Foreclosure

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.

The number of seriously underwater properties is on the decline, according to a recent home equity report. Approximately 5.5 million U.S. homes were seriously underwater for the quarter—a drop from last year’s 6.7 million. As a percentage of all mortgages, seriously underwater loans also dropped, accounting for 9.7 percent of all loans versus the 12 percent of Q1 2016.

According to the Supreme Court, Miami has the standing to sue Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. under the Fair Housing Act, stating that the banks’ discriminatory and predatory lending practices led to a major shortfall in city tax revenues. We hear from industry lawyers on the case to gauge its implications.

Non-current inventory is at an 11-year low, falling below historical norms for the fourth consecutive month. The states with the highest percentage of non-current loans were largely in the South, including Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, New Jersey, and West Virginia. States with the lowest share were in the Midwest and Western U.S., including Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Colorado.

According to month-end data from March, the national delinquency rate has fallen to its lowest point in 11 years, hitting 3.62 percent. The number of non-current properties and the total inventory of loans under foreclosure, both fell to historic lows as well. Prepay speeds increased—a typical indicator of increasing refi activity.

New data shows that 30,000 permanent loan modifications and 95,000 non-foreclosure solutions were completed for the month of February. The month saw only about 22,000 foreclosure sales. Around 90 percent of families that had a rate-resetting loan modification for the month avoided foreclosure.

mortgage default rates are up one basis point from February to .75 percent, a one-year high. Year-over-year, the mortgage default rate dropped from .77 percent, while the bank card default rate increased year over year. Of the five major cities covered by the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices (New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami), New York and Chicago posted month-over-month increases in the Index level, while Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami posted month-over-month decreases in defaults.

The 2017 Servicer Success scorecard is a part of Freddie Mac’s Servicing Success Program, which offers analysis of servicer performance through defined metrics, benchmarks, requirements, financial incentives, and compensatory fees. The Scorecard offers metrics for both default management and investor reporting, and releases at the end of every month. New reports in the scorecard include a Rank Improvement Report and a 12-Month Rolling Scorecard Summary.

During the recent meeting of the National Mortgage Servicing Association, Ray Barbone was installed as Chairman of the organization. Barbone, EVP of Mortgage Services at BankUnited will be taking the place of J.K. Huey, SVP of Lending Asset Management and Preservation at Wells Fargo.

According to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, total Refinance volume has dropped as mortgage rates have risen. In February 2017, borrowers completed 4,198 refinances through HARP, and since HARP’s inception in 2009, the program has made 3,456,422 refinances. HARP represented three percent of total refinance volume, and six percent of loans refinanced through HARP had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 125 percent.