TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/105753
Final Thoughts "Lower-income and minority communities are often disproportionately affected by problems in the national economy, and the effects of the housing bust have followed that unfortunate pattern." Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, speaking during the Operation HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit Final Thoughts Economic ratings, regulatory disputes, and housing relief efforts dominated commentary from Wall Street to Capitol Hill to start the new year. "Contrary to election-year rhetoric, the economy is inching its way to improvement, and the construction industry has not stopped working." FMI, in an official statement regarding the company's most recent quarterly Construction Outlook report "We always are evaluating to make sure we have a win-win . . . that both parties benefit . . . By providing this payment relief, we are preventing a foreclosure from happening." Eric Telljohann, SVP for Bank of America, commenting on the financial institution's progress toward fulfilling consumer relief requirements "Many of us expected a settlement to hold servicers responsible for their misconduct, not a bank bailout settling with other people's money." Chris Katopis, executive director for the Association of Mortgage Investors, on the possible dangers to investors presented by the national mortgage settlement 80 | The M Report "Baiting consumers with false ads to buy into mortgage products would be illegal. We will conduct a fair and rigorous investigation into these issues and will take appropriate action for any violations we find." Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, speaking out on the organization's actions targeting "potentially" misleading advertisements for mortgage loans "It demonstrates the financial, operational, and staff strength as well as our credit capabilities." Michael Lipson, SVP of multifamily asset management and operations for Freddie Mac, on Fitch's decision to give the entity an initial commercial mortgage-backed securities special servicer rating of CSS2 "We are also now looking at ways we could become direct investors in mortgages . . . . We are going to do more of our own direct lending, both commercially and residentially." Bob Benmosche, CEO of American International Group, on the company's decision to move away from its savings and loan business into mortgage investments