Loss Mitigation

Fannie Mae this week unveiled the Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards (STAR) program, which will measure and evaluate mortgage servicers' performance in supporting the housing recovery. The program will examine how the servicers help homeowners avoid foreclosure, and will feature incentives, awards, and an annual scorecard, as well as a monthly snapshot so servicers can track their progress. It will directly link servicer performance to the customer experience and the number of homeowners the servicer has helped.

Freddie Mac reported Thursday that it lost $113 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The loss, compounded by the company's $1.6 billion quarterly dividend payment to Treasury for bailout money, left the GSE with a net worth deficit again. Freddie's regulator is requesting another draw from Treasury, this time to the tune of $500 million. The company's fourth-quarter shortfall was actually the smallest of 2010 and brings the GSE's losses for the full year to $14 billion.

Dallas-based Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, which specializes in severely delinquent loans and managing foreclosure alternatives to reduce loss severity, offers proof of the demand for special servicing outsources with its recent company growth announcement. The company, which began operations in 2008 with a small group of former GSE and servicing executives, reached 300 employees this month.

The technology firm RES.NET, Inc. is adding a Short Sale Portal to its Accelerated Management Platform (AMP) to provide mortgage servicers with tools to manage the short sale workflow process and connect with their borrowers and representing listing agents. The company is also launching a HomeOwner Portal, a secure application borrowers can go to in order to complete the short sale application and stay abreast of the status of their transaction through direct links with the servicer and listing agent.

Stewart Lender Services, a nationwide provider of centralized origination, loss mitigation, and REO asset solutions for mortgage lenders and servicers, has announced three key partnerships that will allow the company to expand its service offerings. Stewart is collaborating with Inglet Blair, LLC, Spectrum Field Services, and Field Asset Services.

Industry analysts have been sounding the alarm for months now about high volumes of commercial mortgages coming due over the next couple of years that borrowers may find difficult to refinance. But small businesses who find themselves in this situation are getting a helping hand from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The agency is rolling out a program that will allow small businesses to refinance their mortgage debt with a 504 loan.

DecisionReady, a provider of default servicing compliance solutions, released a pre-foreclosure review module for the DecisionReady Compliance Suite on its cloud-based technology platform this week. Operating like a compliance quality control checklist, the pre-foreclosure review module enables servicers to ensure they meet the requirements for reviewing a delinquent mortgage loan.

LenderLive Network Inc. has expanded into private-labeled subservicing and specialty servicing. Through its expanded servicing division, LenderLive offers traditional subservicing of performing assets and end-to-end specialty servicing to help optimize the resolution of distressed assets. The company will continue to provide component servicing for loan modifications, short sales, and REO asset management. The company has tapped David Vida, a 20-year veteran of the mortgage industry to manage the loan servicing division.

Fifth Third Mortgage Company, a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bank headquartered in Cincinnati, recently broke $65 billion in terms of its total servicing portfolio for the first time in company history. The company, which services more than 477,000 customers in 12 states, works with customers to refinance homes through the Making Home Affordable program, as well as the Freddie Mac Relief Refinance Mortgage program.

Dr. Christopher Herbert, research director at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, has been named to the board of directors of the Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF). Herbert spent the last two decades conducting research related to housing policy, housing markets, housing finance, and urban development. He also promotes and maintains homeownership for low-income and minority families.