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ยป Vermont rank: 10 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate August 2013 1.6% Unemployment Rate 3.2% 4.6% year ago 1.7% 4.0% 5.2% year-over-year change -8.2% -18.0% -11.5% Top County Grand Isle CounTy 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate August 2013 1.7% 5.7% year ago 1.9% 4.8% year-over-year change -9.6% 17.2% Top Core-Based statistical area BennInGTon, VT 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate August 2013 2.0% 5.0% year ago 2.5% 5.2% year-over-year change -19.3% -4.0% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the August 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary August 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Virginia rank: 50 90+ Day Delinquency Rate 2.2% Foreclosure Rate August 2013 Unemployment Rate 0.7% 5.8% year ago 2.2% 1.6% 5.9% year-over-year change -3.1% -54.3% -1.7% Top County Cumberland CounTy 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate August 2013 2.8% 2.4% year ago 4.4% 2.4% year-over-year change -35.6% -2.4% Top Core-based Statistical area WaShingTon-arlingTon-alexandria, dC-Va-md-WV 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate August 2013 2.4% 1.9% year ago 1.5% 1.4% year-over-year change 60.8% 34.9% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the August 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary August 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Virginia Bank Chooses Fiserv Lending Platform Fiserv, Inc., a provider of financial services technology, announced its Common Origination Platform has been selected as the platform of choice for Virginia's Old Point National Bank (OPNB). A Fiserv client since 1996, OPNB possesses $845.3 million assets and offers banking services to both retail and commercial customers. In selecting Common Origination Platform, the bank cited the solution's "robust and customizable document generation" and its ability to be integrated into other Fiserv solutions, such as Signature, one of the other platforms used by OPNB. "Fiserv has been a partner of ours for a number of years and we trust their expertise in the financial services industry," said Tyler White, SVP of information technology for OPNB. "Lending is important to our customers and, as such, it is important to our institution. With Common Origination Platform and its integration with other Fiserv solutions, we will be able to deliver efficiencies and provide even better service to our customers." "As an enterprise lending solution, Common Origination Platform is designed to enable lenders to establish their own process rules to automate virtually every origination transaction based on their institution's specific needs," said Kevin Collins, president of lending solutions for Fiserv. "Defining these operating procedures, conditions, and limits will help OPNB build customer loyalty and provide products and services that keep pace with the rapidly evolving industry." Wells Fargo, SunTrust Reach Repurchase Agreements with Freddie Mac Two more companies are in the clear with Freddie Mac following agreements on claims related to loans that went south after they were sold to the GSE. Wells Fargo and SunTrust Mortgage are the two most recent companies to settle over claims regarding representations and warranties on single-family loans sold to the GSE. It was announced at the end of September that Freddie had also reached an agreement with Citigroup for the same issues. VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM All agreements were approved by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), acting in its capacity as the GSE's conservator. Together, the three institutions are paying $1.3 billion to the enterprise. In exchange, they will be released from certain existing and future repurchase obligations for loans sold during the housing boom. For its portion, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo has agreed to pay a total of $869 million, $89 million of which has already been credited for repurchases already made. The bank said in a statement it had "fully accrued for the cost of the agreement" as of the end of the second quarter. The agreement covers approximately 6.7 million loans. A representative for Wells Fargo could not be reached for comment. Under SunTrust's agreement, the Richmond, Virginia-based company will pay the GSE a total of $65 million (minus credits of $25 million). As part of the settlement, it will be released from obligations on approximately 312,000 mortgages. While the majority of the settlement is covered by SunTrust's repurchase reserves, the company expects to take a mortgage provision expense of $15 million for the third quarter. "We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Freddie Mac as it marks another step in our resolution of legacy mortgage-related matters," said SunTrust Mortgage CEO Jerome Lienhard. "We continue to remain focused on providing high-quality products and services to our mortgage clients." "With these settlements, Freddie Mac is recouping funds effectively due to the nation's taxpayers," said Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton. "We believe these settlements are equitable, and we are pleased to have resolved legacy repurchase issues with three of our valued customers." Executive Sentenced to 17 Years for Bank Fraud Stephen G. Fields, 49, of Chesapeake, Virginia, was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, false entries in bank records, misapplication of bank funds, and false statements to a financial institution. Fields was EVP and senior commercial loan officer at Bank of the Commonwealth. Christie Romero, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), added that Fields was ordered by the court to repay more than $331 million to the FDIC and to forfeit more than $61 million in proceeds from the offense. 93