Foreclosure

The percentage of single-family mortgage loans counted as seriously delinquent has dropped back for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to Fannie Mae's latest monthly status report, the GSE's seriously delinquent rate has declined to 4.45 percent. Freddie Mac's most recent report shows its seriously delinquent rate to have fallen to 3.78 percent. Both companies have posted steady declines for three consecutive months, and they've recently announced changes to their servicing guidelines that could impact the way delinquent loans are handled.

The nation's largest mortgage servicers foreclosed on 95,067 homes during the fourth quarter of 2010, a 49 percent drop from the number of completed foreclosures during the previous quarter, according to a new report from two regulatory agencies. Newly initiated foreclosures also decreased but by a much smaller ratio of 8 percent. Because new foreclosures outpaced completed foreclosures, the inventory of foreclosures in process increased to 1,290,253, representing 3.9 percent of all serviced loans among the largest national firms.

Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (M&I) has extended its foreclosure moratorium for distressed homeowners. Begun in December 2008 as part of M&I's Homeowner Assistance Program, the moratorium applies to applicable loans in all M&I markets and covers all owner-occupied residential loans for customers who agree to work in good faith to reach a successful repayment agreement.

Servicers made several concessions in their version of the settlement proposal that they submitted to federal and state regulators. In an excerpt of the draft obtained by DS News, servicers agree to stop dual tracking, give borrowers a window to appeal a denied modification, and provide a single point of contact for borrowers. Perhaps most significant in the excerpt is a pledge by the servicers to establish standards for affidavits and sworn statements in foreclosure and bankruptcy proceedings.

Treasury has released a new report on the government's foreclosure prevention efforts. In addition to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) numbers that are regularly recounted, new this month are details on short sales and second lien modifications. As of the end of February, 4,488 homeowners completed a short sale or deed-in-lieu under the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program. Another 10,177 borrowers have HAFA agreements in place. Second-lien modifications have been provided to 16,951 homeowners.

Massachusetts' foreclosure petitions, the first step in the foreclosure process in the state, declined 67 percent in February when compared to a year earlier, according to the Warren Group, a Boston-based provider of real estate data. Completed foreclosures also fell sharply, dropping 44 percent on a year-over-year basis. The Warren Group called the numbers a ""remarkable turnaround,"" demonstrating a new ""go-slow attitude"" among lenders.

Attorneys general and federal regulators sat down with major servicers this week to discuss the details of the robo-signing settlement. Both sides have submitted their own version of what they believe a settlement should look like, and this week's meeting is just the first in what will likely be a long period of negotiations. Banks have repeatedly spoken out against what they believe to be terms that are too harsh and may even encourage moral hazard. Mortgage investors are also weighing in on the proposed terms.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved legislation that would give bankruptcy courts the authority to order face-to-face meetings between homeowners and their lenders for foreclosure mediation, clearing the way for it to move on to the full Senate. The legislation does not give bankruptcy judges the power to modify mortgages like the controversial bankruptcy cramdown proposals that have repeatedly failed in Congress. Instead, it would give them a mechanism for opening up the lines of communication between homeowners and creditors.

With foreclosure sales steadily rising, four states are concerned that the use of the foreclosure sale prices in appraisals of neighboring homes is distorting the market. Legislators in Illinois, Nevada, and Missouri have all proposed separate bills that would exclude or restrict foreclosure sales from being used as comparisons to determine the value of homes around them. Maryland had proposed a similar bill, but withdrew the legislation on Tuesday.

The industry's shadow inventory of repossessed and soon-to-be repossessed homes that aren't visible as properties for sale has contracted, according to CoreLogic. Analysis released by the company Wednesday shows that the shadow inventory of residential properties as of January 2011 fell to 1.8 million, down from 2.0 million a year earlier. For the first time, CoreLogic also examined how loan modifications and short sales could reduce shadow inventory levels.