs

Despite being overwhelmingly defeated in the House of Representatives, the Senate is still considering a controversial spending mechanism that would see the fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to guarantee loans go to pay for new roads. But one Senator is urging his colleagues to consider the implications of using g-fees to offset the cost of a Federal highway bill.

Fannie Mae continues shifting credit risk to insurers

As part of its effort to reduce the taxpayers’ burden, Fannie Mae announced Friday that it completed its fifth and sixth credit risk-sharing transactions as part of its Credit Insurance Risk Transfer program. Through these latest deals, Fannie Mae said that it has acquired more than $800 million of insurance coverage on over $32 billion of loans this year.

[Infographic] 6 reasons behind the booming Dallas housing market

The Dallas housing market is no stranger to the top of housing market lists, commonly placing as one of the best, most affordable paces to call home. This chart shows six areas that are helping to drive that sustainability.

No news is good news in California’s housing market

While seasonal conditions are putting downward pressure on the sales of California single-family homes and condominiums, this isn’t bad news for the state, which has had a turbulent housing history.

The value of digital closings

Ultimately, a digital closing platform has the potential to save lenders up to $1,500 per loan in compliance, reconciliation and transaction completion costs.

loanDepot CEO explains IPO cancelation

loanDepot Chairman and CEO Anthony Hsieh published a company blog to explain his thoughts on pulling its IPO, saying, "Unlike other IPO candidates, we’re already moving forward with our plans because of our capital reserves and the investor confidence we’ve earned beyond the IPO market. And while an IPO continues to be an option, perhaps one day in the future, it’s not a necessity."

CoreLogic: Cash sales on track to return to pre-crisis level in 2017

Cash sales rose slightly in the month of August, but they are still on track to return to pre-crisis levels sometime in 2017, according to a new report from CoreLogic.

Feds set deadline to claim Independent Foreclosure Review relief funds

The clock is now ticking for borrowers eligible for payment under the Independent Foreclosure Review Payment Agreements who have not yet cashed or deposited their check. If they don’t act soon, their money is going to borrowers who already cashed their checks.

Prospect reaches settlement with MMC over affiliate C2C Appraisal Services

Prospect Mortgage reached an agreement with the Multi-State Mortgage Committee after an examination revealed a pattern of charging improperly disclosed and unsupported fees paid to the company’s affiliate. "This settlement allows the company the ability to continue operating while sending a strong message to the industry that this kind of behavior must be stopped," said Karyn Tierney, chair of the MMC.

NewDay Financial banned from all lending in New York

NewDay Financial, already punished this year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for its business practices and by the Multi-State Mortgage Committee for widespread cheating on licensing exams, is now completely banned from lending in the state of New York due to that same cheating on licensing exams.

[Infographic] New York and California led nation in highest down payments

Planning on buying a home in New York or California? The two states surpass the nation in average down payment percentages for conventional 30-year fixed rate purchase mortgage. While it’s a steep down payment, the move could be the deciding factor in securing a home in today’s competitive market.

Goldman Sachs: Residential investment on pace for solid growth [Chart]

Goldman Sachs sent an email to clients advising that growth in residential investments through 2016 will be solid, though not as strong as they originally hoped. Plus, this growth will likely curtail in the years immediately following, as the included chart notes.

Friday 20 November 2015

What FHA loans mean as large banks step away

With federal agencies taking action against several large lenders, many banks are pricing FHA loans to absorb the costs associated with the hundreds of layers of federal, state and local regulatory requirements. As a result, larger lenders are choosing to leave the FHA arena, presenting a great opportunity for smaller independent mortgage lenders.

[Chart] MBA: NJ, NY, Florida contain highest percent of foreclosures

The most recent Mortgage Bankers Association’s chart of the week shows that since the fourth quarter of 2012, New Jersey, New York, and Florida have had the highest percentage of loans in foreclosure in the nation.

Thursday 19 November 2015

Ocean carrier mega-alliances called into question

The Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) says better communication across the whole supply chain is vital to ensure shipper’s needs are not compromised by the container shipping industry’s drive to cut costs through mega-alliances.

Freddie Mac launches second risk-sharing cash securitization

Freddie Mac announced Thursday that it is bringing another credit risk-sharing cash securitization to market. Freddie Mac’s second Whole Loan Security is more than twice the size of the first such offering.

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Are You Missing Out on Duty Savings Opportunities?

Companies are increasingly turning to Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) to reduce duties and lower costs. In fact, 57% of companies reported a decrease in import fees and experienced more optimal total landed costs per unit since using FTZs.

The industry is in dire need of appraisers

Sixty-two percent of appraisers are 51 and older, and as more retire over the next few years, it could mean longer waits, higher fees and even lower-quality appraisals. Will there be enough appraisers in the industry five years from now?

Tuesday 17 November 2015

HUD settles with Mortgage One for requiring borrower to provide proof of disability

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Tuesday that it reached a settlement with a Michigan-based lender over discriminating against a borrower with disabilities. The man alleged that before closing on the loan, Mortgage One requested that he provide verification from his doctor that his disability was permanent.

ELD and Driver Coercion rules take steps forward in final rule making process

Two pending trucking sector regulations have received a fair amount of attention from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in recent days. One regulation relates to the final rule on Electronic Logging Devices (ELD), which OMB cleared today and the other is related to the driver coercion rule.

Monday 16 November 2015

House passes bill to cap Fannie, Freddie CEO pay

The U.S. House of Representatives officially passed legislation to cap the salaries of the Fannie Mae CEO Timothy Mayopoulos and Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton on Monday night after being delayed two weeks by a busy Congressional calendar.

MBA’s Stevens: There’s no urgency to lower FHA insurance premiums

There is no urgency to lower mortgage insurance premiums right now, David Stevens, Mortgage Bankers Association president and CEO, said following the Federal Housing Administration’s 2015 Actuarial Report released on Monday. A look behind the numbers shows that it will take time to know the stability of the MMI Fund’s capital ratio of 2.07%.

FHA reaches capital mandate and here's what's next

The Federal Housing Administration surprised some observers Monday when it announced that its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund grew significantly in fiscal 2015, reaching its Congressionally mandated threshold of 2% well ahead of the FHA’s own projections. But what's next for the FHA? Another premium cut? Changes to its programs? The industry weighs in.

Blackstone now rules America’s real estate

Blackstone is now nearly four times the size of when it originally filed its IPO in 2007. Most notably, an article in Business Insider said that the company has expanded its real estate division from a $17.7 billion business when the company went public to one that today manages nearly $100 billion worth of property.

House to vote Monday on limiting GSE CEO pay

After being delayed two weeks by a busy Congressional calendar, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Monday evening on a bill that would limit the compensation packages of Fannie Mae CEO Timothy Mayopoulos and Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton.

Coester VMS getting hate mail for American Girl feature

The CEO of Appraisal Management Company, Coester VMS, admits he wasn’t expecting such a backlash against his charity when American Girl featured this young lady. But backlash he got. And here’s why.

Executive Conversation: Collin Harbour on the changing role of service providers

Service providers are, now more than ever, extensions of mortgage servicers. Regulatory entities are reviewing servicing functions and, as these functions continue to be outsourced, the regulators are turning their attention to service providers.

Recap and Release: Not the right path to affordable mortgages

The fundamental problem with the recap and release approach is that starting any discussion about a future mortgage finance system with Fannie and Freddie is like looking through the wrong end of a telescope: the field of vision is very restricted and the details are hard to make out. Here's what the industry really needs to be asking about the GSEs.

FHA business explodes: Reaches capital mandate for first time since 2008

Flying directly in the face of speculation that the 50 basis point-cut of the Federal Housing Administration’s annual mortgage insurance premiums would negatively effect the health of the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, the FHA announced Monday that the MMI Fund actually grew significantly in fiscal 2015, reaching its Congressionally mandated threshold of 2% well ahead of schedule.

Carol Galante: While FHA Actuarial Report brings good news, 3 challenges still remain

While today’s news makes clear that FHA and its dedicated personnel have remained vigilant in safeguarding the FHA for future generations, the job of mopping up from this terrible housing crisis and recession is not done. The FHA has an obligation to the American people to do more. FHA, with the help of Congress, must urgently address three key challenges.

[Survey] Here’s proof digital mortgages are the future of lending

New survey results from J.D. Power prove that mortgage customer satisfaction is better thanks to heightened focus from lenders on developing functional digital channels and improving operation efficiency. Falling in line with where the industry is headed, the results confirmed that as the number of Millennial homebuyers continues to rise, lenders must be ready to meet their expectations.

Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: Real estate crowdfunding and FHA update

Need help getting a mortgage for a million-dollar property? Why not ask the parents? Sounds crazy (probably because this really is) but some lenders are willing to lend jumbo mortgages, as long as parents co-sign. Read more to get updated!

Friday 13 November 2015

Nine Telltale Signs You Should Replace Your Current WMS

Does your current WMS hinder your ability to execute the business strategies needed to help you build a competitive advantage?

[Chart] MBA: Demand for VA loans continues to trend higher

In honor of Veteran’s Day, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s chart of the week shows the Veterans Administration’s share of all purchase loan applications during 2015.

Thursday 12 November 2015

Port of New Orleans posts record number in container throughput

The Port of New Orleans surpassed the half-million mark for twenty-foot- equivalent units (TEUs) handled in a 12-month period for the first time.

