Some 32 percent of first-time homebuyers said that referrals from friends, family or co-workers had a major influence on their choice of lender, compared with only 18 percent of repeat homebuyers.

The GSEs aren’t completely committed to adopting new credit scoring models just yet, but it is on their radar. When asked about the possibility of alternative credit scoring, spokesmen for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pointed to the 2015 Conservatorship Scorecard which stated that they will be assessing the feasibility of alternate credit score models and credit history in loan-decision models. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, who spoke at a credit access symposium in Washington last week, said that the FHA is exploring new ways to determine the creditworthiness of consumers to increase access to mortgage lending. Housing industry leaders in attendance said Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other mortgage lenders could increase access....

In its largest single-property loan purchase to date, Freddie Mac Multifamily and Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P., announced on April 9, that they closed on an $878 million loan for a historic, luxury apartment in Los Angeles. Home to approximately 10,000 residents, La Brea is the largest apartment community on the West Coast and is said to resemble a small city. It has 4,245 units comprised of high-rise towers and garden-style apartments spread throughout 144 acres. Freddie plans to securitize the loan through its K-Deal program. HFF arranged the financing for Prime Residential, one of the largest owners of multi-family rental communities on the West Coast, to retire existing debt.

The CFPB brought an enforcement action against RMK Financial Corp., a California-based mortgage lender, for allegedly using deceptive mortgage advertising practices, including ads that led consumers to believe that the company was affiliated with the U.S. government.

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The Department of Veterans Affairs will continue removing barriers to delivering home-loan benefits to veterans and service members in 2015, focusing more on further improvements in appraisal and servicing.

George Mason University real estate professor Anthony Sanders, a former head of asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities research at Deutsche Bank, took issue this week with a recent report from the Urban Institute which suggested that residential mortgage credit is still too tight because there are 4 million fewer mortgages originated this year than in 2001, before the housing bubble.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued a robust $189.92 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities during the first three months of 2015, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis.

A focus on special servicing has helped Rushmore Loan Management Services increase its portfolio in recent years. Standard & Poor’s also recently upgraded the firm’s special servicing rating to “above average.”

Strong purchase lending to military personnel and first-time homebuyers allowed Navy Federal Credit Union to exceed the $1 billion mark in March, the best month in the credit union’s history.