Tag Archives: Mortgage Debt

The default rate for first mortgages now stands at a post-recession low, and the default rate for second mortgages is at the lowest level in its more than 8-year history, according to data from the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. The first mortgage default rate fell to 1.36 percent in September, down from 1.40 percent in August and 1.99 percent in September 2011. The second mortgage default rate bottomed to 0.64 percent, down from 0.72 percent in August 2012 and 1.32 percent a year ago.

MortgageKeeper Referral Services announced Tuesday that it will begin working with Family Credit Management to help its counselors connect consumers to vetted community services via MortgageKeeper's MKDesktop product. Family Credit Management is a nonprofit consumer credit and housing counseling agency licensed in over 20 states. It's counselors will now have Web-based access to MortgageKeeper's nationwide database of more than 6,500 nonprofit and government services.

Home equity installment balances rose 0.3 percent in August--the first monthly increase since November 2007, according to Equifax. After plummeting 49 percent over the past four years to just $143 billion, the company contends August's uptick could signal ""a possible turning point in mortgage demand."" Equifax says amid signs the contraction in mortgage debt is slowing and delinquencies are trending down, it looks like positive growth may finally be taking hold in the mortgage market.

Ocwen made some waves when it announced an agreement to acquire Homeward Residential Holdings in a nearly $750 million deal, but Fitch Ratings is doubtful about the move. The ratings agency announced it has placed Ocwen's ""B"" long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) on Rating Watch Negative following the servicer's announcement. Fitch cited in its decision the risks of various difficulties involved in the integration of Homeward Residential, as well as the current regulatory environment in the mortgage sector.

Mortgage performance for loans serviced by large national and federal savings banks weakened in the second quarter of 2012, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reported Thursday. The percentage of current and performing mortgages stood at 88.7 percent at the end of Q2, a slight drop from Q1, when 88.9 percent of loans were current and performing. However, the share of seriously delinquent mortgages fell 0.8 percent from Q1 to 4.4 percent, the lowest level in three years.

As more and more baby boomers approach their golden years, many are finding themselves having to make a choice they never imagined: Whether or not to walk away from their mortgages. YouWalkAway.com released the results of a client survey, revealing that the looming prospect of a fixed income is driving many older struggling homeowners to strategically default while they still have something left.

Despite a $355 billion increase in the value of household real estate, household net worth fell $322 billion in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday in its quarterly Flow of Funds report. And, while the value of owner-occupied household real estate increased in the second quarter, total residential mortgage debt fell almost $51 billion. As a result, owners' equity increased just over $406 billion and owners' equity as percentage of the value of the real estate rose to 43.1 percent, the highest level since Q2 2008, according to the report.

The Federal Open Market Committee announced Thursday a new plan to stimulate a moribund economy, continuing two earlier plans which at best stopped the economy from contracting. The FOMC said it would keep the federal funds rate near zero into mid-2015, six months longer than it had said previously. The FOMC voted 11-1 ""to increase policy accommodation by purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month.""

Massachusetts attorney general Martha Coakley issued a letter Thursday to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and their conservator, FHFA, reminding the agency and mortgage giants that they are required to offer reasonable loan modifications in the state and urging flexibility on principal reductions. In a letter addressed to FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco, Coakley outlines a law recently passed in Massachusetts that requires creditors to ""make commercially reasonable efforts to achieve a commercially reasonable loan modification.""

Arizona attorney general Tom Horne announced the filing of two lawsuits against Arizona companies offering allegedly fraudulent mortgage modification services to distressed homeowners. Horne brought suits against Phoenix-based Making All Homes Affordable, LLC (MAHA) and Tucson-based La Paz Source, LLC, alleging fraudulent practices by the two companies.