Sources: loanDepot withdraws Initial Public Offering

The delay comes as unfavorable market conditions have caused several IPOs to discount or delay their offerings amid the volatility that has plagued the market since August.

Texas notaries need to replace current seals

The Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law section of the State Bar of Texas is warning all notaries that they should replace their current seals with new ones issued by the Secretary of State to avoid possible complications with third parties.Previously, only new or renewing notaries were required to get new seals.

MCS names two new leaders

Mortgage Contracting Services, a provider of property preservation, inspections, REO property maintenance and valuations, announced two new leaders in the company. MCS named Tracy Hager as senior industry relations officer and Dave Sunlin as senior vice president.

90-year-old WWII vet returns to home after eviction

Hodges had been evicted this summer after falling behind on mortgage payments and owed more than $70,000. The GoFundMe account was started by someone who read about Hodges' plight in the Buffalo News and went viral after Yahoo! Real Estate shared the story.

Zillow: Yes, owning a home beats renting but there are still challenges

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the biggest barriers to homeownership is a down payment. While there are plenty of misconceptions behind what goes into a down payment, it doesn’t change the fact that there are some real challenges in the process. New research from Zillow puts numbers behind the issue.

GOP debate: The problem with that Dodd Frank guy

That's the thing about regulation. Too much and you feel like the government is treading all over your right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Too little and the bad guys end up running the place.

Amy Schumer lists her Upper West Side home for $2 million

Outside of the box office, it turns out comedian/actress Amy Schumer is definitely not a train wreck. The comedian just listed her Manhattan co-op for $2.075 million.

Wednesday 11 November 2015

Do Millennials want to live in dorms? Really?

Is "coliving" a thing? According to an article in The Atlantic, the latest solution to Millennial housing needs goes back to college: dorm living. Though of course, it's being called something else.

MBA: Mortgage applications fall again, decrease 1.3%

Mortgage applications dropped 1.3% from one week earlier, according to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Also, all mortgage rates reached new highs for the week.

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Taking an Omni-channel Approach to Integrated Pest Management

The warehouse and distribution center (DC) can be a fertile breeding ground for and home to a wide variety of pests.

Gap between what homeowners and appraisers think is improving

For the second consecutive month, the spread has tightened between average home appraisals and what homeowners think their house will appraise for. Quicken Loans added that while it’s too early to call it a trend, it is encouraging to see the gap between the estimates homeowners provide and the appraised values starting to narrow.

Monday 9 November 2015

Report says Canadian Pacific is looking into takeover of Norfolk Southern

Bloomberg reported that Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is “exploring a takeover of U.S. carrier Norfolk Southern Corp. in a fresh attempt to consolidate the North American industry, according to people familiar with the matter.”

Freddie Mac to sell off $1.2 billion in non-performing loans

Freddie Mac announced Monday that it intends to sell off $1.2 billion in non-performing loans, marking its eighth sale of non-performing loans since the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced the new requirements for sales of NPLs by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to make sure the loans go to capable mortgage servicers.

Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: What’s the best low-down-payment mortgage?

It’s an interesting comparison; do you know how the programs differ? And even so, can you name the one section of the economic population that is being underserved by these very products?

Friday 6 November 2015

USPS calling for uptick in holiday mail and package volumes

The United States Postal Service said yesterday that over the course of the holiday season it expects to deliver roughly 15.5 billion cards, letters, flats, and packages, adding that it expects to deliver around 600 million packages alone between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, which would represent a 10.5 percent annual increase.

Bank of America nearing halfway mark in $7 billion consumer relief effort

Bank of America is approaching the halfway point in delivering on its $7 billion promise of consumer relief required as part of its $16.65 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and others to resolve claims over toxic residential mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations and an origination release on residential mortgage loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Thursday 5 November 2015

House signs off on multi-year surface transportation authorization

The U.S. House of Representatives today widely approved a long-term transportation authorization, entitled The Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform (STRR) Act of 2015, by a 363-64 margin.

Ex-Goldman banker barred from banking for leaking confidential Fed info

A former Goldman Sachs employee will never work in banking again, after pleading guilty to charges of stealing confidential information from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Wednesday 4 November 2015

Ocean carriers getting real about controlling costs

If logistics managers needed any more proof that ocean container lines are “on the ropes,” the latest move by Maersk demonstrates just how dire their situation has become.

Dick Bove: Freddie Mac is insolvent

Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton cited a hedging loss of $4.2 billion as reason for the quarterly results, which Richard Bove, vice president of equity research at Rafferty Capital Markets, takes exception to. “This company is insolvent and playing financial games that are not acceptable,” Bove told clients Wednesday.

Tuesday 3 November 2015

Freddie Mac’s fourth actual loss risk-sharing deal prices wide

Freddie Mac announced Tuesday that it priced its fourth Structured Agency Credit Risk series offering featuring actual-loss positions. The deal, STACR Series 2015-DNA, priced wide of its last STACR DNA series deal, STACR Series 2015-DNA2.

Zillow Group ‘significantly exceeds’ own expectations, sees revenue grow 13%

Zillow Group, which is the parent company for the consumer brands Zillow, Trulia and StreetEasy, turned in a strong third quarter, so strong in fact, that the company’s performance exceeded its own projections.

Donald Trump accuses Obama, Yellen of conspiring to keep interest rates low

Every time Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses a crowd, either in a debate, in a one-on-one with the media or at a campaign event, it’s more likely than not that he’s going to say something that creates a buzz. And Tuesday was no different, although this time, Trump went well beyond commenting on Carly Fiorina’s looks or getting into it with Jeb Bush about 9/11.

CFPB secures $107 million in relief for consumers

In the ninth edition of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Supervisory Highlights, the bureau records that its actions resulted in $107 million in relief to more than 238,000 consumers. The report includes details on exactly where servicers and originators violated rules.

Are servicers finally off the CFPB’s hit list?

For quite some time now, it appeared that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was out to get the servicing industry. However, a quick perusal of the new supervisory report from the CFPB might finally be a sign that servicers are no longer at the top of the bureau’s hit list. Can servicers finally breathe a sigh of relief?

Freddie Mac CEO: Lenders should offer more low down payment mortgages

In an interview with HousingWire, Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton said he wants mortgage lenders to feel more comfortable with originating more low down payment mortgages. Layton said that lenders are gripped by an “undue fear” of representation and warrants claims, saying recently such activity is “way down.”

Wharf Street acquires majority stake in Kroll Bond Rating Agency

Kroll Bond Rating Agency now has a new majority owner, as the credit ratings agency announced Tuesday that one of its minority investors, private-equity firm Wharf Street, acquired a majority stake in the firm.

CoreLogic: Home prices up 6.4% in September

While home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased by 6.4% in September 2015 compared with a year ago, Sam Khater, deputy chief economist for CoreLogic, explained that this is once again good news for the company given past home price results.

Freddie Mac reports first loss in four years

Freddie Mac's third quarter net income plummeted compared to last quarter, posting a net loss of $475 million for the third quarter of 2015, significantly down from $4.2 billion in the second quarter of 2015. However, this aside, Donald Layton, CEO, said, "The business had very strong fundamentals with growing volumes of guarantees and continued improving credit quality in the guarantee businesses."

Nationstar 3Q earnings drop to $32 million

Nationstar Mortgage Holdings’ third-quarter adjusted earnings dropped to $32 million, compared to $35 million in the second quarter. However, despite the decline, Jay Bray, CEO, remained positive on the company's recent improvements.

American Southwest Mortgage Co. partners with Mercury Network

Mercury Network, a software platform that allows lenders and appraisal management companies to manage their collateral valuation workflow, announced that American Southwest Mortgage Co. began using Mercury Network’s suite of offerings.

Monday 2 November 2015

Manufacturing grows in October but at a lower level, reports ISM

The PMI, the ISM’s index to measure growth, was 50.1 in October, which was down 0.1 percent from September and now at its lowest level since May 2013, when it was also at 50.1. The PMI has been at 50 or higher for 33 consecutive months, with the over all economy growing for 77 months in a row. The current PMI is 1.6 percent below the 12-month average of 52.7.

Clayton Homes buys Georgia homebuilder for $50 million

Clayton Homes, a manufactured home builder that is part of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, is buying Chafin Communities, a Georgia-based residential homebuilder, for $50 million. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, which first reported the acquisition earlier Monday, Clayton will receive nearly 1,100 lots as part of the deal.

Friday 30 October 2015

LenderLive names Pete Pannes chief revenue officer

LenderLive Network, a domestic-based, end-to-end mortgage services provider, announced the addition of Pete Pannes as the company’s first chief revenue officer. As LenderLive’s chief revenue officer, Pannes will be responsible for corporate sales, marketing and positioning strategies, as well as product development.

Thursday 29 October 2015

Inventory overhang continues to impact economic outlook

It is not entirely surprising that high inventory rates are cited first as one of the reasons for a paltry third quarter GDP number. That has been the case for a while and it is evident in the inventory-to-sales ratio, which stands at 1.37 through the end of August, compared to 1.30 in August 2014.

Stegman doubles down: White House will not recapitalize Fannie, Freddie

For the second time in less than a fortnight, a senior official from the Obama administration has said, unequivocally, that the White House will not support ending the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by recapitalizing the government-sponsored enterprises.

