Real estate pros sentenced in $20 million fraud

A former Missouri mortgage broker and a former real estate appraiser were sentenced in federal court last week in separate but related mortgage fraud cases involving nearly 300 fraudulent loans worth almost $20 million, officials said.

Avonda Nicodemus, 33, of Kansas City, Mo., a former account executive at Ameriquest Mortgage in Gladstone, and Peggy Snodgrass, 40, of Independence, Mo., who operated a real estate appraisal business in Raytown, Mo., were sentenced in separate appearances before U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, according to Bradley J.  more...

Wells Fargo, Dominion team up

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and home builder Dominion Homes have formalized and named their previously announced new joint venture, Centennial Home Mortgage, which will originate and fund mortgage loans in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, the companies said Tuesday.

Centennial Home Mortgage will provide mortgage origination services, including reviewing applications and pre-qualifying buyers for home loans for Dominion Homes' customers and the general public, the compan  more...

Congress examines federal housing program reform

A congressional subcommittee is holding a hearing this morning in Washington, D.C., to examine modernizing the Federal Housing Administration.

The Bush administration's 2007 budget proposes comprehensive reform for the Federal Housing Administration's single-family mortgage insurance. Under this proposal, mortgage insurance premiums will be based on the borrower's credit history, loan-to-value ratio, debt-to-income ratio, and on FHA's historical experience with similar borrowers.  more...

DocuSign snags $10 million in funding

Electronic signature service DocuSign has received a second round of funding totaling $10 million, the company announced late Tuesday.

The funding, led by new investor Sigma Partners, will be used to build out infrastructure and continue product development, the company said.

DocuSign's previous investors include Frazier Technology Ventures and Ignition Partners.

The Seattle-based electronic signature company is seeing more adoption from enterprise clients, acc  more...

Rates rise, borrowers rush real estate market

Overall mortgage applications increased 7.2 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, as interest rates climbed significantly, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 8.4 percent to 438.2 from 404.1 the previous week, whereas the refinance index increased by 5.3 percent to 1,640.8 from 1,558.4 one week earlier.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 36.6 percent of total applications from 37.3 percent the previous week.  more...

Overnight real estate rates slip

Long-term mortgage interest rates inched lower on Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield stayed at 4.86 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average dipped to 6.03 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate fell to 5.72 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up at 5.07 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased to 4.91 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...