Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), a Jacksonville, Florida-based provider of technology, data, and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, announced Monday that Joe Jacquot has been named SVP of government affairs. Jacquot served from 2007 to 2011 as deputy attorney general of Florida and chief of staff for former Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Servicers completed 1,666 short sales and deeds-in-lieu (DIL) under the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program in April. That's up 73.7 percent from the number of HAFA transactions completed the month before. HAFA has been in place since April of 2010. According to Treasury's latest report, which covers program activity through April of this year, a total of 7,113 short sales and DILs have concluded through HAFA. Treasury says a short sale typically takes 120 days to complete under the program.

Prospective homebuyers cite worries about unemployment, property affordability, and the economy as issues that hold them back from jumping into the market, according to an industry survey commissioned by Genworth. But the mortgage insurer says these economic concerns have not translated into excessive mortgage stress among recent U.S. homebuyers. According to the survey, 87 percent of Americans who bought their first home in the past 12 months expect to easily meet their mortgage payment obligations in the coming year.

Fitch has downgraded the ratings of several U.S. residential mortgage servicers. The agency said its reasoning for the downgrade stems from the burden that comes with managing delinquent mortgages in an environment of heightened regulatory scrutiny, and notes that the largest bank-related mortgage servicers are most acutely impacted by the increasing operational risks. Fitch also cited what it described as the servicers' ""slower than expected"" response to the foreclosure crisis and delays in implementing process changes.

Home equity continued to head south during the first part of the year, but losses were eclipsed by another big jump in the value of financial assets as the stock market sustained positive movement. This, combined with a further reduction in overall debt levels, pushed household net worth higher during the first quarter, according to the Federal Reserve. Real estate assets lost $349 billion of their value over the first three months of 2011. The Fed says a mere 38 percent in homeowner equity is now the norm.

Servicer reaction varied following Treasury's announcement that it will not pay incentives to three program participants until officials see improvements in the way they handle borrowers under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Bank of America ""acknowledged improvements must be made,"" while Wells Fargo said it is ""formally disputing"" Treasury's assessment. Treasury insists its goal is to improve behavior, but some say the move could induce at least one of the larger banks to withdraw from the program.

Weaker than expected job growth in May pushed both fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages to new lows for the year, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. The GSE's study, which is based on data collected from about 125 lenders across the country, put the 30-year rate at 4.49 percent and the 15-year at 3.68 percent.

Prices on credit default swaps (CDS) involving subprime mortgages more than doubled their increase from last month, extending the rally to an unprecedented seventh straight month, according to the latest index results from Fitch Solutions. Subprime CDS prices rose 1.7 percent overall, though price increases were not uniform across vintages, with the 2007 leading the surge. Fitch says most vintages are in the black for the year. The lone negative outlier is the 2006 vintage.

The U.S. Treasury has released its regular monthly report card on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). New this time is an assessment of how the 10 largest HAMP servicers are performing. Four servicers have been designated as needing ""substantial"" improvement: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Ocwen Loan Servicing, and Wells Fargo. Treasury says it will withhold financial incentives from three of these companies until they make identified improvements.

Clear Capital sees signs of market stability as we move into the summer months. New data released Thursday by the company shows that U.S. home prices continue to fall, but the 2.3 percent drop recorded for the three months ending in May was half the decline seen in the previous month's report. Clear Capital says the median price paid for distressed properties has started to rise, indicating the REO market is seeing increased activity toward the upper end of the price range and helping to rein in the depreciating trend of the past several months.