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Author Archives: Carrie Bay

Carrie Bay is a freelance writer for DS News and its sister publication MReport. She served as online editor for DSNews.com from 2008 through 2011. Prior to joining DS News and the Five Star organization, she managed public relations, marketing, and media relations initiatives for several B2B companies in the financial services, technology, and telecommunications industries. She also wrote for retail and nonprofit organizations upon graduating from Texas A&M University with degrees in journalism and English.

Fannie Mae Extends Mortgage Relief for Unemployed Borrowers

Fannie Mae issued new guidelines to its servicers Wednesday, introducing an unemployment forbearance program which provides servicers the flexibility to assist borrowers who have a financial hardship due to job loss, including those facing imminent default. Servicers may offer up to six months of forbearance without obtaining Fannie Mae's prior approval. Another six months can be added with the GSE's okay. Fannie Mae's new directive mirrors the unemployed forbearance guidelines issued by Freddie Mac last week.

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Davidson Fink Adds New Attorney

The law firm of Davidson Fink, LLP, headquartered in Rochester, New York, recently welcomed Alissa Wilson as an associate attorney. Wilson dedicates her legal practice to default services, where her focus is on completing the foreclosure process within investors' specified timelines while producing clear title to the real property and resolving judicial obstacles. Her background includes residential foreclosure settlement conference and loss mitigation processes, as well as litigation support for contested foreclosures.

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Nationwide REO Brokers Offers Third-Party Foreclosure Reviews

Nationwide REO Brokers, Inc. (NREOB) unveiled a new service for lenders and servicers Wednesday, offering independent loan-level foreclosure reviews and legal opinion. Due to the ever increasing complexities surrounding the foreclosure process, particularly in NREOB's home state of Massachusetts, the company has expanded its service offerings to include a complete foreclosure document evaluation performed by attorneys and supervised paralegals.

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Sirote & Permutt’s Don Wright Appointed to Board of Law Firm Alliance

Sirote & Permutt shareholder Donald M. Wright has been elected to serve a two-year term as a board member for the Law Firm Alliance (LFA). LFA is an international affiliation of law firms. It was created 10 years ago to provide a vehicle for clients to obtain legal services by providing a network of member firms for referral of legal matters. At Sirote, Wright chairs the firm's consumer bankruptcy practice group.

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Justice Department Issues Report in Support of Foreclosure Mediation

The U.S. Department of Justice released a 69-page report Tuesday on a foreclosure intervention method that is becoming increasingly popular across the country - mediation. The paper draws from an earlier workshop which was attended by dozens of mediation program stakeholders and researchers. A key finding that emerged, according to DOJ officials, is that the federal government should take an active role, both in helping to develop program and evaluation guidelines and in providing resources for mediation programs and research.

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Number of ‘Improving’ Housing Markets Nearly Doubles

The number of housing markets showing measurable improvement nearly doubled in January, with the addition of 40 new metros to the Improving Markets Index put out by First American and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The index tracks housing markets that are showing signs of improving economic health based on three independent datasets - employment growth from the Labor Department, home price appreciation from Freddie Mac, and single-family housing permits from the Census Bureau.

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Fannie Mae CEO to Resign

Michael Williams has decided to step down from his position as CEO and president of Fannie Mae, the GSE announced today. Williams was appointed to the top post at Fannie Mae in 2009, after the company was placed in federal conservatorship. He will continue as CEO and as a director until Fannie Mae's board names a successor, the GSE said in a statement. Edward DeMarco, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, praised Williams for his leadership through a turbulent time for the market and said his agency will work closely with Fannie Mae in the search for a new CEO.

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Tod Phelps Assumes CIO Role at Mortgage Contracting Services

Mortgage Contracting Services LLC (MCS), a nationwide provider of property preservation services, inspections, and REO property maintenance, announced Tuesday the addition of Tod Phelps as chief information officer (CIO). Phelps started his career in the IT industry 23 years ago.

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HAMP Mods Pass 900,000 as Servicers Tackle Seconds, Negative Equity

Treasury released a new report Monday highlighting results from the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Nearly 910,000 homeowners have received a permanent HAMP modification, saving $9.9 billion in monthly mortgage payments. Officials say they will continue to press servicers to assist underwater borrowers and address second-lien issues. A total of 38,243 principal-reducing permanent HAMP mods have been granted, and 54,828 second-lien mods have been started under the federal program.

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CoreLogic’s Home Price Index Shows Fourth Straight Monthly Decline

CoreLogic released its November home price report Monday, showing prices nationally fell 1.4 percent month-over-month and 4.3 percent year-over-year. November marks the fourth consecutive month CoreLogic's index has returned negative results, with the downward pressure coming from distressed REO and short sale transactions. When you exclude these distressed deals from the dataset, the year-over-year decline is just 0.6 percent. In fact, CoreLogic says the non-distressed market is expected to be down ""very modestly"" at year-end.

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