Daily Dose

Defects in a chain of title can have devastating effects on the mortgage servicer’s ability to recover an asset associated with a nonperforming loan. The webinar discussed how to navigate regulation and correct mistakes, and what to look out for in judicial foreclosure states.

The chain of title is the guy-wire that holds the home finance industry upright. Without some method to determine who owns a given parcel of real estate, it cannot be used as collateral for a loan. In cases where these loans go into default, a clear title is essential for a smooth foreclosure and REO process. Unfortunately, problems arise that cloud the title, increasing loss severity for investors.

According to a recently released report by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), foreclosures from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since the dawn of conservatorship reached 3.8 million as of Q4 2016. Overall however, serious delinquencies are down, along with short sales and REOs. FHFA also found that that the types of loan modifications offered are being influenced by the increase in home prices over the last couple of years.

Jeb Hensarling first introduced the Financial CHOICE act last summer, in response to the 2010 Dodd-Frank act. The president’s team has already indicated support of the Financial CHOICE Act, which, among other things, would modify aspects of Dodd-Frank and help to reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The qualified mortgage rule, a standard set up to make sure borrowers can repay their mortgages, as well as other mortgage servicing and home lending regulations are set to come up for review. The CFPB wants to “try to see what the real-world effects on the market” these regulations have.

Conventional wisdom suggests that rising Fed Funds rates are bad news for the still-recovering US Housing Market. And it’s easy to see a scenario unfold that supports this theory: lenders react to the Fed action by raising interest rates on ...

The strong housing recovery may be partly to blame for the large drop in inventory experienced in some markets during the past five years. On average, the more increased the housing values in a particular area above pre-recession levels, the greater the decrease in present housing inventory. The significant drop in starter and trade-up home inventory is pushing affordability further out of reach of some homebuyers.

The distressed sales share for December 2016 and the full year distressed sales share were both the lowest distressed sales share for any month since 2007. Before the housing crisis, distressed sales averaged around 2 percent, and the share is expected to reach that point again by mid-2018.

One of the world’s top rating agencies warned on Monday that sweeping or high-level changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could unleash a host of unintended consequences on America’s housing-finance system and the global banking sector—just as they enter ...

The March 2017 issue of Housing Finance at a Glance, compiled by the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute, gives a 44-page in-depth look at housing finance in today’s market.  It’s a virtual encyclopedia of information concerning the ...