Deed-in-Lieu
By Krista Franks Brock | 01/23/2012
As robo-signing reviews reach completion, servicers are beginning to work through some of their foreclosure backlogs, according to a third-quarter report from Moody's Investors Service. At the same time, the ratings agency found that loan modifications are on the decline. Servicers are now turning to loss mitigation alternatives such as short sales and deeds in lieu, Moody's says. The agency is also forecasting longer timelines this year to move properties from foreclosure sale to REO liquidation.
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By Krista Franks | 01/05/2012
In the servicing sector, compliance was the buzz word in the fourth quarter of 2011, according Equator, a leading software provider for the default servicing industry. And compliance will continue to be top-of-mind throughout 2012, according to the company. "The needs of our clients have focused on the demands for stricter compliance and Infrastructure Security," said John Vella, COO of Equator. Having released its short sale module in 2009, Equator has initiated almost 1.2 million short sales as of the fourth quarter of 2011.
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By Krista Franks | 12/07/2011
Servicers for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have completed almost 2 million foreclosure prevention actions for the two companies since they went into conservatorship in 2008, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) third-quarter report released Wednesday. More than half of these actions have been loan modifications, and of the remainder, about 676,500 have kept homeowners in their homes. About 269,700 were short sales or deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure.
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By Carrie Bay | 12/07/2011
The U.S. Treasury said Wednesday that it will continue to withhold incentives from JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America for modifications, short sales, and deeds-in-lieu completed through government programs. JPMorgan is the only servicer participating in Treasury's Making Home Affordable program that was determined to need "substantial improvement" in complying with program guidelines during the third quarter. Bank of America moved up a notch on the assessment scorecard to needing only "moderate improvement."
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By Krista Franks | 11/14/2011
California is relaxing some of its eligibility restrictions and increasing the amount of assistance it provides struggling homeowners through its mortgage assistance program. Keep Your Home California is a $2 billion initiative funded by the federal government through the California Housing Finance Agency. Changes to the various sub-programs include an extension of the time period during which unemployed homeowners receive assistance and expanding eligibility to those who own more than one property.
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By Carrie Bay | 11/03/2011
Treasury has released a new progress report on its Making Home Affordable initiative, covering all the "H" acronyms. Since the program started in April 2009, 857,000 homeowners have received permanent loan restructurings under HAMP, and 894,000 have refinanced their mortgages through HARP. HAFA transactions tally just under 19,000. Officials say they continue to see a fall in mortgage defaults due in part to foreclosure prevention programs reaching more borrowers upstream in the process, but there's "much more work to do."
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By Carrie Bay | 09/07/2011
For the first time in over a year neither Fannie Mae nor Freddie Mac are showing any downward movement in their seriously delinquent mortgage rates. Fannie's percentage of single-family loans at least three payments past due remained unchanged between the months of June and July at 4.08 percent. Freddie's increased one basis point to 3.51 percent. The Federal Housing Finance Agency says foreclosure prevention actions completed on loans held by the two mortgage financiers have declined for four consecutive quarters.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/12/2011
Servicers completed 2,213 pre-foreclosure short sales and deeds-in-lieu (DIL) under the government's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program during the month of June. Treasury's latest report shows the program is beginning to pick up steam. The number of completed HAFA transactions climbed 55 percent compared to the 1,428 transactions completed in May. That follows a 70 percent jump in finalized HAFA deals between the months of March and April.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/09/2011
Homeland Security Capital Corporation has added a second acquisition as part of its entry into the mortgage and settlement services business by completing the purchase of all of the stock of Timios, Inc. Homeland Security Capital is an international provider of technology-based radiological, nuclear, environmental, disaster relief, and electronic security solutions to government and commercial customers. Timios is a paperless provider of title insurance and escrow services. Last month, Homeland Security Capital also acquired the assets of Default Servicing LLC.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/05/2011
Fannie Mae's second-quarter loss narrowed from the previous quarter, but still in the red, the GSE says it needs to draw another $5 billion from Treasury, bringing its tally of taxpayer-funded support to $104.8 billion since the company was placed into conservatorship. The company reported a net loss of $2.9 billion for the April-to-June period, compared to a net loss of $6.5 billion in the first quarter of the year. Fannie Mae acquired 53,697 REO homes through foreclosure over the three months ending in June.
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