Inflated real estate appraisals at center of fraud ring

Five individuals in Georgia and Pennsylvania were recently indicted on charges relating to a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

Nathan Parker, 48, a/k/a "Nathan Pasha," and his brother Danny Parker, 54, both of Philadelphia, and Carla Kinsey, 40, David Pinnix, 42, and London Bolden, 55, a/k/a "Larry Bolton," all of Atlanta, were indicted on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud and the use of false Social Security numbers.  more...

New ID accepted for real estate purchases

AmeriDream Inc., a non-profit provider of mortgage down-payment assistance, on Monday announced it is now accepting Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) from potential home buyers in an effort to expand home ownership.

ITINs are tax processing numbers issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to individuals who do not have, or who are not eligible for, Social Security Numbers. ITINs are issued regardless of immigration status because both resident and nonresident aliens may have U.S.  more...

Radian gets backup for non-prime real estate loans

Philadelphia-based Radian Group, a real estate loan insurer, has completed a transaction that will help it manage risk on non-prime mortgage loans, which generally go to people who are riskier because they don't qualify for prime loans under normal terms.

Radian completed its second structured finance transaction with Smart Home Reinsurance 2005-1 Limited. The transaction was created and funded through the sale of $98.5 million of credit-linked notes backed by a $1.68 billion pool of Radian-insured Alt-A mortgage loans.  more...

Tool automates credit accuracy for lenders

CreditXpert, a credit analysis and management services provider, today launched a tool for finding inaccuracies in consumer credit files and acting on them.

CreditXpert Detective scans an individual's credit data to reveal potential inaccuracies and recommend specific updates that will most significantly improve the person's credit score. It also automatically generates customized instructions and dispute letters.  more...

CityCrybs allows bidding for property placement

CityCrybs, which offers online real estate rental and sale listings for the New York City area, has emerged from beta testing, the company announced this week.

CityCrybs now offers a "pay-per-click" marketing service called AdReal, which allows Realtors to increase the exposure of their listings by bidding against one another for premium placement of their properties. The top bidder receives the premium property placement on the site.  more...

Overnight real estate rates hold steady

Long-term mortgage interest rates held steady Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 4.05 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average fell slightly to 5.13 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate dipped to 4.7 percent. The 1-year adjustable increased to 3.62 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.42 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...