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Tag Archives: ALTA

Fitch: U.S. RMBS Delinquencies Improve in Q4

Serious delinquencies for U.S. RMBS improved across all sectors in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a new mortgage market index from Fitch Ratings. Furthermore, the agency expects RMBS delinquencies to continue declining this year. According to Fitch, the improvement ""reflects positive selection in the remaining pools, loan modification efforts by servicers, and positive home price trends.""

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ALTA Sets Standards for Title Industry, Releases ‘Best Practices’

The American Land Title Association (ALTA), a national trade association for the land title insurance industry, released a set of ""Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices"" created to help members highlight policies and procedures used to ensure a ""positive and compliant real estate settlement experience.""

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Subprime Servicers Improve Cash Flow in Q2: Report

Overall, major subprime servicers improved their ability to limit losses on delinquent loans in the second quarter, according to the Servicer Dashboard report from Moody's Investors Service. Moody's uses a cash flow efficiency metric to measure how much cash a servicer collects relative to losses. The report revealed that the cash flow efficiency metric increased for subprime servicers, rising from 0.27 in Q1 to 0.29 in Q2, the highest level obtained over the past five quarters.

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SEC Charges Former GSE Execs with Securities Fraud

Six former executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now facing securities fraud charges for making misleading statements about the companies' holdings of subprime loans between March 2007 and August 2008. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges they fed the markets false information about the amount of risk on each company's books. Both GSEs entered into non-prosecution agreements with the SEC and have agreed to cooperate in the litigation against their former executives.

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Title Insurance Premiums Decrease in Second Quarter

Title insurance companies wrote $2.30 billion in premiums throughout the second quarter of 2011, down from $2.33 billion in the second quarter of 2010, according to the American Land Title Association's (ALTA) preliminary 2011 second-quarter market share analysis. At the same time, premiums increased in 21 states and Washington, D.C. The biggest premium gains were seen in Iowa and South Dakota. Fidelity underwriters claimed the largest market share, with more than a third of the new business.

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Arkansas Restricts Wall Street Home Resale Fees

Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe has signed House Bill 1388, making Arkansas the 22nd state to ban the use of Wall Street home resale fees, also known as private transfer fees. Private transfer fees require that homebuyers pay a percentage of the final sale price of a home to a private third party every time the property is sold, typically for 99 years. Issuers of these fees attempt to sell the right to collect them on Wall Street.

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Industry Weighs in on Administration’s Housing Finance Proposal

Organizations from every corner of the industry are weighing in on the administration's proposal to reform the nation's housing finance system. A number of groups are throwing their support behind the long-term reform option that calls for a group of private companies to provide guarantees for well underwritten mortgage securities, and the federal government to offer investors a type of reinsurance on these bonds. There are some, though, who say even this more prudent approach will raise borrowing costs and push small businesses out of the market.

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FHFA Proposes Ban on Wall Street Home Resale Fees

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has sided with consumer advocacy groups that say private transfer fee covenants, also referred to as Wall Street home resale fees, place a hidden financial burden on homebuyers and home sellers. FHFA sent a proposed rule to the Federal Register this week, which would limit Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks from dealing in mortgages on properties the federal agency describes as ""encumbered"" by certain types of private transfer fee covenants.

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