Home / Author Archives: Krista Franks Brock (page 30)

Author Archives: Krista Franks Brock

Krista Franks Brock is a professional writer and editor who has covered the mortgage banking and default servicing sectors since 2011. Previously, she served as managing editor of DS News and Southern Distinction, a regional lifestyle publication. Her work has appeared in a variety of print and online publications, including Consumers Digest, Dallas Style and Design, DS News and DSNews.com, MReport and theMReport.com. She holds degrees in journalism and art from the University of Georgia.

House Rejects Bill to Classify Modified Loans as Accruing

Members of a House subcommittee voted Thursday not to pass a bill which would have allowed banks to classify modified loans as accruing rather than non-accruing. While most members of the subcommittee agreed that, in many instances, examiners and regulators are posing undue hardship on community banks, the bill was shot down with 8 ayes and 10 nays. Those who opposed said it would allow lenders to manipulate their accounting so that they don't have to hold additional capital against a potentially problematic loan.

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Nevada AG Files Criminal Charges for Robo-Signing

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has filed criminal charges against two title officers for alleged robo-signing. The defendants are employed by Lender Processing Services (LPS) and are allegedly responsible for tens of thousands of fraudulent documents that made their way through the Clark County Recorder's Office from 2005 to 2008. LPS says it cooperated with Masto's investigation and was assured earlier in the month that the company was not a target of the attorney general's inquiry.

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SIGTARP and Google Fight Mortgage Scammers

The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) is vigilantly targeting mortgage and foreclosure rescue scammers that advertise online. SIGTARP announced Wednesday that it recently halted 85 online scams that promised to help homeowners pursue mortgage loan modifications. Google has cooperated with SIGTARP in its investigation and since the discovery of the 85 mortgage fraud schemes, has suspended 500 advertisers.

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Judge Allows Allied to Resume Issuing FHA-Insured Loans

A federal judge has reversed HUD's decision to temporarily suspend Allied Home Mortgage Corporation after the agency accused the bank of committing fraud and violating several Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements. The judge said the damage to Allied's business as a result of the suspension outweighs any harm that would be suffered by the government before the issues can be litigated. Allied and its CEO deny the allegations against them.

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Industry Completes 5M Loan Mods Since 2007

HOPE NOW announced a major milestone Tuesday -- the completion of 5 million loan modifications since the group began tracking such loss mitigation efforts in 2007. More than 80 percent of these modifications were completed through servicers' own proprietary programs, with the rest coming from the government's Home Affordable Modification Program. Officials called the 5 million mark a halfway point, adding that much more work needs to be done to help distressed homeowners.

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NCUA Reaches Settlements with Two Banks

The National Credit Union Association (NCUA) has reached settlements with Citigroup and Deutsche Bank Securities regarding residential mortgage-backed securities sales to five wholesale credit unions that have recently failed. Citigroup agreed to pay $20.5 million, and Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $145 million to help lessen the losses incurred when the five credit unions failed. Neither bank admitted to fault when agreeing to the settlement. Total losses incurred from the five credit union failures stand at $3.3 billion, according to the NCUA.

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California Expands Its Homeowner Relief Program

California is relaxing some of its eligibility restrictions and increasing the amount of assistance it provides struggling homeowners through its mortgage assistance program. Keep Your Home California is a $2 billion initiative funded by the federal government through the California Housing Finance Agency. Changes to the various sub-programs include an extension of the time period during which unemployed homeowners receive assistance and expanding eligibility to those who own more than one property.

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LPS: Prices Are 28.3% Below Peak in Mid-2006

National home prices have been on the decline since June 2006 with a few bursts of increases, which Lender Processing Services (LPS) attributes to seasonal trends. Overall, prices have declined 28.3 percent since their peak in June 2006, according to LPS' new home price index. The company reports home prices fell 0.9 percent across the nation in August, after a smaller 0.4 percent decline the previous month. The largest price declines since the beginning of this year have occurred in Atlanta and Phoenix.

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Senate Proposal Calls for Winding Down of GSEs

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee has introduced a bill aimed at winding down the GSEs and bringing uniform standards to the industry. Coker's proposal would gradually reduce the amount of new mortgage backed securities (MBS) issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over 10 years. At the end of the 10-year period, the MBS market would be completely private. The bill also mandates sales of the GSEs' technology and other systems to private investors, and calls for a replacement to the MERS registry system.

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Three Servicers Pledge to Abide by Fair Servicing Standards

Three mortgage servicers have voluntarily entered into an agreement with the New York State Department of Financial Services in which they pledge to abide by upgraded mortgage servicing standards that ensure fairness for all borrowers. The agreement was forged between Benjamin M. Lawsky, superintendent of the state regulatory agency, and Morgan Stanley and its Texas-based servicer Saxon; American Home Mortgage Servicing, also based in Texas; and Vericrest Financial, based in Oklahoma.

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