Lending

WASHINGTON - After increasing steadily for more than a decade, the U.S. homeownership rate seems to be slowly going in the other direction. Data released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau put the homeownership rate at 69% in the fourth quarter 2005, down from 69.2% a year earlier. Although...

EL PASO, Texas - Greg Davis, senior loan officer of FirstLight FCU, has been named the 2005 Mortgage Banker of year by the El Paso Mortgage Bankers Association. Davis has been with FirstLight FCU, formerly called Fort Bliss FCU, for 14 years. He served as vice president of the EPMBA...

AUSTIN, Texas - Velocity Credit Union says it's ready to serve members who have been requesting business deposit services. The $502 million CU now offers a number of business checking accounts to complement business loan offerings made available through a partnership with six other Austin-based credit unions that formed CU...

NEW YORK - Credit unions and their members will now have access to a suite of information technology services through an expanded endorsement agreement between Newtek Business Services, Inc. and CUNA. The services include data storage backup, archival and retrieval services, Web site hosting, and Web site design and development...

McLEAN, Va. - Freddie Mac recently announced three new Internet-based servicing tools designed to help services decrease costs by streamlining several data management and default reporting operations. Of the three new tools, Default Reporting ManagerT and Incentive ManagerT are available immediately; the third - Remedy ManagerT - is expected for...

McLEAN, Va. - Fewer homeowners refinanced their homes in the fourth quarter 2005 than the previous quarter, but a larger percentage of those who refinanced did so with loan amounts greater than their original mortgage balances. In its quarterly refinance review, Freddie Mac reported that in the fourth quarter of...