Wednesday 28 October 2015

House approves short-term extension for transportation authorization

Shortly after the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced a short-term transportation authorization earlier this week, which would fund and extend authorization for federal highway and transit programs through November 20, the House of Representatives formally approved the legislation yesterday.

Hillary Clinton says she’d let big banks fail

Over the last few months, Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton has gone out of her way to position herself as a non-supporter of the country’s biggest banks, perhaps as part of a plan to woo those on the left who would rather see Senator Elizabeth Warren running in Clinton’s place. Clinton took it to another level in an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

Tuesday 27 October 2015

Home prices rise 0.3% in August, up 5.6% since January

Home prices were up 0.3% for the month, according to the August house price index from Black Knight Financial Services. This puts national home prices up 5.6% since the beginning of the year and 27% since the bottom of the market at the start of 2012.

Black Knight earnings move from loss to profit

Commenting on the results, Bill Foley, executive chairman of Black Knight, said, "Our third quarter results reflect continued strength in the fundamental drivers of long-term growth, as we continue to execute on our strategic initiatives."

PHH Home Loans promotes Kevin McGarrity to Northeastern regional executive

PHH Home Loans, a joint venture between PHH Mortgage and Realogy Holdings Corp, announced that the company promoted Kevin McGarrity into the role of regional executive for the Northeastern region. McGarrity most recently served as regional vice president of PHH Home Loans for New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York.

Fidelity National third-quarter revenue holds steady at $2 billion

Fidelity National Financial reported Tuesday that it posted total revenue of $2 billion in the third quarter, which equaled its revenue total from the second quarter of this year. The company's third-quarter revenue total topped industry estimates, but its earnings per share fell slightly below expectations.

[Infographic] Is your renter secretly a vampire or witch?

It’s not abnormal for your renter to have a specific list of details that they want in their future home. But what if some of their requests are making you second guess whether or not you are housing a vampire or witch.

HouseCanary adds Tom Ciulla as president of enterprise sales

In this role, Ciulla will be responsible for developing strategic client relationships, alliances and partnerships across a wide array of industries, including mortgage, appraisal, financial services and real estate brokerages.

[Infographic] Here’s what you need to know about renting your first apartment

If despite all the data out there on the benefits of homeownership, you’re still opting to rent an apartment, then here are some tips on what you can expect.

NYDFS superintendent to step down amid rumors of tension with Cuomo’s office

The acting superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services will step down later this year, amidst rumors of tension between the NYDFS and the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

What’s the exact cost of compliance on mortgage originations?

It’s not as simple as saying the new compliance rules cost the industry “x” amount of dollars in expenses. However, executives at the Mortgage Bankers Association did give some insight on what factors lenders can use to figure out just how much these compliance rules will dent their profits.

Homeownership rate rises for first time in 2 years

After dropping to the lowest level in 48 years in the last quarter, the homeownership rate in the United States increased during the third quarter. The increase during the third quarter was the first time the homeownership rate increased in two years.

Case-Shiller: Home prices up nearly 5%

Home price growth was strong in August, underscoring that the market has momentum going into the final months of the year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Radian earns $70 million in third quarter

Mortgage insurance at the company remains steady. New mortgage insurance written was $11.2 billion for the quarter, compared to $11.8 billion in the second quarter of 2015 and $11.2 billion in the prior-year quarter.

CoesterVMS disclosure calculator now available on Ellie Mae’s Encompass

As of Monday, users will be able to request, manage, and place orders directly from Encompass, which CoesterVMS said will streamline the disclosure process.

The same culprits are re-inflating the housing bubble

Although there is plenty of blame spread across Wall Street for the housing crisis, to many involved in the mortgage and real estate industries, as well as to consumers themselves, the true enabler was our government. Now, evidence abounds that the bubble is being re-inflated by these very same culprits.

Here’s how TRID is reshaping title companies

It’s now almost a month since the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule went live, and the effects are being felt up and down the pipeline across a variety of services and specialties in the mortgage finance industry. This week we look at the title space. Read on.

DBRS settles with SEC over misrepresenting mortgage bond rating capabilities

Credit rating agency DBRS misrepresented its mortgage bond rating capabilities over a three-year period and will pay nearly $6 million to settle charges brought against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC announced on Monday.

Calling it: There won’t be a rate hike this week

I’m not exactly going out on a limb here with a wild bet, but I’m going to go ahead and call it that the Fed won’t be raising interest rates this week. They just don't have the will, even though they have to get it done sometime.

Freddie Mac offloads $500 million in credit risk to insurers

Freddie Mac announced Monday that it obtained its largest insurance policy to date designed to cover much of the remaining credit risk associated with one of its Structured Agency Credit Risk transactions from earlier this year.

Join HUD Secretary Castro and economist Smoke online tonight for housing chat

Join it virtually or in person, but tonight Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro joins realtor’s Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke and The Wall Street Journal’s Nick Timiraos for a virtual town hall at George Washington University.

House will vote this week on measure to limit CEO pay at Fannie, Freddie

A congressional push to limit the salaries for the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moves closer this week when the House version of a bill that already passed the Senate unanimously goes to the House floor for a vote. There's little reason to expect it won't have an easy landing, but then it goes to the White House.

[Webinar] Dear mortgage lenders, prepare yourself for Millennial homebuyers

The largest generation is growing up, and quick. And contrary to popular belief, they do want to buy homes; but not in the same way as their predecessors. Millennials demand social media, online banking — and yes, online mortgages. So what are you doing to prepare your company? These expert panelists will fill in the gaps you still need this wednesday in a HousingWire Webinar.

New home sales collapse 11.5% in September

Sales of new single-family houses in September 2015 cratered to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000. The northeast was the hardest hit with a giant decline, but all four housing market regions saw declines from August. Here's more.

Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: Is the Great Slowdown coming?

Not to sound too bleak as the leaves start turning and dying, but it’s not a pretty economic picture out there. The only thing that doesn’t look like it’s going to be slowing or dropping are FHA premiums.

Monday 26 October 2015

House introduces short-term transportation authorization

While the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has its sights set on a long-term transportation authorization for the future, the present is a bit more short-term, with an announcement today that a short-term extension has been introduced.

What's the best day to list a house for sale?

“Currently, more agents are listing homes on Friday than any other day of the week, but homes listed on Thursday sell faster and for higher prices,” said Mike Minihan, managing broker of Terrace 24.

Friday 23 October 2015

IPA reports UPS pilots nearly in full agreement to authorize strike against UPS

By a whopping 2,252-to-8 margin, UPS pilots voted to authorize a strike against their employer, UPS, the Independent Pilots Association (IPA), the trade union representing UPS pilots, said today.

Realtor.com Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke announces run for President

For all their posturing and preaching, until very recently, many (if not all) of the candidates in the 2016 presidential campaign had not even broached the subject of housing in their campaign speeches. Well, it turns out there’s a new candidate who will talk about housing, and talk about it extensively. In fact, he’s making housing his sole campaign platform. And given his day job, it makes sense.

Thursday 22 October 2015

eBook: Omni-Mode Integration Unifying Private Fleet & Purchased Transportation

Private fleet or purchased transportation? That's the question companies regularly debate. Both approaches face similar business challenges - how to reduce transportation spend and operate more efficiently while enhancing customer service. Traditionally, a company's private and purchased transportation processes operate in isolation. Today however, there is a paradigm shift to a consolidated model that in fact unifies even the most complex shipping environments. This optimization of transportation across all modes, often referred to as omni-mode transportation, is the approach that today's industry leaders have adopted Descartes' ebook offers best practices and strategy tips for successful Omni-Mode Integration.

HOPE NOW reports 118K mortgage solutions in August

Foreclosure sale activity is at its lowest level as of August 2015 since HOPE NOW began collecting data. The current data is welcomed news since it shows significant improvement at the nationwide level.

CoreLogic sees revenue climb 5% in third quarter

CoreLogic reported a growth in revenue in the third quarter. According to the company, the growth was driven primarily by property, insurance, international and underwriting solutions, which more than offset foreign currency translation impacts and lower project-related volumes.

Is the mortgage industry entering a new era of partnership?

Title companies are beginning to pool their resources with former competitors, forming alliances to leverage their resources and assets and thereby cutting costs (e.g. with “back office” functions). This is less likely a trend than it is a new “normal.” Together, the industry needs to seek ways to become even more efficient.

Fannie Mae: Actual loss risk-sharing deals will be the standard moving forward

Fannie Mae announced the pricing of its first actual loss credit risk-sharing deal, and said that offering the actual-loss position will be the standard for its Connecticut Avenue Securities risk-sharing series moving forward.

NAR lends support to bill that would overhaul FHA condo restrictions

The Federal Housing Administration's current restrictions on condominium financing present a significant hurdle for one of America's most affordable options, according to testimony given on Capitol Hill by Chris Polychron, the president of the National Association of Realtors.

Are vendors the CFPB’s next target?

Speaking this week at the Mortgage Bankers Associations’ 102nd Annual Convention and Expo, Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, issued a warning that should have one segment of the mortgage finance industry quaking in its proverbial boots. Vendors, you have a problem.

Executive Conversation: Michele McGovern on the benefits of real-time analysis

Real-time, dynamic analysis is crucial for lenders who want to keep their organization in a proactive state, rather than just reacting to market changes. They don’t have to sit back and wait for things to change in the industry — they can make contingency plans by running different scenarios and compare them side-by-side.

