Foreclosure

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are issuing new guidelines to servicers in order to align their procedures for handling past-due mortgages. The objective is to ensure consistent servicing requirements for loans handled on behalf of the GSEs across four key areas: borrower contact, delinquency management practices, loan modifications, and foreclosure timelines. The new approach provides monetary incentives for servicers that perform well and imposes fines on those that do not.

The recovery in delinquency rates that began in the second quarter of 2010 appears to have stalled, according to the research firm Trepp LLC. Based on earnings reports and call report filings from banks, Trepp is offering its preliminary estimates of delinquency data for the first quarter, ahead of official numbers to be released by banking regulators in a few weeks. For first-lien single-family mortgages, the company is forecasting a total delinquency rate of 12.7 percent, down only slightly from 12.8 percent the previous quarter.

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, a specialty and component mortgage servicer, added 100 employees in the past 60 days to help servicers stay compliant with the interagency review issued this month by the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision. Two key enforcement actions were included in the consent orders for each servicer examined -- the hiring of an an independent consultant to review residential foreclosure actions from 2009 and 2010, and an expert assessment of risks in servicing operations.

In just one week's time, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation has received nearly 9,500 applications from unemployed homeowners seeking financial assistance through the state's Hardest-Hit Fund (HHF) program. Following a successful six-month pilot run in Lee County, the state housing agency launched the program statewide on April 18, making it available to troubled homeowners in all 67 counties. Florida has received more than $1 billion from the U.S. Treasury to fund the program.

With the housing crisis still taking its toll, the nation's homeownership rate slipped further during the first three months of this year. The U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday that the homeownership rate dropped to 66.4 percent at the end of the first quarter. It's fallen back to a level not seen since 1998. Analysis of the numbers shows that the housing bust, elevated foreclosures, and a diminished ""American Dream"" have more than reversed the increase in homeownership gained during the boom.

With all the news of still-declining home prices, most buyers are keeping their feet firmly planted on the sidelines unless they're sure they're getting a bargain. At the same time agents and banks are battling (mis)perceptions in their local markets, where property values may not be on such a slippery slope. Add to the equation a distressed property, and finding an agreeable short sale price while still covering enough of the mortgage debt to win over the lender can be a challenge. It's a nasty tug-of-war, with neither buyers or sellers feeling like they're gaining any ground.

The nation's ongoing foreclosure crisis has ushered in a new era of lending, volumes of new regulations, even a new federal agency...and now, a new way of looking at architecture and the suburban culture. New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has announced the launch of a 14-month initiative to examine new architectural possibilities for American cities and suburbs in the context of the foreclosure crisis in the United States.

The percentage of home loans going unpaid is steadily declining for the nation's second largest mortgage company. Freddie Mac reported Tuesday that its single-family seriously delinquent rate decreased to 3.63 percent in March. That's down 15 basis points from 3.78 percent in February, and the fourth consecutive month that the rate has headed south. With only a few intermittent blips upward over the last year, Freddie has recorded a drop in its seriously delinquent rate in nine of the past 12 months.

Homeowners who participate in default counseling are more likely to have their loans modified, according to a study from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Policymakers have increasingly turned to education and counseling to remedy problems that impede borrowers' ability to make their mortgage payments, but the trade group's report comes on the heels of federal budget cuts that have eliminated $88 million to fund HUD's counseling program.

NeighborWorks America has received a $2 million grant from Bank of America to support the organization's foreclosure counseling efforts and fund training for local nonprofit professionals. NeighborWorks says the funding will help its network of community-based counselors create and preserve homeownership assets for 250,000 families.