Article Archive for September 2010
By Carrie Bay | 09/30/2010
Following in the steps of GMAC, JPMorgan Chase has stopped foreclosures in 23 states. According to the bank, the cases may contain "defects" and "flawed paperwork."
The sheer volume of foreclosure cases materializing out of the housing crisis seems to have given rise to what's being called the "robo-signers" - servicing execs that mechanically sign off on foreclosure actions without verifying their validity. One whistleblower says they are more prevalent than the industry would like to admit.
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By Joy Leopold | 09/30/2010
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted Thursday to extend increased loan limits on mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The higher loan limits of $729,750, which were scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, have been extended for an additional nine months, and are now set to expire September 30, 2011. The approved bill also appropriates $20 billion for the Federal Housing Administration to continue making loan commitments though the end of 2010 for a special risk fund.
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By Heather Hill Cernoch | 09/30/2010
Woodward Asset Capital recently released a statement detailing the capabilities of OfferSubmission, a hosted application designed to ease confusion and stem losses and discrepancies due to missed offers and poor organization. The company says transactions negotiated through OfferSubmission net 100 percent or more of the list price 50 percent of the time.
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By Carrie Bay | 09/30/2010
How low can we go? When it comes to mortgage rates, the floor keeps dropping. Industry reports released Thursday show that interest rates for home loans - already at their lowest marks in more than a half-century - dropped again this week. Market analysis conducted by Freddie Mac puts the 30-year fixed rate at 4.32 percent and the 15-year rate at 3.75 percent. Bankrate says rates for the larger jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage also inched lower to 5.16 percent.
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By Joy Leopold | 09/30/2010
Tomorrow, Friday, October 1, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will host the Financial Stability Oversight Council's first meeting at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Geithner is the chairperson of the Council. The meeting will include both a closed session and an open session, which begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT and will be streamed live on the Treasury's Web site.
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By Joy Leopold | 09/30/2010
Ambac Financial Group, Inc. opened a lawsuit against Bank of America Corp. over improperly underwritten loans the company says the bank's Countrywide unit used to induce it into purchasing mortgage-backed securities.
After reviewing 6,533 of the 268,000 loans it insured for Countrywide, Ambac found that 97 percent of the reviewed loans didn't follow the underwriting guidelines Countrywide said it used to assemble loans.
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By Carrie Bay | 09/30/2010
The nation's largest mortgage financier is shrinking its portfolio. Fannie Mae reported this week that its holdings declined at a compound annualized rate of 4.1 percent in August, while its total book of business fell by 1.3 percent.
At the same time, delinquency levels fell across the board. Fannie Mae's single-family serious delinquency rate dropped 17 basis points in July to 4.82 percent.
The multifamily serious delinquency rate declined 6 basis points to 0.74 percent.
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By Heather Hill Cernoch | 09/30/2010
The online real estate marketplace Countdown To Buy recently launched "powered by Countdown To Buy," a private label solution featuring the company's online offer management and negotiation platform. According to the company, the new designation enables institutions and real estate companies to leverage their existing brand and take advantage of the benefits offered by Countdown To Buy's platform and hosted solutions.
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By Joy Leopold | 09/30/2010
California-based Move, Inc. launched a redesigned Realtor.com Web site that uses new technology to combine multiple searches to help customers find properties and agents that suit their needs faster and more efficiently. Move, Inc. says the primary objective for the redesign was to create a search experience that places more information in the hands of both Realtors and consumers, and positions real estate professionals as local experts.
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By Heather Hill Cernoch | 09/30/2010
Jonathan L. Engman of Fabrizio & Brook, P.C., headquartered in Troy, Michigan, was recently appointed chairman of the Real Property Committee of Michigan's Oakland County Bar Association for the 2010-2011 term. Marc P. Jerabek, also of Fabrizio & Brook, was named vice chairman of the committee.
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By Joy Leopold | 09/30/2010
Due to a failed business acquisition with Venn Capital Group Holdings, LLC, Wealthbridge Mortgage will be closing its doors.
The Oregon based Wealthbridge has already laid off 16 employees and announced it will lay off its remaining 109 employees in mid-October.
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By Carrie Bay | 09/29/2010
New data released by RealtyTrac Thursday shows that foreclosure and REO homes accounted for 24 percent of all residential sales during the second quarter.
A total of 248,534 properties in default, scheduled for auction, or repossessed by the bank sold to third parties during the April to June timeframe. RealtyTrac says on average, these homes went for a discount of 26 percent.
The second-quarter share of foreclosure sales is up nearly 5 percent from the previous quarter, but still down 20 percent compared to the second quarter of 2009.
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By Carrie Bay | 09/29/2010
Fannie Mae has enhanced its EarlyCheck technology service to help lenders identify eligibility or data issues with loans they plan on selling to the GSE in order to minimize the risk of repurchases. With EarlyCheck, lenders now have access to Fannie Mae delivery data checks at any point in the business process, allowing them to spot and correct potential underwriting errors earlier in the process - from prior to closing through to the pre-delivery stage.
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By Carrie Bay | 09/29/2010
The Treasury Department has instructed three of the nation's largest mortgage servicers to make changes to the way they solicit distressed borrowers for the government's loan modification program and evaluate applicants for eligibility.
In Treasury's latest report card on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America were called out by name as receiving sub-par grades in complying with the program's guidelines.
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By Joy Leopold | 09/29/2010
UnitedTech Lender Services (UTLS) celebrated the opening of a new office located in Las Colinas, Texas with a ribbon cutting ceremony earlier this month. The company chose to expand to Dallas County for the city's proximity to some of their largest clients.
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By Carrie Bay | 09/29/2010
It's no secret that the volume of distressed residential properties is weighing heavy on U.S. housing markets and prolonging any meaningful recovery.
Of even greater concern is the industry's growing backlog of homes that need to be liquidated and resold but have yet to make their way to the market.
Standard & Poor's has just released a new report in which it estimates that the principal balance of this shadow inventory now stands at $460 billion and will take the industry about 41 months to clear.
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By Heather Hill Cernoch | 09/29/2010
HUD has announced the availability of more than $5.1 million in grants for housing counseling training. HUD plans to fund eligible organizations to deliver full-spectrum training as part of the Obama administration's efforts to provide housing counseling to the nation's homeowners, buyers, and renters. The agency says right now, these counseling programs are critical to helping thousands of families avoid foreclosure, and it has increased the funding for such services by 36 percent in this year's HUD budget.
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By Heather Hill Cernoch | 09/29/2010
Reisenfeld & Associates, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based legal services provider to the mortgage banking industry, has hired April N. Pinder as associate counsel in the firm's Indiana foreclosure department. Prior to joining Reisenfeld & Associates, Pinder worked for the Honorable Cynthia J. Ayers in Marion County, Indiana, as a law clerk, dealing with a variety of civil case matters including contracts and mortgage foreclosures. As a law school student, Pinder worked for Fifth Third Bank, where she sometimes opened new banking centers in other cities.
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By Carrie Bay | 09/29/2010
The volume of mortgage loan applications last week declined 0.8 percent, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Wednesday. The drop was manufactured by a falloff in consumer demand for mortgage refinancing, despite the fact that interest rates again declined to new record-lows. For the week ending September 24, MBA's refinance index decreased 1.6 percent. The purchase index rose 2.4 percent.
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By Heather Hill Cernoch | 09/29/2010
Sterling National Corporation, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, has acquired Everett, Washington-based Seattle Specialty Insurance Services, Inc., an insurance services provider to financial institutions. Founder, president, and CEO, Rick Pedack, will continue to lead the company as it operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sterling National.
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