Mortgage Daily

Falling mortgage rates motivated an increasing number of borrowers this week to inquire about a refinance, though inquiries for purchases were also higher. Rates, however, are poised to deteriorate. Refinance activity more than doubled compared to a year ago. Despite a widening spread over conforming rates, more jumbo borrowers were out shopping for a loan.

The number of prospective borrowers who inquired about a mortgage rose 4 percent from last week, leaving the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortech Inc. and Mortgage Daily for the seven days ended Feb. 3 at 270.

The index was 48 percent higher than the week ended Feb. 2, 2011.

Borrowers in more than a dozen foreclosure actions in 10 states have recently received favorable rulings from the courts. Several of the cases either involve the Federal National Mortgage Association or the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. Foreclosure processing services were named as defendants in lawsuits filed by the states of Illinois and Nevada.

A foreclosure judgment in favor of U.S. Bank, N.A., as trustee against Julia Feltus was overturned by the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District, last Friday.

U.S. Bank had sought to re-establish a lost promissory note, and the court said that trial court erred because "U.S. Bank failed to show conclusively the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and that it was entitled to foreclosure as a matter of law."

New York's attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the three biggest lenders and the Mortgage Electronic Registration System Inc. alleging that the registry is a sham designed to deceive borrowers and the public and avoid recording fees. The state wants the system declared illegal and all resulting title defects cured.

The complaint was filed Friday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.

The state alleges that the defendants have been using MERS "in a wide range of deceptive and fraudulent foreclosure filings in New York state and federal courts, harming homeowners and undermining the integrity of the judicial foreclosure process."

An increase in the number of mortgage brokers was offset by a decline in non-broker mortgage jobs. However, the government revised the prior month's mortgage industry headcount up by more than 28,000 jobs. But the bigger news was an improvement in the U.S. employment situation last month. The latest data are a sign of an improving economy -- though it might also signal the end of record-low interest rates.

The number of people working in the mortgage industry, including mortgage brokers and non-broker, fell less than 1 percent between November and December, according to government data released Friday.

Compared to December 2010, headcount in real estate finance was down 8 percent.