OCC: Credit risk now at the forefront of concern

As the economy recovers and banks once again take on the risk of less-creditworthy borrowers, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has signaled that its focus is shifting, too — away from the operational and compliance risk it has emphasized since the financial crisis and back to credit risk.

HUD proposes new rule to further protect victims of harassment

Victims of harassment in housing may soon have more protection thanks to a new rule proposed Wednesday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The proposed rule would formalize the standards for victims of harassment in housing to bring claims under the Fair Housing Act.

First American introduces new tools to fight fraud

First American Financial, a provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions for real estate transactions, announced the integration of its DataTree property research solution with its FraudGuard loan-level fraud detection and data integrity tool.

Is the credit box finally showing signs of opening up?

Over the last 18 months, the federal government and the enterprises that it sponsors have taken several significant steps in an effort to open up the credit box and ensure more lending is done to more people. Now, a new report from Ellie Mae suggests that those efforts may finally be taking hold.

Government applications drive big increase in mortgage apps

Mortgage applications increased 11.8% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Oct. 16.

[Video] MBA's Stevens details False Claims risk

David Stevens, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, sat down with HousingWire to outline the issues banks are having with the new regulations from the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the False Claims Act. Watch this video to see what Stevens says the government needs to do.

S&P/Experian: Mortgage default rates fall in September

After rising in August, the rate of first and second lien mortgage defaults fell in September, according to the latest S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. Click through to learn more.

CFPB: We’re working to make new HMDA implementation easier

Changes are coming that will make the current Home Mortgage Data Act more complex and complicated. Now that the 800-plus pages of the rule are out, lenders are showing both praise and concern.

Cordray, Watt: Mortgage industry matures to meet new regulatory framework

A meeting between the heads of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Housing Finance Agency turned into a preview for the 2016 FHFA Scorecard — with a look at the status of the Common Securitization Platform and Single Security and the move towards increasing credit risk transfers.

B2R Holdings is now Lending.com

B2R Holdings, the parent company of B2R Finance and Dwell Finance, announced that it is rebranding and will now be known as Lending.com. According to a release from B2R, Lending.com is a “transformative technology platform designed to address industry fragmentation and offer a faster, lower-friction process for consumers, entrepreneurs and established businesses alike.”

Ellie Mae hires Piper Neal Beveridge as VP of government and strategic relations

Before joining Ellie Mae, Beveridge spent 13 years at Fannie Mae, where she led multiple strategic initiatives, including spearheading the Uniform Collateral Data Portal/Uniform Appraisal Dataset initiative, which standardized electronic appraisal data for all loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Reynolds and Reynolds acquires IDS

Reynolds and Reynolds, a provider of automotive dealership software, documents and compliance services, and digital marketing, announced the acquisition of International Document Services, a provider of mortgage documents and compliance services. The acquisition of IDS will bring Reynolds and Reynolds' docuPAD to the mortgage industry.

Executive Conversation: Sal Miosi on developing targeted solutions for customers

The benefit of having a high-level, cross-functional team lead our innovation efforts is that it shortens cycle times. We can move from idea to launch with speed because key parties are engaged at all points in the product design and implementation process simultaneously as opposed to serially.

Housing starts jump to 3-month high but permit decline could signal looming slowdown

After falling to a three-month low in August, housing starts rose in September to a three-month high and the second highest level in more than seven years, but one analyst says that there is some potentially troubling news hidden behind those positive numbers.

It’s a wrap: MBA annual ends on high note

After last night’s news that the Mortgage Bankers Association expects mortgage originations to shrink, the trade group closed its conference with a bright explanation.

Wednesday 21 October 2015

ClosingCorp launches real-time closing cost estimates

ClosingCorp, a provider of residential real estate closing cost data and technology for the mortgage and real estate services industries, announced the launch of a new tool that enables lenders to provide borrowers with realistic closing cost estimates in real-time.

MBA graduates 34 from residential Future Leaders Program

The Mortgage Bankers Association has trained more than 400 real estate finance professionals through its Future Leaders Program since 1996. This week at the MBA's Annual Convention and Expo, 34 residential mortgage finance professionals joined that number in a graduation ceremony that highlighted their accomplishments.

Tuesday 20 October 2015

Truck tonnage shows modest September gains but concerns remain, reports ATA

Seasonally-adjusted (SA) for-hire truck tonnage in September at 135.1 (2000=100) was 0.7 percent of August’s 134.1, and was 0.7 percent below the all-time high of 135.8 recorded in January 2015.

Freddie Mac announces partnership with The Mortgage Collaborative

Freddie Mac announced a partnership with The Mortgage Collaborative, an independent mortgage lending network of small, mid-sized and community-based lenders, that will help the group’s members build better businesses and compete more effectively in today's dynamic mortgage market.

Monday 19 October 2015

Shippers must remain vigilant if California’s ports are to recover

John McLaurin, president of the San Francisco-based Pacific Merchant Shipping Association tells shippers that complacency is not an option

MBA predicts mortgage lending will shrink next year

Before their presentation on Tuesday, Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist and senior vice president of Research and Industry Technology, and Marina Walsh, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis, gave a sneak preview to the press on what the industry can expect in originations next year. Click the headline to read more.

Friday 16 October 2015

Clayton Holdings names Andrew Pollock head of consulting services

Clayton Holdings, a provider of loan due diligence, surveillance, REO management, and consulting services to the mortgage industry, announced the addition of Andrew Pollock as senior managing director of Clayton Consulting Services.

Attending the Supply Chain Outlook Summit? Prepare to Be Impressed!

This Summit will feature presentations from highly respected Supply Chain experts.

Thursday 15 October 2015

Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach September volumes mixed but trending in right direction

Total POLA September volumes were down 5.8 percent at 730,306 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) compared to September 2014, which was one of the strongest months in the port’s history, and POLB September volume was up 4.1 percent annually at 655,624 TEU.

RES.NET launching loss mitigation portal

RES.NET, a technology platform that allows mortgage banking companies, vendors, consumers and other parties to communicate around a transaction, will officially announce a loss-mitigation portal at next week’s Mortgage Bankers Association Annual Convention in San Diego, but the company provided HousingWire with an advanced look at what’s to come.

Sneak Peek: See Who Is Sponsoring the Supply Chain Outlook Summit

Check out the leading vendors that will be showcasing their products and services at the Supply Chain Outlook Summit November 2-3 in Chicago.

CFPB, regulatory concerns drive Bank of America out of MSAs

Citing “recent regulatory developments,” Bank of America will become the latest lender to discontinue its use of marketing services agreements. The move comes just days after the CFPB issued guidance on MSAs, which some in the industry viewed as a "strong warning" against using the marketing agreements.

Wednesday 14 October 2015

Q2 large truckload carrier driver turnover rate heads up, reports ATA

The ATA said that the annualized turnover rate for large truckload carriers, which it defines as truckload fleets with more than $30 million in revenue, increased 3 percent to an annualized rate of 87 percent in the second quarter.

Is the rental market about to bust?

The status of the rental market is buried beneath two seemingly different market indictor reports. However, after a little digging, a new Capital Economics report discovered the likely reason behind the two opposing indicators, noting things are not as bad as they appear.

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Denver’s marijuana boom pushing city into housing crisis

The legalization of marijuana in the state of Colorado has had a positive impact on the state’s economy, but the state’s largest city is facing a housing crisis, as steeply rising home prices are pricing out much of the city’s population.

Coming soon: Down payment insurance for borrowers

A new program launching early next year will give borrowers the opportunity to protect their upfront investment in their home, just as lenders are able to do with mortgage insurance. Meet down payment insurance — for borrowers.

7 common myths about the homebuying process

While homebuying is a very intensive process, what you may be inaccurately assuming could be what’s keeping you from your dream home.

Questions arise on how the TRID transitional period works

The legal analysts at Ballard Spahr dig into the issues still being raised about how the transition period for the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule works, and the issue of civil lawsuit liability. Find out what you need to know.

Housing advocates celebrate anniversary of Community Reinvestment Act

Affordable housing advocates have an additional anniversary to celebrate on Columbus Day, the 38th anniversary of the Community Reinvestment Act.

[Study] Americans shop around for everything but mortgages

Americans are far more likely to go out of their way just to save 10 cents on a gallon of gas than they are to shop around for the best rate on a home loan. A new study found that 79% of Americans consider themselves to be “bargain hunters." But that bargain hunting ends for major financial loans, like cars and houses.

Here are the 3Q bank earnings to watch for this week

It’s time for banks to post their earnings again, shedding light on the health of the mortgage industry. These are the first reporting mega banks to watch for.

Trulia: Americans just not worried about mortgage rates rising

Low rates in part helped push mortgage applications to a surge last week, and rates have held steadily below 4% for 11 weeks. Now Selma Hepp, chief economist at Trulia, argues that it would take a big increase for homebuyers to care that much. A big, big increase.

Here’s how TRID is changing the mortgage industry

It's the second full week of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule, and it’s impacting real estate and mortgage finance at almost every point along the pipeline.

Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: Is Fed, housing policy at a crossroads?

Today is Columbus Day and it seems like both housing policy and the Fed’s monetary policy are, like Christopher Columbus early on, not sure where they want to go or how to get there. Will they get lucky?

