Loss Mitigation
By Carrie Bay | 03/10/2010
GMAC Financial Services has auctioned off $250 million of problem mortgage assets, using Citigroup Inc. as its broker on the deal, according to a report from American Banker. GMAC reported in February that its $5 billion loss during the final months of last year was largely the result of “legacy assets in the mortgage operations.” A regulatory filing by the company this week also revealed that its CFO, Robert Hull, has resigned, effective at the end of this month.
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By Brittany Dunn | 03/10/2010
At a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, March 16, 2010, the Nevada Supreme Court will consider amendments to the rules governing the state's Foreclosure Mediation Program (FMP). If the amendments are approved, this will be the third set of rule changes since the FMP was enacted on July 1, 2009.
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By Carrie Bay | 03/09/2010
Both the House bill for financial regulatory reform and the draft Senate bill currently being debated include across-the-board risk retention provisions for home mortgages. The idea is to ensure lenders have more "skin in the game," to prevent the risky practices that ignited the housing crisis.
But according to a new study by the Community Mortgage Banking Project, such mandated risk retention is "no substitute" for good underwriting and could significantly raise the cost of home mortgages.
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By Carrie Bay | 03/09/2010
National Quick Sale announced Tuesday that it has entered into a business partnership agreement with real estate and mortgage services provider Hollander Financial Holding Inc. Through this venture, National Quick Sale plans to promote the use of its short sale platform's capabilities through Hollander's nationwide network of real estate professionals.
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By Brittany Dunn | 03/09/2010
Several appraisal organizations, representing more than 35,000 real estate appraisers, are voicing their opposition to the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, set to take effect April 5, 2010. The program allows broker price opinions (BPOs) to be used to determine the value of properties to establish a minimum offer for a short sale. The trade groups argue that the use of BPOs will not protect all parties interests and is likely to open the door for fraud.
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By Carrie Bay | 03/08/2010
As servicers step up efforts to modify loans and keep borrowers in their homes, many are tripping over stumbling blocks in the form of home equity loans and other second lien mortgages.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank has sent out a petition to some of the nation's largest junior lien holders demanding that they take "immediate steps to write down second mortgages" to create a clear path for sustainable loan restructurings, especially since the prospect for any real return on these seconds is negligible, Frank says.
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By Brittany Dunn | 03/05/2010
The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) will receive nearly $700 million in new federal funding to help the state's most troubled homeowners stay in their homes. CalHFA is one of five housing agencies slated to receive a total of $1.5 billion in aid for states where unemployment is high and home prices have fallen more than 20 percent. CalHFA says it will submit its program plans to the federal government by April 16 and expects the new initiatives to be ready for implementation by mid-year or sooner.
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By Carrie Bay | 03/05/2010
For months, industry experts have lamented the nation's poor job market as a stranglehold on the housing market's recovery and a dead weight dragging down occupancy rates and new development in the commercial real estate sector. But according to data released by the Department of Labor Friday, the national unemployment rate was flat from January to February at 9.7 percent. Employers shed just 36,000 jobs during the month - far fewer than economists were expecting.
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By Brittany Dunn | 03/05/2010
As mandated by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, the secretary of HUD recently released a report to Congress addressing the root causes of the foreclosure crisis and made recommendations on actions that should be taken to mitigate the crisis and help prevent similar crises from occurring in the future.
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By Carrie Bay | 03/05/2010
FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair - a recognized champion of homeownership preservation whose loan modification model has set the standard for the industry - is throwing her support behind the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
She also points out that the nation's mortgage problem has evolved, and it's underwater mortgages that are now the biggest threat. Bair says the FDIC is actively looking at principal write-downs as one way to encourage borrowers to stick with their mortgages and help mortgage owners avoid costly foreclosures.
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