Foreclosure

Quality Mortgage Services (QMS) provides mortgage quality assurance and mortgage compliance solutions nationwide, and the company says it's able to perform foreclosure audits for any servicers that need or what a retrospective review. In April, federal regulators directed 14 of the nation's largest mortgage servicers to hire third-party firms to conduct a 'look-back' audit of their foreclosure cases from 2009 and 2010. QMS says all servicers should be ensuring they are, and have been, fully compliant with proper foreclosure procedures.

The Obama administration is setting the stage for a public-private collaboration to tackle the growing inventory of REO homes. On Wednesday, federal officials called on private investors and industry stakeholders to share their recommendations on how best to dispose of foreclosed homes held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA. Together, the three hold nearly 250,000 REO homes. Federal officials believe the most effective tactic is to sell off pools of properties to responsible investors who will employ an REO-to-rental strategy.

Sirote & Permutt, P.C. has expanded its mortgage litigation practice into the Florida market with the opening of a new office in Pensacola. This is the fourth location for the law firm, which also has offices in Birmingham, Huntsville, and Mobile, Alabama. Sirote & Permutt says in response to client feedback, it evaluated the legal market and opted for expansion.

Mortgage delinquencies declined 27 percent in the first half of 2011 compared to the first half of 2010, according to data from HOPE NOW. For the first half of 2011, the number of 60-day plus delinquencies was 2.7 million, down 1 million from the first half of 2010. Foreclosure sales also declined year-over-year for the period - down 25 percent. At the same time, the total number of foreclosure starts during the first six months of 2011 was 1.13 million, a decrease of 9 percent from the first six months of 2010.

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and Assistant Attorney General Jim Sugarman have filed suit against ReconTrust Company, a subsidiary of Bank of America, for illegally foreclosing thousands of Washington homes. McKenna and Sugarman are requesting the court require ReconTrust to abide by state laws in addition to inflicting civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation and restitution for affected homeowners.

KML Law Group, P.C., with its principal office in Philadelphia, has been formed to provide creditor's rights representation to secured lenders in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. KML is the result of the restructuring of the law firm of Goldbeck McCafferty & McKeever, which has served the mortgage banking industry since 1981. The shareholders of KML were shareholders in the Goldbeck firm and will continue to provide legal services, including loan resolution, home retention, foreclosure, bankruptcy, eviction, REO closings, and related legal services.

The Illinois creditor's rights firm the Wirbicki Law Group has added a new associate. The firm announced Monday that it has welcomed Laurence J. Goldstein to its team as an associate attorney. Goldstein has provided financial institutions with cradle-to-grave foreclosure representation for over 25 years. His specific areas of expertise include commercial foreclosures, mediations, consent foreclosures, deeds-in-lieu, and forbearance agreements.

Fiserv, Inc. released its home price index Tuesday noting declines but predicting stabilization by the end of 2012. For the short-term, Fiserv sees continuing declines - at least until the end of the year. However, beginning in 2012, Fiserv predicts small gains in prices. Fiserv notes that the first quarter of 2011 showed a continuation of the double-dip trend started last year when demand waned after the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. Price declines early this year were also driven by a jump in foreclosure sales.

Freddie Mac said Monday that it logged a $2.1 billion net loss for the second quarter. The company has requested $1.5 billion in taxpayer funding from Treasury, bringing the total amount of its capital draws while in conservatorship to $66.2 billion. Freddie's latest financials represent a slide from the previous quarter, when it posted a $676 million profit and needed no money from Treasury. The GSE acquired 24,799 REO properties through foreclosure in the second quarter but sold 29,355, shrinking its inventory of repossessed homes.

The administration has released a new report on its flagship Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Officials say more borrowers are qualifying for permanent modifications, and in less time. The rate of modifications moving from trial to permanent status under the HAMP umbrella is up to 74 percent, according to Treasury. At the same time, conversions from a trial to permanent modification are down to 3.5 months on average, compared to an average of 5.2 months a year ago.