The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) says as of June 30, 2011, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac held nearly 3 million first lien mortgages in which the borrower owed more on the loan that the home was worth. FHFA estimates principal forgiveness for all of these mortgages would require funding of almost $100 billion to pay down the loans to the value of the homes securing them. Members of Congress have questioned FHFA's reasoning for excluding principal forgiveness from the menu of loss mitigation tools available to the GSEs.

Sallie A. Conyers, a member at Reisenfeld and Associates, was recognized as one of Ohio's Super Lawyer ""Rising Stars"" for 2012 by Super Lawyers magazine. Super Lawyers is a peer-review publication that rates attorneys who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Conyers is currently the lead litigation attorney and supervising attorney of Reisenfeld and Associates' home retention department.

Homebuyers with enough cash in hand to cover their offer price in full are able to bid significantly lower on properties and according to a new industry report released Monday, because they offer a shorter and more reliable closing timeline without the impediments of a mortgage, they often win out with that lower bid. The study found that this low-bid-winning dynamic is particularly true for distressed properties because mortgage servicers selling foreclosed or REO homes generally prefer transactions that can settle within 30 days.

Freedman Anselmo Lindberg LLC, a Chicago, Illinois-based legal services provider to the mortgage banking industry, recently announced the addition of Jared M. Duke as an associate attorney in the firm's growing collections practice. Before joining Freedman Anselmo Lindberg, Duke was a legal intern at the Law Offices of Chicago - Kent. He is a graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law.

The delinquency rate on loans included in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) transactions increased by five basis points in December to 9.32 percent, according to Moody's Investors Service. At the same time, the rate of loans in special servicing declined by 13 basis points. December was the 12th consecutive month that CMBS delinquencies have been above 9 percent, by Moody's assessment. Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia, with an outstanding balance of $363 million, was the largest newly delinquent loan in December.

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger has issued a public warning to consumers in the state to be on the lookout for scammers portending to offer independent foreclosure reviews as part of the mandate to major mortgage servicers issued by the OCC and Federal Reserve. Servicers have begun offering case reviews to consumers who faced foreclosure between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. Kroger says scam artists are also contacting Oregon consumers, offering to conduct an ""independent foreclosure home loan review"" or a ""securitization review"" for a fee.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday charged the holding company for one of Florida's largest banks and its top executive with misleading investors about growing problems with the company's loan portfolio early in the financial crisis. The SEC alleges that BankAtlantic Bancorp and its CEO and chairman Alan Levan made false statements in public filings and earnings calls in order to hide the deteriorating state of its commercial residential real estate land acquisition and development loans.

As of the end of December, Lender Processing Services (LPS) counted 6,167,000 borrowers behind on their mortgage payments, including those already in the process of foreclosure. That tally is the culmination of a steady decline over the last year, with both the national delinquency rate and foreclosure rate down when compared to their December 2010 readings. Delinquencies dropped by 7.7 percent from their year-ago level, while foreclosures declined by 1.0 percent.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler and Wells Fargo have reached an agreement to settle allegations that two companies Wells acquired in 2008 - Wachovia and Golden West - used deceptive practices to market adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). In addition to loan modifications for certain consumers, Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $940,056 to the attorney general's office for restitution to affected borrowers who lost their homes in foreclosure.

Credit conditions may be tight, but for those who do qualify for a new home loan, the cost of borrowing has never been lower. Data released Thursday by Freddie Mac shows the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage edged down to 3.88 percent this week to hit a new all-time low. The 30-year rate has come in below the 4.00 percent mark for seven consecutive weeks now. The 15-year rate edged up just one basis point from its record low to 3.17 percent.