FTC ramps up actions against real estate

The Federal Trade Commission today announced a "real estate competition sweep" that includes seven law enforcement actions.

Jeff Schmidt, director of the FTC's Competition Bureau, will discuss the actions during a Thursday press conference, according to an announcement at the agency's Web site. The event will be held at the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters.

The announcement does not specify what types of actions the FTC is taking.  more...

Three head to prison in $3.4M mortgage fraud case

Three people have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme in Indiana, and 10 more await sentencing after entering guilty pleas or being convicted at trial.

An Indianapolis, Ind., mortgage broker who pleaded guilty to participating in the multimillion-dollar fraud scheme was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison and ordered to make $3.4 million in restitution payments.

Kenneth McKinney, 40, president of American Savings Mortgage, admitted to participating in a scheme that allegedly used inflated appraisals, falsified loan applications and kick  more...

Countrywide mortgage production drops 22%

Countrywide Financial Corp. loaned more than twice as much money using pay-option adjustable-rate mortgage loans last September as in the same month this year, helping push overall mortgage production for the month down 22 percent from the same period last year.  more...

Bear Stearns moves into subprime lending

Bear Stearns is moving into the subprime lending business with the acquisition of Encore Credit Corp.'s mortgage banking platform.

Encore Credit, a subsidiary of ECC Capital Corp., will operate as a separate division of Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corp. Bear Stearns will take over Encore Credit's operating centers in Irvine, Calif.; Downers Grove, Ill.; and Glen Allen, Va.  more...

National foreclosures remain high

Property foreclosures nationwide remained high in September as housing markets continued to cool across the country.

The number of residential properties entering some stage of foreclosure during September was 112,210, down 1 percent from the previous month, and up 63 percent from September 2005, according to foreclosure tracking service RealtyTrac.

The national foreclosure rate now stands at one new foreclosure filing for every 1,030 U.S.  more...

Realogy to buy back 11 million shares

Realogy Corp. (NYSE: H) today announced that it plans to repurchase up to 11 million shares of its common stock through open market purchases.  more...

Nashville home sales post strong September

Home sales in the Greater Nashville, Tenn., area in September kept pace with their year-earlier level, as price growth slowed to a more normal rate, the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors reported.

Realtors recorded 3,455 home sales last month, almost identical to the 3,457 sales in September 2005, but down from 3,772 in August 2006.  more...

Real estate loan applications fall 5.5%

Overall mortgage applications sank 5.5 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 5.3 percent to 383.3 from 404.6 one week earlier, and the refinance Index decreased by 5.8 percent to 1,857 from 1,970.8 the previous week.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 46.4 percent of total applications from 46.7 percent the previous week.  more...

Overnight real estate rates track higher

Long-term mortgage interest rates were up again Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield grew to 4.75 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average increased to 5.89 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate rose to 5.58 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up at 5.33 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield edged up to 4.88 percent.

Rates are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states.  more...

Mortgage broker jailed for 10 years in flipping scheme

The first of five people to be sentenced in a Los Angeles-area property-flipping and mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in $6 million in fraudulent loans has received a 10-year prison sentence.

James Davis Bennett, 53, who owned several real estate companies in Anaheim Hills, was accused of buying multiple-unit rental properties in distressed areas of Los Angeles and Long Beach. He purchased the properties in cash in the name of his mother, wife and stepson, selling them to straw buyers at inflated prices.  more...