After recording a loss in the first quarter of the year, Bank of America announced a net income of $2.5 billion, $0.19 per diluted share in the second quarter of this year, according to a press release. The $8.8 billion in net loss in the first quarter was partially due to $18.2 billion charges ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£for certain mortgage-related items and other select adjustments, including provisions for representations and warranties and goodwill impairment,├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø according to the press release. This trend reversed during the second quarter. Bank of America lent out about $107 billion.

Underwater homeowners are contributing to a lower inventory of houses for sale on the market, but according to Capital Economics negative equity will not have a major impact on housing prices. Regardless of the impact of negative equity, both Capital Economics and the National Association of Realtors foresee rising prices in the near future. The percentage of underwater homeowners is falling but remains elevated. CoreLogic said that 11.4 million homeowners were underwater in the first quarter.

Citigroup reported a net income of $2.9 billion, $0.95 per share, during the second quarter of this year, down 12 percent from the second quarter of last year, according to its earnings report released Monday. The bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós revenues totaled $18.6 billion in the second quarter, a 10 percent decline from last year. According to Citigroup, the decline in earnings is largely the result of the ongoing process of winding down Citi Holdings, a division opened in 2009 to house assets and businesses the bank hopes to unload.

Mortgage origination fraud may be on the decline, but incidences of collusion appear to be trending up, according to a report released Wednesday by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. After noticing a rising trend in collusion, LexisNexis created a new index specifically to measure incidences of collusion. Collusion has been on the rise since 2009, according to Tim Coyle, senior director of real estate and mortgage solutions at LexisNexis. LexisNexis also observed collusion reports on properties experiencing 50 percent to 95 percent price depreciation.

A Georgia bank closed Friday, with state authorities appointing the FDIC as receiver. The banker, accused of embezzling millions from the shuttered institution, remains missing after a two-week absence. Montgomery Bank & Trust, located in Alley, Georgia, closed its doors Friday, reopening as part of Ameris Bank. Ameris entered a purchase agreement with the FDIC to assume all of Montgomery Bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós deposits and about $12.4 million of its assets ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô mainly cash and cash equivalents, according to the FDIC.

Overall, mortgage originations declined in April. However, originations for loans with high loan-to-value ratios have been on the rise the past few months with April as no exception, according to the latest data from Lender Processing Services. The percentage of non-FHA originations has also been on the rise since for several months, and it did not drop off in April. In fact, non-FHA loan originations have risen steadily since November 2011 when they took up 20.2 percent of total loan originations to 33.8 percent in April.

Mortgage applications decreased 6.7 percent over the week ending June 19, while interest rates also fell, finding new lows in some categories, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinances still make up a majority of applications ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô 78 percent for the week, slightly lower than the 79 percent share recorded the previous week. The amount of refinance applications fell 8 percent over the week. HARP 2.0 refinance applications stood at 20 percent three weeks ago but have been at 24 percent for the past two weeks.

Costs are rising for mortgage originators, but they are still seeing a rise in profit, according to a recent study of independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks conducted by the Mortgage Banks Association. The net cost of originating a mortgage loan in the first quarter of this year was $3,413. When calculating net cost, MBA weighs production and operating expenses and commissions against fee income, excluding factors such as secondary marketing gains, and capitalized servicing.

Monday was the deadline for the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós largest banks to submit their resolution plans to the FDIC and the Federal Reserve for review. A portion of the plans designated for public view will be released by close of business Tuesday. The resolution plans are a requirement of Dodd-Frank and apply to all "bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more and nonbank financial companies designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council," according to a joint press release from the FDIC and the Federal Reserve.

At a House of Representatives hearing titled Appraisal Oversight: The Regulatory Impact on Consumers and Business Thursday, lawmakers reviewed testimony on recent and impending changes in the appraisal industry. One of issue of focus during the hearing was the rise of appraisal management companies and their validity and necessity in the market. According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, AMCs have grown from 15 percent market share to between 60 and 80 percent market share.