Foreclosure

With about 800,000 REOs and about 1 million properties in some stage of default, it is difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, that is just what a group of four analysts tried to do at a panel session Monday during the Five Star MPact Mortgage Banking Conference and Expo. Rick Sharga of Carrington Mortgage Holdings noted that in every previous recession, housing has brought us out, but in this recession, it dragged us in. As a result, he says, recovery this time will be a bit different.

The foreclosure crisis has had a long and destructive run - five years and counting, with millions put out of their homes. According to the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), we're not even halfway through the devastation. The organization's analysis of 27 million mortgage loans originated over a five-year period found that 6.4 percent of mortgages made between 2004 and 2008 have ended in foreclosure, and an additional 8.3 percent are at immediate, serious risk.

Michael L. Zevitz, shareholder at South & Associates, P.C. has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in Kansas City in the area of mortgage banking foreclosure law. Selection is based on more than 2.8 million confidential peer-review evaluations. In addition, shareholder Nancy M. Wilson has been selected for the inaugural edition of the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers - exclusively for women attorneys who have achieved the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards from their peers.

Looking for an REO buyer? It's becoming harder to find owner-occupants to fit that bill. New Vista Asset Management has published the results of a three-year study on buyers of foreclosed homes, covering 18 counties hit hardest by the mortgage crisis. The company says the percentage of REO homes sold to owner-occupants has decreased in almost every market. In Los Angeles, for example, the share of owner-occupant REO buyers dropped from 80 percent in 2009 to 60 percent by the third quarter of 2011.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has launched an investigation into the possible wrongful foreclosures of about 5,000 military members by 10 of the nation's largest banks. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), signed into law in 2003, protects military members from foreclosure while on active duty. Rep. Brad Miller of North Carolina is calling for officials to pursue criminal charges should SCRA violations be substantiated.

Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage says it will stop doing business with third-party lenders in Massachusetts. The announcement was made just one day after the state's attorney general said she is suing GMAC and four other mortgage servicers over documentation and recording errors related to foreclosures. Effective Monday, December 5, GMAC will cease purchasing new mortgage loans in the state that are originated by correspondent lenders and wholesale brokers.

Three government agencies are combining efforts to address mortgage modification scams through a joint task force. With the announcement of the task force, the participating agencies -- the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Treasury Department -- released a consumer fraud alert to ensure homeowners understand that only their mortgage servicer has discretion to grant a loan modification.

Jerry E. Held and Stephen G. Collins, shareholders with the law firm of Sirote & Permutt P.C., have been selected for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Held was recognized for mortgage banking foreclosure law and real estate law, and Collins was recognized for mortgage banking foreclosure law. Selection is based on more than 3.9 million attorney peer evaluations.

Data released by Lender Processing Services (LPS) Thursday shows mortgage delinquencies are continuing to decline, now nearly 30 percent below their January 2010 peak. Loans in the process of foreclosure, on the other hand, are steadily rising. LPS says foreclosure inventories reached an all-time high at the end of October, making up 4.29 percent of all active mortgages. The average days delinquent for loans in foreclosure extended as well during the month, setting a new record of 631 days since last payment.

Disenchanted with the lack of progress made after a year of negotiations between state attorneys general and the nation's five largest mortgage servicers, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has split from the pack and filed her own individual lawsuit. Coakley is suing Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Citi, and GMAC for what she says were ""illegal foreclosures."" The suit also names Mortgage Electronic Registration System, Inc. (MERS) and its parent company as defendants.