The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection filed a complaint in federal court that alleges Village Capital & Investment LLC, a non-bank mortgage company headquartered in Henderson, Nev., misled veterans by overstating the benefits of refinancing their mortgages. The case was filed in the United States District Court District of Nevada on Dec. 4.

Village Capital offers a product known as an Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan, which allows veterans, with a loan guaranteed by Veterans Affairs, to refinance their mortgages at lower interest rates.

As described in the complaint and proposed order, the Bureau alleges that Village Capital violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by misleading veterans regarding its Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loans, which allow veterans to refinance their mortgages at lower interest rates with a loan guaranteed by Veterans Affairs.

To demonstrate the savings the refinances generated, Village Capital relied on flawed formulas that produced inaccurate results, so the figures used in [Excel] worksheets and quoted to consumers were misleading. According to the filing, the Excel spreadsheets, and therefore the worksheets presented to consumers, were deceptive because they misrepresented the cost savings to the consumer of the refinanced loan including: Inflating the future amount of principal owed under the existing mortgage by underestimating the proportion of the consumer’s existing monthly payment that is applied to principal. Underestimating the future amount of the refinanced mortgage’s monthly payments by overestimating the loan’s term and overestimating the total monthly benefit of the loan after the first month.

The Bureau and Village Capital also filed a proposed stipulated final judgment and order to resolve the claim. If entered by the court, the proposed order would require Village Capital to pay $268,869 in redress to consumers and a civil penalty of $260,000.

States Title Inc. is acquiring the underwriting operations and retail title business of North American Title Group.

The deal, which is expected to close in January, assuming regulatory approval in California and Arizona is obtained by year end, calls for States Title to acquire NATG's underwriter, North American Title Insurance Co., and a majority position in the retail business of NATG's national title agency, North American Title Co. North American is a wholly-owned subsidiary of homebuilder Lennar.

"By partnering with North American Title, we accelerate our shared vision to build the title company of the future," said Max Simkoff, founder and CEO of State Title. "Buying a home, and refinancing that home, are among the most important financial decisions in a person's life. We believe that the experience of doing so should be fast, simple, safe and affordable. Title and settlement are critical to every real estate transaction. Modern technology and powerful analytics will supplement and enhance our associates' ability to deliver outstanding service to every single one of our customers."

States Title deploys predictive analytics to underwrite the title on a property, helping customers close real estate transactions safely, quickly, and often at lower cost. The new company will continue to operate under the North American Title brand and Lennar will assume a substantial minority equity ownership stake.

Max Simkoff will remain the CEO of the combined company, and the newly-formed management team will include current leadership from both States Title and North American Title, as well as new hires with relevant expertise. Title industry veteran Judd Hoffman, formerly president of the direct division at First American Title, has joined the new company as chief transformation officer and Noaman Ahmad will join as chief financial officer. Matt Zames, president of Cerberus Capital Management and a former chief operating officer at JP Morgan, has joined the board.

NATC's builder business, which delivers settlement services to Lennar's homebuyers, and a portion of its retail business, will remain with Lennar and operate as CalAtlantic Title. Approximately two-thirds of NATG's current associates will transition to the new company, while the balance will remain with CalAtlantic Title. Fifth Wall, a real estate technology-focused fund, introduced States Title and Lennar after initially co-leading States Title's Series A financing round in 2016.

The Mortgage Credit Availability Index increased 1.1 percent to 188.8 in November, signaling that credit was loosened last month.

“The supply of credit continues to drift higher, driven once again by growth in the conventional credit space, while credit supply in government loans was essentially unchanged from the previous month,” said Joel Kan, associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting for the Mortgage Bankers Association. “There were more mortgage programs offered with high LTV and low-credit-score characteristics, likely attributable to rising demand from first-time buyers.”

The Conventional MCAI increased, 2.4 percent, while the Government MCAI decreased, 0.1 percent. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI increased by 1.1 percent, while the Conforming MCAI increased by 4.0 percent.

The Conventional, Government, Conforming, and Jumbo MCAIs are constructed using the same methodology as the Total MCAI and are designed to show relative credit risk and availability for their respective index.

The primary difference between the total MCAI and the Component Indices are the population of loan programs they examine. The Government MCAI examines FHA, VA, and USDA loan programs, while the Conventional MCAI examines non-government loan programs. The Jumbo and Conforming MCAIs are a subset of the conventional MCAI and do not include FHA, VA, or USDA loan offerings.

The Jumbo MCAI examines conventional programs outside conforming loan limits, while the Conforming MCAI examines conventional loan programs that fall under conforming loan limits.