Search This Blog

Friday, February 27, 2015

Mortgage Rates Rise for Third Straight Week 

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.8 percent this week, up from last week’s 3.76 percent, Freddie Mac said yesterday. At this time last year, the 30-year FRM rate averaged 4.37 percent.

This week’s 15-year FRM rate averaged 3.07 percent, up from last week’s 3.05 percent rate. A year ago, the 15-year FRM rate averaged 3.39 percent.    ---ABA Daily Newsbytes

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Neugebauer Highlights Hometown Costs of Reg Burden

Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), who chairs the House subcommittee on community financial institutions, published an op-ed over the weekend showing how “overregulation” and the Dodd-Frank Act have harmed communities like his hometown of Lubbock. He described his early career experience as a community banker -- and how his bank “took a risk on me” when he started and grew a small business.

“Today, as I look back on that business model and my own experiences, I see a very different landscape for community financial institutions and the health of our overall economy,” Neugebauer wrote. “I meet with community bankers who can’t make loans they once did, and speak with those dreaming of owning their own business who now can’t access the financial products that helped others get their start.”

In the op-ed, he advocated for targeted fixes to Dodd-Frank to make it easier for community banks to serve their customers and rebutted recent comments by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that community banks “are doing better than ever” under Dodd-Frank.


---ABA Daily Newsbytes

Monday, February 23, 2015

Cordray on Credit Reporting: 'We're Only Getting Started'

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said in a Feb. 19 speech to the agency's Consumer Advisory Board that it will continue working to ensure credit reports are fair and given to consumers for free. A recent focus group study reveals that consumers are confused by multiple scores from multiple reports and have had little involvement in making sure their reports are accurate. "Despite the credit reporting industry's commercial success in selling credit monitoring services, its core credit reporting system has not yet evolved to become very responsive to the public," said Cordray. "Using our supervision and enforcement authorities, we are already bringing significant new improvements to the credit reporting system -- and we are only getting started." In December, the CFPB said the largest credit reporting companies would be required to provide regular information on the accuracy of reports and which sectors or companies receive the most complaints. According to the agency, over 50 million consumers have been able to view their credit score as part of its initiative to make credit reports more freely available. Cordray noted that "more than a dozen issuers are providing scores directly and freely to consumers on a regular basis."

From "Cordray on Credit Reporting: 'We're Only Getting Started'"
American Banker (02/20/15) Witkowski, Rachel

Friday, February 20, 2015

Friday Rate Update

Mortgage Rates Continue to Rise

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.76 percent this week, up from last week’s 3.69 percent, Freddie Mac said yesterday. At this time last year, the 30-year FRM rate averaged 4.33 percent.

This week’s 15-year FRM rate averaged 3.05 percent, up from last week’s 2.99 percent rate. A year ago, the 15-year FRM rate averaged 3.35 percent.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Weather too cold?

Wintry Weather Dings Home Builders’ Confidence

Home builders’ sentiment about the market for new single-family homes fell two points to 55 in February, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released yesterday.

Two of the index’s three components -- traffic of prospective buyers and current sales conditions -- declined in February, while future sales expectations held steady. The reading marks eight consecutive months above 50, a sign of modestly positive builder optimism in the housing market. 


--ABA Daily Newsbytes

Tuesday, February 17, 2015


US Foreclosure Activity Rises 5 Percent in January: RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac reports that 37,292 U.S. homes were foreclosed on in January, a jump of 5 percent to the highest level in 15 months. The activity is picking up as banks take back more homes, particularly in states where foreclosure is a legal process that unfolds over a period of years. RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist also says foreclosure filings will accelerate in the coming months as lenders engage in "spring cleaning" in some states. Overall, however, the number of properties in the foreclosure pipeline -- 119,888 -- is 4 percent fewer than at this time last year.

From "US Foreclosure Activity Rises 5 Percent in January: RealtyTrac"
Reuters (02/12/15) Dunsmuir, Lindsay

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Happy Valentine's!


                         Have a safe and pleasant Valentine's weekend.



Mortgage Rates Climb

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.69 percent this week, up from last week’s 3.59 percent, Freddie Mac said yesterday. At this time last year, the 30-year FRM rate averaged 4.28 percent.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Friday Rate Update

Mortgage Rates Fall


The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.59 percent this week, down from last week’s 3.66 percent, Freddie Mac said yesterday. At this time last year, the 30-year FRM rate averaged 4.32 percent.

--ABA Daily Newsbytes

Thursday, February 5, 2015


Mortgage Choice Act Reintroduced in Congress

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) has reintroduced a bipartisan bill that aims to amend and clarify the qualified mortgage definition under the Dodd-Frank Act. Identical to the Mortgage Choice Act of 2013 (H.R. 3211), the latest incarnation would adjust the definition of fees and points in the Truth in Lending Act as applied in the qualified mortgage rule. The measure died in the Senate during the last session of Congress. It is designed to improve access to credit and qualified mortgages for low- and moderate-income borrowers while protecting consumers from bad loans. "I am glad to see this bipartisan effort garner unanimous support in committee, and I am hopeful this legislation will see action before the entire House in a timely manner," said Huizenga. Most housing financial and housing trade groups support the plan.

From "Mortgage Choice Act Reintroduced in Congress"
Housing Wire (02/03/15) Garrison, Trey

Tuesday, February 3, 2015


CFPB Proposes Easing Rules for Small Mortgage Lenders

On Jan. 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed that rules for small mortgage lenders be relaxed so that more community banks and credit unions could extend loans to borrowers with higher debt levels. The CFPB last year implemented tougher rules for issuing mortgages, many of which do not apply to smaller lenders, including verifying a borrower’s ability to repay and ensuring that the borrower's total debt payment is not more than 43 percent of pretax income. Under the proposal, more banks and credit unions could achieve small-lender status, allowing them to make riskier loans and give mortgages to borrowers above the 43-percent limit. To qualify as a small lender, banks and credit unions currently are limited to issuing no more than 500 loans a year, but the new proposal would remove that 500-loan cap.

From "CFPB Proposes Easing Rules for Small Mortgage Lenders"
Wall Street Journal (01/30/15) Zibel, Alan

Monday, February 2, 2015


The Majority of Consumers Have Subprime Credit Scores, Report Says

Approximately 56 percent of Americans are being held back by subprime credit scores, according to a new report from the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Many landed in that category during the housing bust and recession and are still trying to wipe away the black marks in their files. Financial blowback from defaults, foreclosure, or bankruptcy can last seven years to a decade. In the meantime, poor ratings are blocking consumers' access to traditional lending markets or, if they do qualify for financing, keeping them from obtaining the best rates on products. "There are millions of Americans who are being excluded from the financial mainstream," notes Jennifer Brooks, director of state and local policy at CFED. "They're relegated to using fringe, often high cost financial products that trap them in a cycle of debt." CFED analyzed TransUnion data based on the TransRisk score -- which ranges from 100 to 934, with any score below 700 deemed near prime or subprime. The organization acknowledges, however, that the TransRisk model is not the most common among the many different types of credit scores that lenders use.

From "The Majority of Consumers Have Subprime Credit Scores, Report Says"
Washington Post (01/29/15) Marte, Jonnelle