Daily Dose

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Melvin Watt testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Thursday on the status of the housing finance system after nine years of conservatorship. His message? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to be reformed, and soon, else taxpayers will be footing a hefty bill next year.

According to a new report, serious delinquencies, short sales, deeds-in-lieu, third-party sales, and foreclosure sales were all down for the month. Earlier-stage delinquencies were up in February, however, with loans 30 to 59 days delinquent rising from 377,000 to 404,000 for the month. Of February loan modifications, 19 percent had principal forbearance, while extend-term modifications accounted for 44 percent—something the report attributes to ever-climbing housing prices.

A new report shows foreclosure filings are down 23 percent since last year, hitting their lowest point since November 2005. Foreclosure starts and completions are also down over the year, though repeat foreclosures have seen an increase. The only places to see jumps in foreclosure activity were New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and D.C.

Municipalities may be experiencing whiplash from a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling which both permits and prevents certain suits based on the Federal Housing Act. In Bank of America Corp., et. al. v. City of Miami, the City of Miami argued that two banks, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, violated the Federal Housing Act by intentionally issuing riskier mortgages on less favorable terms to African Americans and Latino customers than they issued to similarly situated white, non-Latino customers.

On May 10, representatives from the leading mortgage servicers and default servicing law firms in the U.S. met to discuss issues currently impacting business. The Servicer Summit is a biannual gathering of leaders from the mortgage servicing and legal communities focused on fostering conversation and learning from each other.

Patrick Cox is SVP of Default Servicing at Ocwen Financial Corporation, where he is responsible for all the foreclosure and bankruptcy activities of the firm. He previously served as SVP of Default Servicing at ServiceLink LoanCare Servicing, VP of Late Stage Default and Foreclosure at HSBC Consumer and Mortgage Lending, and Manager of Operations at Global Service Centre. He holds an MBA from the University of Florida and a bachelor’s in Finance and Marketing from Florida State University.

Reflecting promises made on the campaign trail, President Trump’s tax reform proposal appears to be an effort to reduce tax burdens for Americans as well as simplify the nation’s tax structure. Based on the outline presented this week, we now have a clearer picture of the administration’s primary goals for tax reform, but those goals will need to be formalized in detailed legislation.

Following the stepping down of Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry on Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appointed Keith Noreika as Acting Comptroller and designated him the First Deputy Comptroller of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). On Monday, Noreika held his first address to OCC employees, expressing his eagerness to learn the agency.

Bankruptcy filings took another fall for another straight month in April 2017. The number of filings has dropped year-over-year every April since 2011, according to April 2017 AACER bankruptcy data reported by Epiq Systems this week.

According to a new report, 30-day delinquencies, 90-day delinquencies, and foreclosure inventory are down over the year. “Early-stage” delinquencies were slightly up, however, rising from 2.08 percent to 2.14 percent. Louisiana saw the most delinquent mortgages for the month.