Tag Archives: Principal Writedown

The president and CEO of Ocwen Financial Corporation was honored recently at an annual gala hosted by Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People (ESOP), a HUD-approved foreclosure prevention agency.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has issued the first borrower payments resulting from settlements with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure processing. Oklahoma families who were subject to the servicers' ""unfair and deceptive practices ... following the financial crisis,"" can expect to receive their checks soon, Pruitt said. Oklahoma was the only state to craft its own agreement with Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, GMAC/Ally, and Wells Fargo.

As part of the agreement under the national mortgage settlement, Bank of America has completed or approved more than $4.75 billion in principal reductions on first mortgages, with the average principal reduction exceeding $150,000. Through the bank's principal reduction program, 30,000 homeowners have been approved for a trial modification or received a permanent modification as of the end of September.

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.

Rep. John Campbell (R-California) introduced to Congress a piece of legislation designed to keep local governments from using eminent domain to seize homes with underwater mortgages. Titled ""The Defending American Taxpayers from Abusive Government Takings Act,"" the bill would prohibit Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, and the Veterans Administration from purchasing or guaranteeing loans originating in counties where a municipality has seized a mortgage loan through eminent domain in the last decade.

About 600,000 borrowers rose above negative equity in the second quarter of 2012, CoreLogic reported Wednesday. According to the company's analysis, 10.8 million, or 22.3 percent, of residential properties with a mortgage remained underwater for the second quarter of 2012. Even though negative equity is said to be driving factor for default, 84.9 percent of underwater borrowers managed to stay current on their payments.

The California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC) issued a release Thursday criticizing the banks on going back to business as usual by forgoing principal reduction efforts and prioritizing short sales, a plan most banks were using before the settlement was announced. While California attorney general Kamala Harris managed to negotiate a plan that includes $12 billion in principal reduction for homeowners in the state, CRC said banks have been reluctant to uphold that responsibility.

Five months after the nation's top five servicers settled with the states attorneys general and several federal agencies to address iniquities in foreclosure processes, Joseph A. Smith, Jr., the settlement monitor, released a preliminary report to inform the public of the servicers' progress so far. Thus far, the five servicers - Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Ally Financial - offered $10.56 billion in relief to borrowers and have implemented between 35 and 72 percent of the 304 servicing standards detailed in the national settlement.

FHFA issued a notice Wednesday to warn of the controversial use of eminent domain proposed in San Bernardino County. In the notice, which was sent to the Federal Register, FHFA stated it had 'significant concerns"" about the use of eminent domain to revise existing contracts and alter the value of GSE or Federal Home Loan Bank securities holdings. FHFA said that in relation to the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the use of an eminent domain program could result in a cost to taxpayers.

In a long-running debate, Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, stated again this week that he does not support principal reductions and does not endorse their use at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After stating his position, he immediately faced criticism and opposition from a broad spectrum of individuals, especially throughout the government. However, DeMarco's decision received a few words of praise as well.