11/23 - Some Banks Flush with Cash - Others Just Flushing: FDIC Report

FDIC-Insured Institutions Earned $14.5 Billion in the Third Quarter of 2010, Up from $2 Billion a Year Ago
Lower Loan-Loss Provisions Were Key Factor in the Year-Over-Year Improvement - FDIC

November 3, 2010, the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided an update on its Rural Development Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program; Funding is now available for fiscal year 2011. Purchase type loans will be subject to a 3.5 percent upfront guarantee fee and refinance type loans will be subject to a one percent upfront guarantee fee. Prior to the supplemental bill, the fee was two percent for purchase type loans and 0.5 percent for refinance type loans. Source: Mortgage Bankers Association

Freddie Mac to Raise Fees on Riskier Loans
Washington Post (11/23/10) P. A12
Freddie Mac will hike fees for lenders selling riskier home loans starting March 1. It plans to raise some upfront fees by as much as 0.75 percent of loan balances and add costs for consumers using additional mortgages as part of their borrowing. The changes will help ensure that Freddie Mac is adequately compensated for providing liquidity to the mortgage market and is able to support affordable lending, according to the firm's Patricia McClung.

"Foreclosure detectives" are in growing demand. They sift through loan documents for errors that could compel banks to buy back shaky loans - and pay back investors the difference between the loan's original value and the amount recovered in foreclosure. Banks are resisting detectives' efforts, and many loan disputes wind up locked in stalemate.

Cambridge Chronicle: The Cambridge, Mass., city council passed a policy order Monday that called for a moratorium on new banks.

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday announced the execution of the following enforcement actions:

America's Community Bank (35 KB PDF), Blue Springs, Missouri
Written Agreement dated November 17, 2010

Cadence Financial Corporation (26 KB PDF), Starkville, Mississippi
Written Agreement dated November 17, 2010

Orient Bancorporation and Bank of the Orient (46 KB PDF), San Francisco, California
Written Agreement dated November 16, 2010

Viking Financial Services Corporation (24 KB PDF), Seattle, Washington
Written Agreement dated November 19, 2010