Friday 9 October 2015

Cautious optimism is the theme for holiday season imports in Port Tracker report

As was the case a month ago, the Global Port Tracker report from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates is calling for annual import cargo volume gains at United States ports, as retailers gear up for the holiday season.

FGMC names Nicholas Imbimbo director, TPO operations

First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation, which provides correspondent, wholesale and retail mortgage origination channels, announced the addition of Nicholas Imbimbo as director, third-party origination operations.

XPO Logistics says it has received offers for Con-way Truckload

On the heels of announcing it plans to acquire freight transportation and logistics services provider Con-way Inc. for $3 billion, XPO Logistics may be considering selling off Con-way Truckload, the company’s truckload arm.

LERETA Chief Executive Officer Jim Thornton retiring

LERETA, a provider of access to property tax data and flood hazard status information for the mortgage and insurance industries, announced the retirement of Jim Thornton as the company’s chief executive officer, ending a 25-year run with the company.

Thursday 8 October 2015

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac announce new mortgage buyback rules

Aiming to provide lenders with “more clarity and transparency” and encourage increased access to credit to worth borrowers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced a set of new policies pertaining to mortgage buybacks. The new rules, which take effect on Jan. 1, 2016, establish a list of potential alternatives to repurchase that either of the GSEs could offer to lenders in the event of underwriting defects.

5 common down-payment misconceptions

Before you let the cost of a down payment get in the way of your homeownership dream, make sure you fully understand the options available to you. One of these five common misconceptions could be holding you back from buying a home.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac just joined CFPB in extending TRID grace period

While the House of Representatives is due to vote any day now on formalizing a hold harmless grace period for the enforcement of the CFPB’s new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rules, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are extending an olive branch to the industry, by establishing their own grace period for TRID enforcement – albeit without a designated end date.

This is the JPMorgan strategy to offset falling mortgage revenues

JPMorgan Chase is attempting to grow its mortgage market share to offset recent revenue declines in its mortgage business as fewer Americans refinance, a move viewed as risky by most big banks. But according to JPMorgan, they have their bases covered.

10 amazing markets housing investors really need to consider

Atlanta, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, Riverside and San Diego are included among the 2015 "Best Markets Top 10 List" compiled quarterly by HomeVestors and Local Market Monitor, which looks for investment opportunities in a housing market where broad foreclosure opportunities are shrinking.

KBRA: Fed actions inflate financial risks in bank portfolios

A new industry report blames the Federal Open Market Committee for the rising risk in bank loan portfolios. Plainly stated, this economic environment is too good to be believed – or sustained.

White House absolutely wrong to threaten veto of TRID bill

The White House is threatening to veto a wholly bipartisan House measure that would simply create a formal “hold-harmless” grace period for lenders and others in the industry operating under the new and incredibly complex TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule. Because reasons or something.

CFPB sets its crosshairs on lending arbitration clauses

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is going after standard arbitration clauses, an avenue with a nine-decade pedigree designed to allow consumers and businesses a far less expensive option. This could affect most consumer lending, including expanding the existing limits in mortgage lending.

White House threatens to veto TRID grace period bill

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill that would extend and formalize the grace period for the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule until Feb. 1, 2016, and the White House is threatening to veto the measure if it passes Congress. Congress isn't blinking.

Mortgage applications skyrocket more than 25%

After a summer of subdued or declining activity, mortgage applications increased 25.5% from one week earlier. The gains were in both purchase and refi applications.

Fifth Third to pay $85 million for faulty FHA mortgages

Fifth Third Bancorp will pay $85 million as a part of settlement with the federal government over allegations that the bank failed to self-report mortgages it knew to be defective, causing millions of dollars in losses to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Will the Fed raise interest rates if the federal government is shut down?

While a government shutdown isn’t seen as highly likely this fall, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. A few circumstances could align to make it happen right when the Federal Reserve is looking at raising interest rates.

Wednesday 7 October 2015

House to vote on TRID grace period Wednesday

Congressional sources tell HousingWire that the House will consider H.R. 3192, the Homebuyers Assistance Act, sponsored by Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., Wednesday afternoon. The industry says it's badly needed. Will it pass and will it be enough?

California woman preyed on distressed homeowners, defied CFPB

Najia Jalan received a sentence of 70 months in federal prison for her role in a scheme that involved Jalan falsely presenting herself as a member of the Department of the Treasury. And it doesn't end there. Jalan also pretended she was an attorney and defied a restraining order placed on her business by the CFPB.

Daniel Consuegra joins LOGS Network firm Shapiro Fishman & Gache

Daniel Consuegra, the managing partner of the Law Offices of Daniel C. Consuegra, joins the Florida law firm of Shapiro Fishman & Gache, a member of the LOGS Network. The new firm will be renamed Shapiro Fishman Consuegra & Gache.

House passes bipartisan TRID grace period bill 303-121

Defying the threat of a White House veto, the House on Wednesday afternoon passed bipartisan legislation to help homebuyers avoid delays and disruptions when closing on their new homes by a bipartisan vote of 303-121. Here's what happens next.

Tuesday 6 October 2015

Auto recall issues bring reverse logistics into play

While many auto executives expect more industry recalls in 2015 and 2016, just 8 percent use advanced predictive analytics to help prevent, prepare for, and manage recalls, according to a recent online poll from Deloitte.

Western Washington on the edge of a housing market slowdown

Home sales in western Washington state are predicted to slow down the rest of the year and into early 2016 due to these three things. And then there's TRID.

Monday 5 October 2015

Another one bites the dust: MERS wins again

MERSCORP Holdings announced Monday that it secured another victory over a homeowner who challenged its authority to assign a mortgage. MERS had its authority upheld this time by the Court of Appeal of California for the Third Appellate District.

TNT shareholders and management sign off on FedEx deal but challenges remain

The planned $4.8 billion acquisition of Netherlands-based TNT-NV and a provider of mail and courier services and the fourth largest global parcel operator, by FedEx may be showing signs of coming closer to fruition, with TNT’s shareholders formally giving their blessing on the proposed deal.

Black Knight: Cash-out refis up 68% since August 2014

Cash-out refinances jumped 68% year-over-year in August, as borrowers take advantage of still-low rates and newfound equity in their homes. Does that mean we're in pre-bubble territory?

Sunday 4 October 2015

Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: What are we going to do with Fannie and Freddie?

Seven years later and the GSEs are still stuck in conservatorship. Isn’t it about time someone did something? But what? Plus, a look at the impact of Dodd-Frank on the recovery, a humorous take on hipster gentrification and more.

Port of Oakland to introduce cleaner diesel technology for terminals

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the Port of Oakland $277,885 to upgrade cargo-handling equipment and reduce exhaust emissions on the waterfront.

Saturday 3 October 2015

Logistics Best Practices: How Do Yours Compare?

Did you know that there is a correlation between logistics solutions and customer loyalty? 70% of customers are willing to spend more money for good customer service which means you must have on-time delivery, proficient inventory management and a strong logistics strategy.

What does a post-TRID world look like?

D-day is upon us. TRID-day that is. So, what exactly does a post-TRID world look like? HousingWire spoke with Terry Moore, senior managing director at Accenture Credit Services, about how much different real estate and mortgage finance will be going forward.

Thursday 1 October 2015

Global 3PL CEOs optimistic about future growth

As was the case in its predecessor report a year ago, third-party logistics (3PL) CEOs are confident and optimistic about the current and future revenue growth, according to the Annual Surveys of Third-Party Logistics (3PL) CEOs, released earlier this week at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Annual Conference in San Diego.

HUD hands out $38 million to fight housing discrimination

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced this week that it is awarding $38 million total to more than 100 groups to be used for fighting housing discrimination. Click here to see which groups will receive HUD funding.

Wednesday 30 September 2015

2015 started as most affordable housing market in two years

Buying a home was at the most affordable level in two years at the beginning of this year. Somewhat surprisingly, affordability is actually improving in most markets thanks to falling interest rates and slowing home price growth.

Tuesday 29 September 2015

New trucking initiative seeks to polish industry’s image to nation

A new trucking advocacy group is trying to buff up and modernize the image of the 7 million Americans involving in the domestic trucking industry.

San Francisco proposes plan to address skyrocketing housing costs

The city of San Francisco is moving to combat its rapidly rising housing costs. The city unveiled a new plan that offers more moderately priced housing in exchange for allowing builders to exceed the city’s current building height restrictions.

JPMorgan financing $100M Los Angeles ‘trophy properties’

Buyers looking for the most extravagant of extravagance have that opportunity, courtesy of Junius Real Estate Partners, which is part of JPMorgan’s private bank. A team led by Junius and developer Domvs London are offering the uber-wealthy the chance to build a mansion overlooking Los Angeles, for the low starting price of $115 million.

EXCLUSIVE: How the Blackstone-Stearns Lending deal came together and what’s next

Almost a month ago, an announcement from Blackstone and Stearns Lending shook up the mortgage lending world. In an exclusive interview with HousingWire, the executives from Blackstone and Stearns Lending share how the deal came together and shed some light on what’s next for Stearns Lending now that it’s part of the Blackstone family.

MBA Stevens: The CFPB’s complaint database is unreliable

Very few people outside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are happy about the CFPB’s consumer complaint database. Now David Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, weighs in with his take on the unreliable tool.

