Foreclosure

The GSE no longer allows plywood to be used on homes in preforeclosure, however, this rule does not apply to Fannie Mae’s REO properties. As of March 29, servicers have 90 days to re-glaze/repair or clear board all unsecured and previously plywood boarded windows. Additionally, Fannie Mae will allow servicers seven days to secure a property after it has been found vacant, by re-glazing/repairing or clear boarding.

The latest Fitch Servicer Handbook ranks Select Portfolio Servicing No. 1 in the nation’s non-agency RMBS market, bumping Ocwen and Nationstar down to No. 2 and 3, respectively. Fitch called SPS a “notable anomaly” in the market.

More lenders in February saw defects in mortgage applications compared to January, according to a new report by First American Financial Corp. The firm’s chief economist cited rising interest rates as the likely culprit. As rates rise, more borrowers are seeking ARMs, which are inherently riskier and, thus, ripe for more misrepresentation.

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.

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.

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.

The total national loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) fell to 4.31 percent, a 0.98 percent decline, in February. This is a year-over-year drop from last year of 5.51 percent. Foreclosure sales dropped month-over-month to 1.87 percent, a decline of 16.23 percent, but increased year-over-year by 0.22 percent.

The implementation of the settlement was successful in directing most of the consumer relief to those who needed it the most. The majority of consumer relief came in the form of mortgage loan modifications, 53 percent of which were in areas identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of Distressed Census Tracts, or Hardest Hit Areas. The settlement agreement also provided for resources to be directed to local organizations and legal assistance programs to help stabilize neighborhoods and provide foreclosure-prevention assistance and other housing-counseling activities.

The company recently purchased about 8,000 loans with unpaid balances of $1.4 billion from Fannie Mae.

Though foreclosures are dropping nationally, 10 states and the District of Columbia experienced increases in foreclosure activity.