Bernanke Says It’s Premature To Put Brakes On Federal Stimulus
Is it time to wean Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the Federal Reserve Bank? Or is it too soon to phase out...
Almost Half Of U.S. Homeowners Still Underwater
More than 13 million homeowners were still underwater with their mortgages in the first quarter of 2013 - and about 9 million of...
Existing-Home Sales Rise, But Market Remains Constrained
Although existing-home sales rose in April, they remain below underlying demand because of limited inventory and tight credit, according to the National Association...
Study: Immigration Reform Could Generate $500 Billion In Housing Transactions
Passage of current legislation that creates a path to legalization for 11 million undocumented immigrants could create a new pool of 3 million...
How The National Mortgage Settlement Is Playing Out
Joseph A. Smith Jr., the official monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, has received an update on the consumer relief activities performed by...
MBA’s Attack Plan For The Return Of Private Capital To The Mortgage Industry
The government's involvement in the mortgage market has ballooned to unhealthy proportions, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). So what can the...
Louise Thaxton: What The Mortgage Industry Can Do For Our Warriors
PERSON OF THE WEEK: Military families are more likely to have excessive credit card debt compared to average Americans and have been described...
Ally Just About Ready To Kiss Mortgage Banking Goodbye
Ally Financial Inc. has entered into agreements with the Residential Capital LLC (ResCap) estate and its major creditors to support a Chapter 11...
Why Not Just Leave Fannie And Freddie Alone?
BLOG VIEW: Last week, the GSEs released their numbers for the first quarter of 2013. Under normal circumstances, for normal companies, the figures...
Suzanne Schakett: Connecting Mortgage Banking To Homebuilders
PERSON OF THE WEEK: Is now the right time to put a whole bunch of eggs in the homebuilding basket? Envoy Mortgage believes...
A Legislative Lobbying Primer
It is easy to get turned off on politics, especially in view of the strident nature of recent political campaigns and the partisan...
MBA: ‘We Need These Three Things From Washington’
Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) CEO David H. Stevens addressed his colleagues this week during the MBA's National Secondary Market Conference & Expo, calling...
Busy Week In The Mortgage Fraud Universe
Mortgage fraud took center stage this week in several corners of the U.S., led by a 12-year federal prison sentence for a Chicago...
Watt Is Obama’s Pick To Lead The FHFA
President Obama has announced his new man for the role of Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) director: U.S. Rep. Melvin Watt from North...
CoreLogic: Year-Over-Year Foreclosure Inventory Numbers Down Substantially
According to CoreLogic's March National Foreclosure Report, there were 55,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in March 2013, down from 66,000 in March...
Alex Hinojosa And The Appeal Of Google+
PERSON OF THE WEEK: When it comes to social media, there are three websites that seem to dominate all conversation relating to the...
Cutting Off The Hand To Spite The ARM?
REQUIRED READING: Sometimes rules that are made with the best of intentions end up creating more problems than solutions. A case in point:...
A CDFI Solution For Tribal Housing Problems
WORD ON THE STREET: Recently, our country has gone through an economic downturn that many have described as the worst recession since World...
The Top 10 Valuation Best Practices
REQUIRED READING: Mortgage valuations are an exercise in judgment and definitely not something that can be defined in absolute terms. While the exercise...
John Vella Considers The Servicing Industry
PERSON OF THE WEEK: Some professions are not for the faint-hearted - and if the events of the last few years provide any...