CHLA unveils plan for massive GSE reform, ending profit sweep

The Community Home Lenders Association authored an action plan that lays out transitional steps to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, preserve a government guarantee and protect taxpayers.

Attention Presidential candidates: Hispanic voters want homeownership!

In multiple surveys, Hispanics rank homeownership as the primary evidence of success and the ultimate realization of the American Dream. While the presidential election is more than a year away, the subject of housing has yet to be addressed by most of the candidates.

Declining oil prices will have a muted impact on housing

While everyone enjoys low prices at the pump, the impact of it can reverberate throughout the economy and cause some unintended consequence. However, the severity this time around is a lot less than what the country experienced during the last big oil price decline in the 1980s.

Fatal Realtor kidnapping pushes real estate industry to change

Beverly Carter was kidnapped from a showing and murdered a year ago. Now, her son tells HousingWire that the industry has taken steps to increase safety, but there is much more work to do, or it could happen again.

The answer for affordable housing? Single-family homes

Rentals in single-family homes and small multifamily buildings are a viable solution for helping the significant lack of affordable homes in the housing market. But in order for this to happen, these three policies need to change.

Freddie Mac continues reducing credit risk with new insurance policies

Freddie Mac continues its efforts to limit the taxpayers’ liability by an additional insurance policy designed to cover much of the remaining credit risk associated with one of its Structured Agency Credit Risk transactions from earlier this year.

Brooklyn overtakes Manhattan as hottest rental market in NYC

Renters in Brooklyn face the steepest competition for apartments and also carry New York City's highest rent burden. But the latest facts for Manhattan's rental situation doesn't look much more appealing.

Pending home sales decline 1.4% in August

Pending home sales retreated in August despite analyst expectations of a 0.5% gain. According to the National Association of Realtors' chief economist, "There are looming speed bumps that have the potential to impact housing."

Black Knight: July housing prices rose 0.4%

Black Knight Financial Services’ home price index report for July 2015 shows that home prices jumped 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. This puts national home prices up nearly 27% since the bottom of the market at the start of 2012.

The bad news isn't close to over for the housing sector

A recent industry article reported that bad loans remain well above pre-crisis levels. Does this sound like the housing sector is in a real recovery? Here's one industry expert's thoughts on the issue. You can decide from there whether this recovery is real or not.

Carrington Mortgage Services names Carmen Alailima inside regional sales manager

The wholesale lending division of Carrington Mortgage Services announced the appointment of Carmen Alailima to the position of inside regional sales manager of its wholesale West division, in Henderson, Nevada.

Struggling housing markets use high LTVs to their benefit

While cities like Detroit and Cleveland are not recovering as well as the rest of the country, they are benefitting from higher loan-to-value ratios. And when this is combined with other credit safeguards, the struggling cities should be able to pick themselves back up onto their feet again.

MERS’ mortgage assignment authority upheld by three Federal Courts

MERS announced Friday that it secured victories in three separate Federal Courts, each of which upheld MERS’ mortgage assignment rights. In each case, the plaintiffs sued MERS and other financial companies to avoid foreclosure based on claims that MERS could not hold or assign a security instrument.

Florida mortgage company owner gets 11 years in prison for leading massive fraud scheme

The owner and operator of a Miami-area mortgage company will serve the next 11 years in prison. He was convicted for his part in a massive fraud scheme that defrauded the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Administration of more than $64 million.

Boehner’s House resignation is huge opportunity for real housing leadership

Boehner's lack of leadership on housing in the House shows someone finally needs to clean house and talk about housing policy. In the House. And the White House. So who will it be? And why is it so critical? Read on.

John Boehner resigns from Congress

Speaker of the House John Boehner will resign and give up his House seat at the end of October. The announcement comes amid intense pressure from conservatives in his party, along with Congress, as they try to avoid a government shutdown.

How strong is the mortgage market really?

Heading into the fall, the health of the mortgage market in 2015 is falling in line with initial expectations at the beginning of the year and above consensus estimates. But how strong is that really?

Final 2Q GDP comes in at 3.9%

Personal spending was stronger than expected in the second quarter, helping to drive real GDP to a very solid 3.9% annualized rate. However, the biggest push was from fixed residential investment.

Black Knight: Mortgage delinquencies see biggest annual drop since 2011

Though mortgage delinquencies rose about 2.5% month-over-month in August, the national delinquency rate saw the largest year-over-year decline since May 2011.

Monday 28 September 2015

Logistics managers should prepare for surge in Global Trade Management demand

Driven by the expansion of international trade and major new trade agreements, the worldwide market for Global Trade Management (GTM) will continue its strong growth over the forecast period, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study.

Here’s how the CFPB made mortgages easier in rural, underserved areas

Silver State Schools Credit Union is one lender that was deeply impacted by the changes to the CFPB’s mortgage rules, and according to its chief credit officer, the ability to be less fearful of non-QM loans is a huge win for borrowers.

Sunday 27 September 2015

Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: Lenders want Congress to stop FHFA rule change

Everyone talks about Millennials and housing affordability, but a looming crisis may be brewing for retiring Boomers. Also, a look at mortgage bond investment, the FHFA proposed rule on FHLB and more.

Saturday 26 September 2015

August U.S. waterborne shipments rebound after a tough July, reports Panjiva

While July fell somewhat short of expectations for United States-bound waterborne shipments, data from Panjiva, an online search engine with detailed information on global suppliers and manufacturers, shows that August helped make up for the previous month’s shortfall.

Nexgen Mortgage Solutions launches secure, TRID-ready title solution

Nexgen Mortgage Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Linear Title & Closing, is now offering a new end-to-end solution that allows mid-tier lenders to work with their title agents directly from within their loan origination system.

Friday 25 September 2015

Yellen's speech on interest rates reignites Twitter speculation

Barring any surprises in the economy, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said she, and most other FOMC participants, anticipate raising the federal funds rate later this year. Which fueled another round of rate hike speculation on Twitter.

FTR’s Gross provides update of intermodal market

While intermodal transportation may not currently be seeing the traction on the domestic side, things are picking up in other areas, most notably on the international side, as well as the ongoing improvements in service levels, said Larry Gross, senior consultant at freight transportation consultancy FTR at this week's Intermodal Expo.

Thursday 24 September 2015

Infor’s $675 million acquisition of GT Nexus is official

Infor, a supply chain and logistics technology services and ERP software provider, said today that its planned acquisition of GT Nexus, a global provider of cloud-based global commerce technology, which was announced last month, has been completed.

How will TRID impact the digital mortgage space?

While the industry is accustomed to regulatory changes, it is typically slow to adopt technological advances. For lenders who already offer a digital mortgage, the TRID implementation is less painful. And even more important, it's significantly better for consumers.

Tuesday 22 September 2015

Michaelson, Connor & Boul now offering FHA loan conveyance consulting

Michaelson, Connor & Boul, which served as the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s nationwide mortgagee compliance manager for the last five years, is launching a new consulting division.

New Armstrong report addresses carrier/freight broker mix

Ever-evolving logistics management business models have driven significant change in the Domestic Transportation Management (DTM)/Freight Brokerage landscape

Monday 21 September 2015

Crops, not coal, are best for Oakland

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis is presenting testimony to the Oakland City Council today that questions the wisdom of a proposal to expand the Port of Oakland’s coal-export capacity at the Oakland Army Base Redevelopment project.

SEC settles with former Fannie Mae execs over subprime fraud

A 2011 lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against two former Fannie Mae executives is over. The execs were charged with misleading investors about the quality of subprime mortgages. However, it's the fine print that is leaving people wondering.

Stonegate CEO departure could lead to delisting warning from NYSE

The abrupt departure of Stonegate Mortgage Founder and CEO Jim Cutillo could have Stonegate in a bit of hot water with the New York Stock Exchange, as the majority of its board of directors are no longer independent. The problem: This is in direct violation of NYSE rules.

Goldman Sachs targets Millennial recruits through Snapchat

Goldman Sachs launched a new ad strategy through Snapchat to broaden its allure among Millennials, becoming the first major Wall Street bank to use the app for potential hires. Could Snapchat be one effective way to fix this the aging mortgage industry?

Two New York credit unions placed into conservatorship

The National Credit Union Administration placed two New York-based credit unions into conservatorship, citing “unsafe and unsound” conditions at each credit union. Click here to read more about what's next for each credit union.

More ZIRP from the Federal Reserve surprises exactly no one

The Fed made its decision to not raise interest rates because it boxed itself in with this failed program of artificially propping up Wall Street. It knows full well that with the stagnating world economic picture and the volatility in our stock market, raising interest rates is not worth the risk… yet.

Wait, the San Francisco mummy house sold for how much?!?!?

In case you were wondering just how crazy the real estate market in San Francisco is right now, we present the San Francisco mummy house as Exhibits A, B and C. Not even the mummified corpse of a homeowner, rats, black widows, mold, and hundreds of bottles of urine could keep buyers away.

A Millennial just wrote the dumbest article about money in the history of ever

On a Millennial website called Elite Daily, a twenty-something unleashed the dumbest, most shortsighted, wrong-headed, idiotic, silly, and stereotypically Millennial piece of “advice” in the history of humans. So I couldn't help but take a blowtorch to this "elite" rainbow starfish unicorn and her worldview.

Frank Nothaft: Is the single-family rental market really a strong investment?

