Delinquency rates continued to increase in the fourth quarter for most commercial/multifamily mortgage investor groups, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Commercial/Multifamily Delinquency Report. Between the third and fourth quarters, the 30-plus day delinquency rate on loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) rose 1.63 percentage points to 5.69 percent. The 60-plus day delinquency rate on loans held in life company portfolios decreased 0.04 percentage points to 0.19 percent.Read more

Embrace Home Loans, a direct lender for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, approved by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and an issuer for Ginnie Mae, has announced it is expanding to accommodate current and future growth. The company is moving its Internet origination division, which is comprised of 50 employees, to an 18,000-sq. ft. building located in Providence, R.I.Read more

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Ed DeMarco has announced the extension of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), a refinancing program administered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to June 30, 2011. The program is a key component of the Administration’s Making Home Affordable Program announced in February 2009. The HARP program expands access to refinancing for qualified individuals and families whose homes have lost value. The program was set to expire June, 2010.Read more

The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), in partnership with the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network, has announced the launch of PreventLoanScams.org. “Troubled homeowners lose time and money when they are tricked by con artists who promise to help but never do,” said John Trasviña, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “This initiative combines the collective energies of public and private enterprises to strengthen the ability of law enforcement to prosecute scammers and protect homeowners.”Read more

U.S. house prices fell slightly in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI). The HPI, calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages, was 0.1 percent lower on a seasonally adjusted basis in the fourth quarter than in the third quarter of 2009. Over the year ending with the fourth quarter of 2009, seasonally adjusted prices fell 1.2 percent.Read more

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has announced that it has developed a concept for a new forbearance program that would allow qualified borrowers who had lost their jobs to remain in their homes while they seek new employment. According to the proposed program, loan servicers would reduce the borrower's mortgage payment to an affordable amount for up to nine months while the homeowner looked for employment.Read more

In the beginning, there were 50 lenders chosen by lottery in a pilot program. The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) authorized each lender to make just 50 Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), a novel home equity loan without monthly repayment obligations.Read more

When anyone starts talking about accounting, most people cover their ears and run away. Many would prefer to have a root canal than to learn about financial controls. I’m a CPA, but also a musician and would personally prefer to write about drum sets than accounting. It is an undeniably dull topic, but proper accounting for any business is immensely important. So why learn accounting? Aside from the ability to know if your business is making money, learning accounting can protect your company from the growing threat of corporate theft.Read more

Essent Guaranty Inc., a mortgage insurer founded to provide private capital to America's housing finance system, announced that it has been approved as a qualified mortgage insurer by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are chartered by Congress with a mission to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the U.S. housing and mortgage markets.Read more

Being that my company, Quality Mortgage Services LLC, is a compliance company, we help many mortgage companies combat fraud. The first thing that a company must have in place is a commitment to combating fraud or what we call the “Attitude” which emanates from the company’s leadership and trickles down. When a company has the commitment to of zero tolerance for unscrupulous deals, all the team members will be on board to combat fraud.Read more