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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.

Is Mortgage Market Deconsolidation Temporary or Here to Stay?

In 1998, the top 10 mortgage lenders held around 40 percent of the market. By 2010, their share increased to nearly 80 percent; since then, it's dropped down to around 60 percent. Why the decrease? Because only five of the top 20 single-family mortgage originators in 2006 remain active today. So what's driving the big guys out--market cycles or market restructuring? And will the current trend of favoring smaller lenders and servicers last forever?

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Feature: New World Order

The veterans of this business can remember when REOs ran in the neighborhood of 150,000 a year, delinquency rates were just around 4 percent, and you only needed a credit score of 620 to qualify for a prime mortgage loan. But the housing finance industry, and default servicing especially, has changed. In the cover story of it's September issue, DS News looks at the many factors--from a slew of new regulatory mandates to an altered public perception of debt obligations--that have altered the business into something far from customary.

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Feature: Where Oh Where Did My REO Go?

With fewer properties entering the foreclosure process and more delinquent borrowers avoiding foreclosure, the number of foreclosed single-family homes held by lenders and government agencies has rapidly declined. In the April issue of DS News magazine, contributing writer Keith Button explored the many market drivers taking their toll on the once-strong stock of bank-owned homes.

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Industry Data Shows 1,256,000 Loans in Foreclosure

The industry's foreclosure inventory contracted again in November upon continued improvements on the housing and economic fronts. Although on a monthly basis, the inventory of homes in foreclosure fell slightly by 1.72 percent, year-over-year, it was down 28.81 percent, Lender Processing Services reports. The company's mortgage performance stats show there are currently 1,256,000 mortgage loans in foreclosure.

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All-Cash Sales Reach New High In November

All-cash purchases accounted for 42 percent of all residential property sales in November, up from 38.8 percent in October and also up from a year ago to the highest level since RealtyTrac began tracking all-cash purchases in January 2011, the company reported. States with the highest percentage of cash sales included Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and South Carolina--all with more than half of the homes sold last month purchased with cash.

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Ocwen to Pay $2B for Servicing Violations

Ocwen Loan Servicing must provide $2 billion in principal reductions to underwater borrowers and refund $125 million to nearly 185,000 borrowers who were foreclosed on, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) along with 49 state attorneys general announced Thursday. ""The CFPB and its partner states believe that Ocwen was engaged in significant and systemic misconduct that occurred at every stage of the mortgage servicing process,"" bureau officials said.

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Claims Recovery Financial Solutions Appoints President, Chief Strategist

Claims Recovery Financial Services, LLC (CRFS) named Cecelia M. Raine company president and chief strategist. Raine is responsible for overseeing the company's enterprise support team along with developing the company's overall strategic direction. CRFS has hired 96 new employees since announcing its expansion plans in September.

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Lerner, Sampson & Rothfuss President Receives USFN Founder’s Award

Richard M. Rothfuss, president of Lerner, Sampson & Rothfuss, recently received the USFN Founder's Award for his service and dedication to the USFN-- America's Mortgage Banking Attorneys. The award recipient must have demonstrated a deep and abiding commitment to USFN and epitomize the character and ideals of the founders of attorney association.

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