Government

In a speech before the Women in Housing and Finance, Comptroller of the of the Currency Thomas J. Curry addressed critics of the recent $9.3 billion foreclosure deal. The foreclosure settlement officially ended what was known as the Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) and replaced the review with a new approach that is said to compensate borrowers much more quickly. Although the new approach means borrowers will start seeing compensation in the next month or so, Curry admitted the approach is still ""not without critics."" In his speech, he addressed two main concerns.

In his State of the Union Address, amid discussion of tackling the federal deficit and revising America's tax laws, President Barack Obama gave special attention to the nation's recovering but still-struggling housing market. ""Our housing market is healing, our stock market is rebounding, and consumers, patients, and homeowners enjoy stronger protections than ever before,"" he said

Months after filing a felony charge against Lorraine Brown, Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette announced the former DocX president has pleaded guilty to racketeering for her alleged role in the company's fraudulent signing practices. [IMAGE] According to a release from Schuette’s office, Brown pleaded guilty to one count of conducting criminal enterprises—a 20-year felony—before Kent County Circuit Court Judge Mark Trusock.

About 60 percent of loans written today would not be acceptable under the finalized rules for a qualified mortgage (QM) and the anticipated rules for a qualified residential mortgage (QRM), according to new research from CoreLogic. CoreLogic analyzed 2.2 million loans written in 2010 to determine what percentage of them meets QM and QRM guidelines. But, CoreLogic still concluded that ""[w]hile QM and QRM remove 60 percent of loans, they remove 90 percent of the risk.""

At the end of 2012, the national mortgage delinquency rate fell nearly 14 percent over a one-year period, while more than 80 percent of metropolitan areas saw their rates decline, according to a TransUnion report. The rate of mortgages past due 60 or more days dropped to 5.19 percent in Q4 from 6.01 percent in the same quarter in 2011. ""The national mortgage delinquency rate experienced its largest yearly decline since the conclusion of the recession, though we still remain far above normal levels,"" said Tim Martin, group VP of U.S. housing at TransUnion.

Two U.S. senators reintroduced legislation designed to open up competition and limit barriers to refinance for qualified homeowners who are otherwise left without options. Senators Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) and Barbara Boxer (D-California) reintroduced The Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act of 2013, a bill that would allow homeowners to take advantage of low interest rates by reducing or removing certain refinance requirements.

In light of the heightened number of mortgage servicing transfers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a bulletin to servicers and subservicers to remind them of protections for consumers when loan transfers occur. ""If the transfer process is not handled properly, consumers may find that their servicer lost important loss mitigation documents or that the servicer did not credit their payments on time,"" the CFPB explained. The CFPB also announced it is making servicing transfer-related problems a focus and will be scrutinizing servicers in a few specific areas.

As states across the country continue to struggle with lengthy foreclosure timelines, Illinois took a momentous step to shorten its foreclosure process last week. A new Illinois state law that allows servicers to fast-track the foreclosure process on certain properties has the potential to shorten a two-year process to between 90 and 180 days. The bill, which took almost as long to pass as Illinois former foreclosure process, received Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's signature Friday.

During the month of January, 14,500 homeowners received permanent mortgage modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), while 53,100 homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure, according to the latest Housing Scorecard from the Obama administration. At the same time, 14,500 homeowners entered into trial modifications through HAMP, and 72,500 homes entered the foreclosure process. Proprietary modifications continue to outpace HAMP. HOPE Now reported 62,200 mortgage modifications completed in January.

After much speculation and anticipation, the Florida Supreme Court gave its answer to a highly-contested question that asks whether a bank could voluntarily dismiss a foreclosure case without consequence if fraudulent foreclosure documents were found and then refile the case at a later time. In the opinion released Thursday for Roman Pino v. the Bank of New York Mellon, the court sided with BKNY Mellon, emphasizing there was no adverse impact on the homeowner as a result of the bank’s voluntary dismissal of the foreclosure case.