Home

No fast track for regulatory reform Premium Content

By Inman News, Wednesday, July 22, 2009.

A vote on the Obama administration's proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency has been pushed back to the fall, with Democrats reportedly uncertain they have the votes to enact the bill and other legislation that would overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system.  more...

Rent-vs.-own equation changing

By Inman News, Wednesday, July 22, 2009.

The difference between median rent and the monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home has shrunk from $777 a month to $221 in the past three years, according to an Associated Press analysis of 45 metro areas.

In areas like Cleveland, Atlanta, Indianapolis and St. Louis, the gap was less than $100 a month, AP reported.

The analysis, which relied on prices during the first quarter of the year, was conducted for AP by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services.  more...

Modest boost in loan applications

By Inman News, Wednesday, July 22, 2009.

Applications for purchase mortgages and requests to refinance existing home loans both saw modest gains during the week ending July 17, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in releasing the results of its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

Applications for refinancings grew 4 percent from the previous week, and requests to refinance accounted for 55.5 percent of all mortgage loan applications, up from 54.9 percent the week before.  more...

Florida targets mortgage rescue firms

By Inman News, Wednesday, July 22, 2009.

Florida officials are suing four related companies that were allegedly collecting up to $1 million a month in up-front fees for loan modification services that it failed to deliver, soliciting consumers through the Internet and automated phone calls using President Barack Obama's voice.

FHA All Day.Com, the company's owner, Jason Vitulano, and three other affiliated companies are accused of failing to perform services promised to homeowners facing foreclosure, after the Florida Attorney General's office received more than 300 complaints.  more...

Survey shows lenders still cautious

By Inman News, Wednesday, July 22, 2009.

Nearly three out of four major U.S. banks tightened their underwriting standards for residential mortgage loans in the 12 months ending March 31, and one in five discontinued or planned to discontinue one or more retail mortgage products.

While not unexpected, those and other findings of an annual survey by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency demonstrate the extent of a second consecutive year of tightened lending standards following four years of eased underwriting.  more...

Freddie Mac names new CEO

By Inman News, Wednesday, July 22, 2009.

Former Putnam Investments executive Charles "Ed" Haldeman will take over as chief executive officer of Freddie Mac in August, the company said, ending a months-long search for a replacement for David Moffett.  more...