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AMC NEWZ
Here's why Illinois appraisals came to a dead stop this week
May 14, 2015
Excerpt:
... appraisals in the state of Illinois came to a dead stop after the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation revoked the licenses of 70 of the state's major appraisal management companies due to non-compliance with the state's bonding requirements.
The cancellation of the AMCs' licenses set off a firestorm that left appraisers prohibited from working with the suddenly unlicensed AMCs.
Links to IL appraiser board documents are in the article.
My comments: Good article that discusses all the issues. Brian Weaver, the director of the appraisal regulatory agency in IL is very savvy. Go to the link below to read the comments and post your own comments!!
Links
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/33901-heres-why-illinois-appraisals-came-to-a-dead-stop-this-week
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Bank of America wants to sell Landsafe
May 14, 2015
Excerpt:
Bank of America (BAC) is in talks to sell its appraisal management company LandSafe within the next four to six weeks, according to industry sources.
And the market is hungry to buy it.
There are at least four to five bidders eyeing the appraisal business, sources say, including top names like Solutionstar, Fidelity and Solidifi.
LandSafe Closing Services companies are affiliated with Bank of America to provide closing services, including appraisal, credit report and verification.
My comment: Hmmm... buying and selling of AMCs is picking up. Consolidation? Divesting of captive AMCs? Info on other sales in the article.
Link:
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/33900-is-bank-of-america-looking-to-sell-landsafe
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Landsafe appraiser whistle blower gets $56 million
December 18, 2014
Excerpts:
Robert Madsen said federal prosecutors would pay him $56 million, out of the $16.65 billion Bank of America agreed to pay in August to settle claims arising from the investigation into the bank's mortgage lending and mortgage securitization business. The specific terms of Mr. Madsen's settlement with the federal government remain sealed.
In a confidential complaint that Mr. Madsen filed in federal court in Manhattan against Bank of America in 2011, the appraiser said the bank deliberately used "improper appraisal practices" that overstated the value of the homes backing Bank of America's portfolio of nonperforming loans by $6.6 billion. The 220-page legal filing said the improper appraisals at the bank's LandSafe subsidiary continued until at least 2011.
"I did not go into this with the mindset that I would get some money," said Mr. Madsen, a northern California resident.
My comment: Wow!! Other appraiser whistle blowers I know of ended up quitting appraising. I'm sure there are a lot of others that tried. Good to see that it sometimes pays to speak out!!
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/another-whistle-blower-in-bank-of-america-case-set-to-collect-millions/?_r=0
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HOW TO USE THE NUMBERS BELOW. Appraisals are ordered after the loan application. These numbers tell you the future for the next few weeks. For more information on how they are compiled, go to www.mbaa.org
Note: I publish a graph of this data every month in my printed newsletter, Appraisal Today. For more information or get a FREE sample issue go to http://www.appraisaltoday.com/products.htm or send an email to info@appraisaltoday.com . Or call 800-839-0227, MTW 8AM to noon, Pacific time.
Mortgage applications decreased 1.5 percent from one week earlier
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 20, 2015) - according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 15, 2015.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 2 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 0.3 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent from one week earlier, to the lowest level since April. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent compared with the previous week and was 11 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
"Mortgage rates increased last week, and Treasury rates increased to a recent high at mid week before falling at the end of the week. Overall purchase activity fell for the week, along with conventional refinance volume, but government refinance volume increased. The level of purchase applications remained 11 percent higher than the same week last year, but the drop this week may indicate borrowers being wary of the recent run up in mortgage rates," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's Chief Economist.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 52 percent of total applications from 51 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.4 percent of total applications.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.04 percent, its highest level since December 2014, from 4.00 percent, with points decreasing to 0.32 from 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) increased to 4.04 percent from 3.99 percent, with points decreasing to 0.25 from 0.33 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 3.80 percent from 3.76 percent, with points decreasing to 0.06 from 0.14 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.26 percent from 3.23 percent, with points decreasing to 0.30 from 0.40 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 2.99 percent from 3.00 percent, with points decreasing to 0.45 from 0.46 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.
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