• 121-Year-Old Bank Among 2 to Fail
  Two midwest banks were closed by the national regulator of banking institutions, including one that was more than a century old. Meanwhile, a net branch operation that had previously touted a planned transition from mortgage broker to mortgage banker has since vanished.
  
  The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed down two banks on Friday. Both banks saw their assets and losses deteriorate as a result of unsafe and unsound practices, and the OCC said they were "critically undercapitalized" to the point that they could not survive without government assistance.
  
  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver in both of Friday's bank failures.
  
  

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• Investor Loan Losses Prompt BofA Subpoena
  Bank of America Corp. is being investigated by the commonwealth of Massachusetts over the possible overvaluation of collateralized-loan obligations. The investigation could spread to more banks.
  
  On Thursday, Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin subpoenaed records from BofA to determine if the firm knowingly overvalued around $870 million of loans that it sold in 2007 to institutional investors.
  
  The investors eventually lost approximately $150 million on their investments.
  
  

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• Business Slows in Super Bowl Week
  Hurt by weakened refinance activity, fewer mortgage inquiries were made during Super Bowl week. But refinance inquiries were well above the level a year ago. Purchase activity slipped from last week and was off more than a third from a year earlier.
  
  Overall mortgage activity was down 11 percent from last week, according to the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortech Inc. and Mortgage Daily for the week ended Feb. 10. The index landed at 240, which was around 18 percent higher than the same week in 2011.
  
  Refinances put in the worst week-over-week performance of any category, with new refinance inquiries down 14 percent. But refinance business was up 85 percent from a year prior.
  
  

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• Average Credit Score Falls Last Year
  The average credit score was lower last year. Three out of the five states with the highest credit scores are in the West. But among the 10 states with the worst scores, just one was in the West.
  
  The average U.S. consumer shopping online for a mortgage saw their credit score decrease 5 points between 2010 and 2011.
  
  California had the highest average credit score for the second consecutive year.
  
  

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• Smaller Players Fill Correspondent Void
  While several major lenders have cut back on correspondent lending or shuttered correspondent operations altogether during the past year, nearly a dozen smaller players have sprung up to service the sector. On Friday, another firm joined the fray.
  
  The likes of Ally Financial Inc., Bank of America Home Loans, MetLife Home Loans and PHH Mortgage Corp. have exited or scaled back their correspondent lending since last year.
  
  Smaller lenders to exit correspondent include Merit Mortgage Services, Sidus Financial LLC, O2Funding and reverse mortgage lender Genworth Financial Home Equity Access.
  
  

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