Secondary Market

The number of foreclosure filings for the second quarter of this year was the lowest reported since the fourth quarter of 2007, according to RealtyTrac's Midyear 2011 Foreclosure Market Report released Thursday. All categories of foreclosures showed decreases on both a quarterly and annual basis. June marked the ninth consecutive month in which foreclosure activity declined on a year-over-year basis.

The FDIC has filed suit against former IndyMAC Bancorp Inc. CEO Michael Perry for $600 million in losses caused by risky mortgage loans. The FDIC accuses Perry of purchasing $10 billion in risky residential loans.

Foreclosure sales declined for the second straight month, while foreclosure starts increased, according to HOPE NOW. Foreclosure sales nationwide decreased 7 percent from 73,000 in April to 68,000 in May.

Stewart Lender Services (SLS) announced the acquisition of a majority ownership of PMH Financial, a full-service REO outsource and subservicing company with an active inventory of $2.5 billion in real estate assets.

With mortgage delinquencies at unprecedented levels, it's become clear that the current servicing-fee model is lacking. The GSEs and Ginnie Mae are in the process of developing new servicing compensation structures to provide greater flexibility for the servicing of nonperforming loans. As deliberations move forward, the Mortgage Bankers Association is recommending they consider the idea of a new ""reserve account"" strategy to cover the higher expenses associated with default servicing.

The Applied Analytics division of Lender Processing Services, Inc. recently introduced the LPS Home Price Index (HPI). The LPS HPI shows historical price trends for residential properties in the United States, offering estimates of property values that underlie residential mortgage portfolios and securities. LPS says the new tool is a reliable way to estimate borrower stress, negative equity, and potential for default and loss.

Allonhill, an independent third-party review firm specializing in mortgage due diligence and credit risk management, hired 25-year mortgage industry veteran Jennifer LeSueur as managing director of due diligence, overseeing Allonhill's private-sector due diligence operations. LeSueur previously served as director of underwriting at Teletech Loan Services and was VP of credit risk oversight at Aurora Loan Services.

A group of mortgage-bond investors has filed a petition with the New York Supreme Court requesting to be cut loose from the $8.5 billion settlement proposed last week by Bank of America. The settlement would resolve nearly all of the lender's repurchase exposure stemming from legacy first-lien residential mortgage bonds issued by Countrywide. Eleven of the companies to be compensated by the arrangement, though, say BofA's proposal is ""inadequate.""

For the first time since the credit crisis began in 2008, the delinquency rate on loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) has fallen for two consecutive months. After a modest reduction in May, the research firm Trepp LLC says the delinquency rate fell 23 basis points in June to 9.37 percent. Unfortunately, the company says, the rate reduction was driven primarily by a sharp spike in loans being resolved with losses, rather than delinquent loans actually curing.

Rep. Gary Miller of California is introducing a new idea for GSE reform - a merger of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bill, drafted by Miller and co-sponsored by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York, suggests the resulting entity would purchase mortgages and sell them to investors as government-backed securities. According to Miller, the new corporation would be privately capitalized but not privately owned, and would be limited to a market share of no more than 50 percent.