The single-family rental market was on fire over the last two years, and according to one chief economist, this boom is not likely to end anytime soon. Frank Nothaft answers the puzzling question: Is the SFR market a short-term phenomenon created by the foreclosure crisis or the real deal fueled by long-term demographics and economic trends?

Here’s how the Fed interest rate looked before ZIRP

The Fed did not raise interest rates on Thursday despite a lot of industry speculation, leaving December as the next viable option. But instead of looking at the future of interest rates, do you know what the past looked like? To better understand the future, use this chart from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer, champion of housing finance reform, to retire from Congress

Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, a champion of housing finance reform who co-authored the PATH Act, which would have wound down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will not seek re-election in 2016.

Appraisal Alert: Activity picks up thanks to potential Fed interest rate hike

Appraisal Alert is a weekly roundup of news, information and trends in the appraisal industry, and this week there's a world of things happening. According to Kevin Golden, director of analytics for a la mode inc, the industry can credit the rise in volume to fears of a rate hike from the Fed.

Sunday 20 September 2015

Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: Industry getting insistent about TRID guidance

A Treasury bureaucrat was misleading under oath, and Nero is fiddling. Also, lenders, appraisers, brokers and pretty much everyone is getting more nervous about TRID, and now there is less than a month until it goes into effect. Are you ready?

Friday 18 September 2015

Increase Revenue through eCommerce

Many manufacturers are increasing revenues through eCommerce. Whether it is selling directly to the end users, or transacting with partners, eCommerce is now a channel that manufacturers cannot afford to ignore. See a manufacturer's journey through deploying a fully integrated eCommerce solution including the reasoning behind their decision and the benefits they realized.

CFPB announces new members of industry advisory boards

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced the appointment of new consumer finance experts from outside the federal government to its Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council, and Credit Union Advisory Council. According to the CFPB, all three bodies provide advice to CFPB leadership on a broad range of consumer financial issues and emerging market trends

Supply Chain Outlook Summit: Understanding the True Cost of Doing Business

Supply Chain Management and Transportation Expert Kevin Zweier urges supply chain managers to take a hard look at how emerging channels and distribution networks are impacting the true costs of doing business.

Freddie Mac offering first actual loss high-LTV risk-sharing deal

Freddie Mac breaks more ground in its push to alleviate the risk to American taxpayers by offloading some of its credit risk onto investors. The GSE announced that it intends to expand its Structured Agency Credit Risk Series with its first risk-sharing offering that features actual loss on loans with loan-to-value ratios ranging from 80% to 95%.

Wednesday 16 September 2015

FedEx turns in decent fiscal Q1 results while falling short of Wall Street expectations

Quarterly net income at $692 million was up 5.6 percent annually, and revenue at $12.3 billion was up 4.9 percent. Operating income at $692 million was up 5.6 percent. Quarterly operating margin—at 9.3 percent—saw a 2.2 percent annual gain, and earnings per share of $2.42 were up 6.7 percent but were below Wall Street estimates of $2.45 per share.

Economist: Texas is not in a housing bubble

A recent market report shows that home prices in five Texas markets are well above their historical peak levels, which sounds like bad news for the state's housing market. Is the Lone Star state entering a bubble? According to one Texas economist, there is more to the story than just those numbers.

Tuesday 15 September 2015

August edition of Cass Freight Index report shows shipment and expenditure declines

August followed a similar pattern laid out in July in the most recent edition of the Cass Freight Index Report from Cass Information Systems, with declines for both freight shipments and expenditures.

New American Funding opens branch in Washington

New American Funding is adding to its nearly 100 branches across the country and announced it opened a new location in Washington State.

Saturday 12 September 2015

FTR reports significant gains in Trucking Conditions Index

The most recent edition of the Trucking Conditions Index (TCI) from freight transportation forecasting firm FTR continued to show a recent growth push, with the July TCI, which is the most recent month for which data is available, hitting a new high for 2015.

Keller Williams posts record expansion

Keller Williams increased its base by 17% since Jan. 1, 2015, growing to more than 125,000 associates. In the first half of the year, Keller Williams shattered monthly records, with transactions up 20% to almost 400,000 units.

Friday 11 September 2015

Evans Bank settles with New York over redlining

New York’s lawsuit alleged that, from at least 2009 to the present, Evans had redlined Buffalo’s predominantly African-American East Side neighborhoods, intentionally excluding these neighborhoods from its lending area.

Automatic Identification of Pallets

Scan one or multiple codes on any pallet indoor or outdoor, even if the codes are damaged, scratched, folded or covered with a film, and achieve the highest read rates on the market no matter if the reader is fixed on the wall, on a conveyor or even directly placed on a forklift.

Thursday 10 September 2015

XPO Logistics set to make another major acquisition, announcing it plans to acquire Con-way

XPO Logistics said it plans to acquire Con-way, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based provider of transportation and logistics services, including its flagship less-than-truckload group Con-way Freight, Con-way Truckload, and its global 3PL unit Menlo Logistics.

Distressed sales just 9.4% of homes sold in June

Distressed sales—real estate-owned and short sales—accounted for 9.4% of total home sales nationally in June 2015, down 2.4 percentage points from June 2014 and down 0.9 percentage points from May 2015. Here's what it means for sales and investors.

Safeguard Properties names Pat Hoffman assistant vice president

Safeguard Properties, a provider of mortgage field services, announced the addition of Pat Hoffman to the newly created position of assistant vice president of operations. In this position, Hoffman will assist the chief operating officer in identifying and executing on a number of strategic operational initiatives.

Fannie Mae drops mortgage modification interest rate to lowest level ever

After raising the benchmark interest rate for its standard modification program twice in the last three months, Fannie Mae is set to drop the benchmark rate back down to the lowest level it’s ever been. Click here to read the details.

Freddie Mac makes it easier to get a mortgage modification

Freddie Mac said that this revision will “substantially increase” the number of borrowers who qualify for standard and streamlined modifications and provide additional mortgage payment relief for certain borrowers. Will it really be a game changer?

HUD OIG: More than 25,000 households using public housing despite higher incomes

The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Housing & Urban Development estimates that there are more than 25,0000 households taking up public housing units that exceed HUD’s 2014 eligibility income ceilings, meaning homes that could be used by 25,000 families in need. HUD's finally taking action.

Dallas real estate pioneer, Ebby Halliday, passes at 104

Ebby Halliday Acers, founder of one of the largest residential real estate companies, passed away overnight of natural causes at 104 years old. “While we grieve the loss of Ebby, our legendary founder and my friend and mentor for over 50 years, we celebrate a long life well lived,” said Mary Frances Burleson, president and CEO of The Ebby Halliday Companies.

Castle & Cooke promotes Jenifer Edwards to national compliance manager

Castle & Cooke Mortgage, an independent mortgage lender with 38 locations across the United States, announced the promotion of Jenifer Edwards from licensing & compliance specialist to national compliance manager.

Zillow completes Trulia integration; begins universal ad sales to agents

The last hurdle in the Zillow-Trulia integration process is now complete. Now, agents that advertise with the Zillow Group can reach a massive audience, all with one ad buy – a fact that Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff views as absolutely crucial for the future of Zillow and the real estate industry as a whole.

Texas Capital Bank breaks into correspondent lending

Texas Capital Bank announced it is launching a correspondent lending program to work in conjunction with its warehouse lending program. And thanks to the new division, the lender expects to hire 100 mortgage professionals in Richardson, Texas during the next year.

Surge in sales leads to tighter housing market

With limited numbers of existing homes coming onto the market, rising sales have led to very tight market conditions, according to a new client note from Capital Economics. This may be good for buyers and here's why.

HW 30 ahead of major indices in early trading

Housing and mortgage finance stocks are leading in gains in early trading — well ahead of the Dow Jones and Nasdaq. But homebuilders are down. Read on.

Henry Cisneros: Presidential candidates need to talk housing policy, now

For generations of Americans, a safe and affordable home has been the foundation for economic success. For many, owning a home has been the key to their financial security and that of their children and grandchildren. We need ideas to fix the current mess.

MGIC: Primary new mortgage insurance slips to $4B

Primary new mortgage insurance slipped lower in August compared to the past two months, falling to $4 billion, according to MGIC Investment’s latest operational summary of its insurance subsidiaries for its primary mortgage insurance.

Mortgage applications drop 6.2% for week

Mortgage applications decreased 6.2% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 4, 2015. Here's where the drop was.

Ginnie Mae changes issuer requirements

Citing an increase in the volume and complexity of requests for business status change approvals from its issuers, Ginnie Mae announced Tuesday a series of changes to its requirements. Click here to read Ginnie Mae's new rules.

Is Detroit making a comeback?

Detroit remains an elusive city that the country can't seem to define. Is it destined to be the next greatest city in the country or is the city better left a wasteland? The next five years might be a game changer for it.

Want to know the hottest 20 housing markets in America right now?

Recent stock market volatility and seasonal trends may give buyers better financial options and more time to make purchase decisions entering the fall, says economist Jonathan Smoke. Want to know more?

Judge dumps MBS class action against Goldman Sachs

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero dismissed a five-year class action lawsuit against Goldman Sachs over the sale of highly leveraged, subprime mortgage bonds that hedge fund Dodona I LLC said Goldman planned to bet against.

