Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Ed DeMarco has announced the extension of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), a refinancing program administered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to June 30, 2011. The program is a key component of the Administration’s Making Home Affordable Program announced in February 2009. The HARP program expands access to refinancing for qualified individuals and families whose homes have lost value. The program was set to expire June, 2010.Read more

United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton has announced that U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. has sentenced Barry C. Westergom of Jacksonville, Fla. to four years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud. The court also ordered restitution in the amount of $866,141.62 and entered a money judgment for $100,000, the amount that Westergom had obtained from the fraud. Westergom had pleaded guilty on Oct. 8, 2009.Read more

The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), in partnership with the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network, has announced the launch of PreventLoanScams.org. “Troubled homeowners lose time and money when they are tricked by con artists who promise to help but never do,” said John Trasviña, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “This initiative combines the collective energies of public and private enterprises to strengthen the ability of law enforcement to prosecute scammers and protect homeowners.”Read more

Changes in family and employment status as well as adjustments to monthly mortgage obligations played significant roles in California’s homeowners’ decisions to sell their homes in 2009, according to the California Association of Realtors (CAR) “2009-2010 Survey of California Home Sellers.” According to the report, 67 percent of all sellers in California did so as a result of difficulties related to meeting their mortgage obligation.Read more

FICO, a provider of analytics and decision management technology, has announced new and troubling findings uncovered in the latest analysis offered by its subscription service for businesses, FICO Score Trends. Reversing a long historic trend, mortgage default risk for consumers with high FICO scores now exceeds their credit card default risk, even though most credit cards are unsecured credit and mortgages are secured by real estate. The company observed a parallel rise in mortgage delinquencies for higher-scoring U.S. consumers.Read more

The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.47 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, down 17 basis points from the third quarter of 2009, and up 159 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate increased 50 basis points from 9.94 percent in the third quarter of 2009 to 10.44 percent this quarter.Read more

Charlotte’s new-home industry continues to struggle because of several factors, including a weak economy, a poor job market, foreclosures, fears of declining home values and tight credit conditions, said Bill Miley, Metrostudy’s Charlotte market manager. “While it is likely that the market hit a bottom in terms of annualized starts and closings in the fourth quarter of 2009, and that single-family detached homes are in short supply in some Charlotte counties, demand for homes in 2010 will depend on job growth,” he said.Read more

Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.01 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Feb. 4, 2010, up from last week when it averaged 4.98 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.25 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.40 percent with an average 0.7 point, up slightly from last week when it averaged 4.39 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.92 percent.Read more

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Manhattan real estate developer Michael Hershkowitz was sentenced to four years in prison for his participation in a $27 million Ponzi scheme involving fraudulent loans secured by nonexistent mortgages. According to the documents filed in the case in Manhattan federal court, Hershkowitz, working through a Manhattan real estate development company, The Kingsland Group Inc., and related entities (collectively, The Kingsland Group), fraudulently induced approximately 100 individuals tRead more

Flagstar Bancorp Inc., the holding company of Flagstar Bank, has announced that the company has raised $300 million of capital  through a previously announced rights offering, which closes on Feb. 8, 2010. In addition, Flagstar has announced that Todd McGowan has joined as chief risk officer and that James A. Ovenden has been elected to the board of directors and appointed to its audit committee. The company also announced that it has entered into agreements with the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) to address certain banking issues identified by the OTS.Read more