News

Bank of America announced on Monday that it has combined its mortgage and home equity operations with Countrywide Home Loans under the umbrella of a single brand – Bank of America Home Loans. BofA said that just 10 months after acquiring the subprime lending leader, the Countrywide brand is now retired.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced last week that it has selected three firms to manage its portfolio of assets issued by banks and other institutions participating in the Capital Purchase Program (CPP).

Following the apparent suicide of Freddie Mac’s acting CFO David Kellermann on Wednesday, the GSE’s former CEO David Moffett, who resigned from his post in March, has agreed to temporarily return to the company as a consultant to interim CEO John Koskinen.

Existing-home sales slipped in March, after exhibiting a hopeful rise the month prior, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The association did note however, that the market is starting to see a pick-up in activity from first-time buyers based on transactions even before the federal tax credit became available, which leads NAR to expect a prominent increase in sales from this market segment in the coming months.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for America’s subprime mortgage crisis, but according to a researcher at the Ross School of Business in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the types of data banks used to evaluate risk may be the culprit for its proliferation.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a report this week that estimates U.S. banks will lose another $550 billion in the value of their holdings over the next two years as a result of the financial crisis.

Many might argue that a model home is the most effective visual tool for closing a sale. A newly created online company, Myvacanthouse.com, aims to help lenders – who may be holding thousands of foreclosed homes – resale the properties faster and protect these assets from vandalism by turning a vacant house into a model home.

The Pennsylvania Department of Banking recently ordered four out-of-state mortgage modification companies to stop engaging in unlicensed activity in the state. The department issued cease and desist orders against Consumer Loan Modification of Arizona, U.

Michigan-based Potestivo & Associates, P.C. has announced the firm’s acceptance as an Eagle member of the newly created Wingspan Professional Attorney Network (WPAN). As part of this network, Potestivo & Associates will provide mortgage default and legal support to specialty servicer Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, LLC.

Freddie Mac released the results of its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) on Thursday. For the week ending April 23, 2009, Freddie’s study shows that long-term interest rates are now lower than those for short-term mortgage products.