Foreclosure

Private investors in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) comprised of jumbo mortgage loans are dealing with a greater risk of strategic defaults, according to Moody's Investors Service. The company's analysts base this assumption on the fact that jumbo RMBS have large populations of current borrowers with high loan-to-value (LTV) ratios. In contrast, the subprime sector faces the lowest potential for future performance deterioration because its weaker borrowers are already delinquent or have defaulted.

Recording a slight decrease in delinquencies in its preliminary third quarter estimate, Trepp predicts full market recovery will not occur for years. Residential mortgage delinquencies fell 0.3 percent in the third quarter to 12 percent, according to Trepp's preliminary data. This is down 1.1 percent from last year. The research firm says the slow rate of improvement reflects the high volume of foreclosures and weak price trends that still plague the nation's housing markets.

The Occupy Oakland group is starting a new wave of occupations. They intend to occupy vacant properties. Occupy Oakland announced on Twitter that its general assembly has passed a proposal to encourage the occupation of bank-owned foreclosed and abandoned properties across the city. Members took a first step in this direction by entering a vacant building formerly used by the Traveler's Aid Society. It ended in violence as protestors broke windows and set fires, and resulted in about 100 arrests.

The nation's unemployment rate slipped to 9.0 percent in October, as employers added 80,000 new jobs to their payrolls, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Officials called the rate ""little changed,"" down from 9.1 percent the month before. The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range from 9.0 to 9.2 percent since April. Government data shows that there are 13.9 million people out of work in the United States. Extended unemployment has become the biggest driver of mortgage delinquencies.

CredAbility has announced the launch of its 2012 ""Reconstruye tu Futuro"" campaign, which will leverage grassroots efforts, social media networks, and traditional media communication to reach those in the Hispanic community who are at risk of foreclosure. With more than 50 million Hispanics in the United States and a downturn economy, CredAbility says Latino individuals and families have been more deeply impacted than other minority populations. By leveraging key financial tools, CredAbility aims to help Latino individuals, families, and communities recapture their American Dream.

Treasury has released a new progress report on its Making Home Affordable initiative, covering all the ""H"" acronyms. Since the program started in April 2009, 857,000 homeowners have received permanent loan restructurings under HAMP, and 894,000 have refinanced their mortgages through HARP. HAFA transactions tally just under 19,000. Officials say they continue to see a fall in mortgage defaults due in part to foreclosure prevention programs reaching more borrowers upstream in the process, but there's ""much more work to do.""

Barrett Daffin Frappier Turner and Engel, LLP, a Texas-based law firm offering a full range of legal services to creditors on defaulted residential mortgage loans, has announced five key appointments. General counsel David Seybold has been named a shareholder within the firm. The firm has also named Ryan Bourgeois general counsel within its Texas foreclosure practice. Shelley Douglass is now managing attorney over litigation. Robert D. Forester II and Connie J. Vandergriff have been appointed supervising attorneys over litigation.

Those who know someone who has defaulted on a mortgage are more likely to have a pessimistic outlook on the economy, according to Fannie Mae's third quarter National Housing Survey. However, knowing a defaulter does not seem to cloud their view of homeownership. Ninety-two percent of owners who know someone who defaulted on a mortgage and 89 percent of owners who do not know a defaulter agree that owning a home makes more sense than renting.

The nation's second largest mortgage company is asking the U.S. Treasury for another $6 billion in capital support after posting its largest quarterly loss in over a year. Freddie Mac says it recorded a net loss of $4.4 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, after shouldering a $4.8 billion loss on derivatives and a $3.6 billion provision for credit losses related to high levels of mortgage refinancing and lower mortgage insurance recoveries. The GSE's REO operations expense skyrocketed to $221 million in the third quarter, compared to $27 million for the second quarter.

Ally Financial's CEO Michael Carpenter told investors Wednesday that his company ""would not settle for the kind of numbers being bandied about"" as recompense for mishandled foreclosure paperwork. Ally's GMAC Mortgage was the first servicer to admit to robo-signing issues and affidavit errors related to foreclosure processing last fall. Analysts estimate the company could be on the hook for $2.5 billion of state attorneys general's $25 billion settlement proposal. Carpenter says it should be a ""small fraction"" of that amount.