Nomura, RBS agree to pay $839M over mortgage bonds

Nomura Holdings and The Royal Bank of Scotland have agreed to a settlement in federal court to pay $839 million over the sale of mortgage-backed securities. Here's how it breaks out.

Woman arrested after renting out abandoned house on Craigslist

A woman was arrested after renting out a vacant home to a family in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, leaving the family without a home. The family moved into the home after searching for a place on Craigslist. The problem: The woman had no authority to rent the residence.

Are liar loans sneaking back into the market?

Beginning hints of liar loans, which are loans made without verifying people's finances, are emerging back into the housing market. Liar loans widely participated in the hoopla that contributed financial crisis, but this time around they only bear passing resemblance to the past.

Gap between what homeowners and appraisers think widens yet again

Homeowner estimates of their home’s value exceeded appraiser opinions by a wider margin than in July, making August the seventh consecutive month of an increasingly wider gap between opinions. Here's what's happening.

Judge tosses two shareholder lawsuits against Ocwen Financial

Ocwen Financial Corp. on Friday won the dismissal of two securities class actions that arose from alleged compliance issues related to servicer agreeing to a $150 million settlement in 2014, and now shares of the company are trading higher. Read on.

CoreLogic: National foreclosure inventory shrinks 28% since last year

The national foreclosure inventory declined by 27.9% and completed foreclosures declined by 24.4% since July 2014, according to the latest foreclosure report from CoreLogic. Here's the lay of the land.

Rasmussen: 83% oppose government role in neighborhood diversity

American voters overwhelmingly say that it is not the government’s job to try to bring those of different income levels to live together, and they reject the rules from the Department of Housing & Urban Development designed to “affirmatively further fair housing.”

Mortgage Bankers expect sellers’ market in 2016 despite possible rate hike

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.

Black Knight: U.S. total equity up $825B to $7.6T

Home equity in the U.S. has increased by nearly $1 trillion in the past year to the highest level since 2007, and that has direct implications for borrowers’ ability to access the equity in their homes. Want to know how?

Executive Conversation: Debbie Lastoria on lien verification

NTC has created an executive team which has nearly 300 years of combined experience and deep expertise in this industry. Collectively, this knowledge gives us the edge to stay ahead of the game in this ever-changing world.

Tuesday 8 September 2015

AAR says chances of PTC deadline being met are slim

While railroads and other industry-related entities have made it clear that the Congressionally-mandated December 31, 2015 deadline for Unites States freight and passenger railroads to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) is unlikely to be met on time, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said today that chances of it happening are bleak.

SEC, U.S. Attorney charge three former Nomura RMBS traders with fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut are charging three former Nomura Securities International residential mortgage-backed securities traders with fraud, accusing the trio of “repeatedly lying” to customers about the pricing information of mortgage bonds and defrauding customers of millions of dollars.

Saturday 5 September 2015

Shipper compliance “refresher course” on deck

While shippers ready themselves for the long Labor Day weekend, we’d like to remind them that new security and compliance regulations are - as always – looming ahead.

Carrington Mortgage Services names Dennis Hueman senior vice president

In this position, Hueman will lead Carrington’s mortgage lending centralized operation in all aspects of tactical management and deployment of corporate objectives to deliver products and services.

Thursday 3 September 2015

Zillow sells Market Leader for massive loss

Zillow Group announced that it plans to sell Market Leader, a customer relationship management system for the real estate industry, to the Perseus Division of Constellation Software, an international provider of software and services. When Trulia bought Market Leader, the purchase price was reported to be as high as $355 million. Zillow announced Thursday that it is selling Market Leader for $23 million.

Supply Chain Outlook Summit: Procurement’s Value Proposition

You’ve heard the old saying, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Rob Handfield sees this as the best of times for procurement professionals, who have an opportunity to deliver real value to their organizations

Wednesday 2 September 2015

ARMCO announces TRID mortgage data comparison tool

ACES Risk Management, a web-based financial services quality control software provider, announced the release of TRIDCompare, a data comparison tool specifically designed for the new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure forms.

Truckload failures take a welcome step back in Q2, according to Avondale data

Putting the renewed strength in the truckload market into a very positive perspective is a report issued by Avondale Partners analyst Donald Broughton, which was released yesterday. Entitled, “Q2’15 Trucking Capacity; Goldilocks Era Continues,” Broughton explained that in the second quarter only 70 truckload fleets failed, or exited the business. That number may seem high to some, but it is not, especially when you consider that the second quarter of 2014 saw more than five times as many truckload carriers, 375 to be exact, exit the business.

For sale: Babe Ruth’s NYC apartment

Interested in owning a little piece of New York Yankees’ history? Well, you’re in luck because you can buy the New York apartment built and once owned by Babe Ruth. The price tag for the “home that Ruth Built” on the Upper West Side? $1.595 million.

Zillow: Mortgage access remains a barrier to potential buyers

It had been getting progressively easier to obtain a mortgage since 2012, but the first several months of this year marked a pause in easing access to mortgage credit. Still obstacles remain, but what are they really? Analysts disagree.

M&T Bank reaches settlement over discriminatory lending charges

M&T Bank Corporation reached a settlement agreement over discriminatory lending charges with the Fair Housing Justice Center. The settlement includes a nearly half-million dollar fine and several other stipulations.

HUD proposes new rules for FHA loans

Answering questions raised by, amongst others, leading Democrats in the House and Senate, Department of Housing and Urban Development released a revision to its previously announced changes to the rules for lenders that remit loans to the Federal Housing Administration. Click here to read about how the FHA's rules are about to change.

TitleOne acquires Sun Valley Title Company

TitleOne, an Idaho-based provider of title insurance and settlement services, announced the acquisition of Sun Valley Title Company. With the expansion, TitleOne now has 15 total offices and more than 200 employees in 14 Idaho counties.

Reminder: Rehab REOs to increase profits

Servicing and asset management organizations involved in the mortgage default arena need to look once again at each REO property on an individual case-by-case basis to determine if rehabilitation and/or property improvements are the best marketing strategy for each property.

Prominent Miami developers plead guilty for $36M affordable housing scheme

Several prominent Miami property developers and a well-known Fort Lauderdale contractor pleaded guilty this week to charges that they conspired to steal government funds intended for affordable housing projects. Click here to read more.

Homeowner beats HOA in lawsuit over purple backyard playground

Good news: The purple swingset can stay. A Missouri judge has ruled that a suburban Kansas City family's backyard playground won't need to have its color changed after a homeowners' association threatened the family with fines or jail time.

The do’s and don’ts of good credit for Millennials

If you are a Millennial preparing to get a mortgage for a new home, you should begin building credit as soon as possible. Try these tips on what to do and not to do to build credit.

Tuesday’s stock market crater hits housing stocks worse than Dow, Nasdaq

Today’s market collapse — the latest in a string of them — is once again hitting the stocks that drive the housing and mortgage finance economy worse than the major indices in early afternoon trading. Here's the carnage as of 2:10 p.m. ET.

Construction spending rises to 7-year high

Overall construction spending during July 2015 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,083.4 billion, 0.7% (±1.5%) above the revised June estimate of $1,075.9 billion, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Here's what it means for housing.

Mortgage technology product showcase: ClosingStream

The ClosingStream solution not only gives consumers the mortgage borrowing experience they want, but it creates efficiencies for the lender. By following ClosingStream’s online delivery and acknowledgement solution, lenders can save up to four days over mail-away disclosure processes.

Mortgage technology product showcase: Roostify

The Roostify platform allows everyone involved in the transaction to see exactly where the paperwork is in the pipeline and who the point person is for moving it along that phase of the chain.

Mortgage technology product showcase: Closing Insight

Closing Insight allows both lenders and settlement agents to efficiently collaborate on documents and fees to meet the new timeline requirements and enable an automated collaborative disclosure workflow between lenders and agents.

Mortgage technology product showcase: Path Software

The structure of the software eliminates the need for outside systems for the front and back end and provides data integrity by requiring loan data to match the lock data.

Mortgage technology product showcase: Loan HD Enterprise

The platform incorporates unique innovations to verify and validate loan file data from accurate pricing and eligibility, through the classification and data extraction of submitted loan documents, audit rules automation and structured audit workflows, to servicing on-boarding and loan performance analytics.

Mortgage technology product showcase: eTrac Enterprise

eTrac Enterprise is a 100% web-based, single-source valuation management platform that centralizes and compliantly automates all aspects of the appraisal process: vendor management, orders, assignments, tracking, accounting, delivery, reviews and sells.

Mortgage technology product showcase: Encompass Product & Pricing Service

Using the service also increases users’ bottom line. In fact, a recent MarketWise Advisors ROI study showed that users saw as much as $970 of added value per loan with Encompass. This came about through improved compliance, loan quality and efficiency when using the integrated products and services within the full Ellie Mae suite.

Mortgage technology product showcase: ConformX

ConformX gives lenders confidence that the final loan product is compliant, since it incorporates automated system defaults and rules-based data population. This automation reduces the possibility of human error in the loan process and also prevents data modification outside of the LOS, since the data is imported directly from the LOS.

Mortgage technology product showcase: Funding Suite

Creating new solutions that make the operational challenges of purchasing and analyzing credit services easier, more efficient and at lower cost is part of Cogent Road’s DNA. DiPaolo and Alan Baia, the company’s founders, share an office and spend the majority of their workweek conceiving new software functionality and designing systems.