Commercial banks and thrifts earned $3.99 billion from their mortgage-banking operations during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Trends. Mortgage-banking income was up 12.7 percent from the previous quarter and 19.0 percent ahead of the pace set in the first three months of 2014. Early 2015 was no record-setter, by any means, but profits were well below the levels reached in the middle of last year. The call-report data do not separate...[Includes one data table]
“U.S. Bank was asked why it wasn’t expanding in the mortgage business,” Gabriel said during a panel discussion. “Their answer was: ‘Did you see what happened to Bank of America?’”
According to analyst Paul Miller of FBR Capital Markets, the standards are meant to “impact small, nonpublic, nondepository institutions that have operated on the periphery of the sector.”
Who might replace Lawsky? How about: Rohit Chopra, assistant director and student loan ombudsman for another agency that’s highly popular with mortgage executives: the CFPB.
Separate lawsuits against major banks were dismissed last week, providing some insight on how lenders and servicers can defend against claims brought by consumer advocates under the False Claims Act and allegations of redlining and reverse redlining. In 2013, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality alleged that U.S. Bank’s servicing practices violated the FCA. U.S. District Court Judge Jack Zouhary dismissed the lawsuit, noting that the claims were barred by the “public disclosure doctrine.” Larry Platt, a partner at the law firm of K&L Gates, said...
The first-time homebuyer share of home purchases in April hit its highest level in more than four years, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance’s HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The purchases have been boosted by a reduction in the FHA’s mortgage insurance premiums and help rebut concerns about the demise of the first-time homebuyer. First-time homebuyers accounted for 37.6 percent of home purchases in April, up from a 34.3 percent share a year ago, based on three-month moving averages. The last time the first-time homebuyer share of home purchases was above 37.6 percent was in August 2010 at a 40.0 percent share. Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys, said...
In a ruling that may impact future fair-lending class actions, a federal district court judge in Manhattan has denied class certification in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and National Consumer Law Center against global investment bank Morgan Stanley. Filed in October 2012, the suit was brought on behalf of African American borrowers in Detroit who obtained subprime loans from New Century Mortgage, a now-defunct originator that sold the loans to secondary-market purchasers, including Morgan Stanley, which then securitized them. New Century originated...
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