Foreclosure

Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee point to the GSEs and the Obama administration's housing programs as areas for Congress' deficit reduction super-committee to examine as it works toward cutting $1.5 trillion of the nation's debt. A letter drafted by Chairman Spencer Bachus and signed by 20 Republican committee members first calls for an increase in the GSEs' guarantee fees and then the elimination of such programs as HAMP and HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

Wells Fargo reported net income of $4.1 billion over the July-to-September period. The company called it a ""record"" quarter, but even with profits up 21 percent from the prior year, the numbers were overshadowed by the fact that Q3 results missed market expectations. It's the first time in more than two years that Wells Fargo didn't meet analysts' forecasts. A decline in loan charge-offs and nonperforming assets, as well as an $800 million reduction in loan loss reserves helped to counter declining revenue.

Amid a challenging environment for servicers, CitiMortgage, GMAC, and Ocwen have outperformed major competitors with regards to loss mitigation and foreclosure timelines, according to a recent report from Moody's Investors Service. The company's Servicer Dashboard rates major servicers on their performance from June 2010 to June 2011. Moody's notes that Bank of America's and Chase's performance assessments were affected by large servicing acquisitions and foreclosure moratoria.

GMAC Mortgage has teamed up with the Loan Value Group, LLC on a pilot program that provides financial incentives for borrowers with VA loans to remain current. GMAC is offering Loan Value Group's Responsible Homeowner (RH) Reward program to a group of Veterans Administration (VA) customers who are current on their mortgage payments but have seen a significant decline in the value of their homes. The program returns a portion of their lost equity in exchange for continued, timely mortgage payments.

The analysts at Barclays Capital say a ""triple-dip"" in home prices will likely materialize by early next year. The term ""triple-dip"" emerged in a Clear Capital report a couple of weeks ago, and Barclays says its analysis corroborates the idea. The research firm warns that home prices will likely slip another 6 to 7 percent over the coming winter months. That would put median prices at a new low for this cycle, in fact 3 percent below the double-dip measurement of last spring.

While five major banks continue to deliberate with the state attorneys general for a settlement involving violations in mortgage documentation, the same five banks, plus several others, also face charges for committing fraud against veterans and taxpayers. Defendants accuse 13 banks of ""a brazen scheme to defraud both our nation's veterans and the United States Treasury of millions of dollars"" by overcharging borrowers in connection with home loans refinanced through a U.S. Veterans Affairs program.

Local media in Las Vegas are reporting that unsuspecting renters are falling victim to an elaborate fraud scheme involving vacant foreclosures. Con artists are combing the Las Vegas Valley for homes that have been sitting empty for an extended period of time - such properties aren't hard to come by in the foreclosure-ridden area. They then advertise the home as ""for rent"" and bilk victims out of thousands of dollars before they realize the fraud has taken place.

FICO announced this week that it has inked deals with four of the country's top 10 mortgage servicers to provide them with its predictive analytics technology to identify borrowers who pose the greatest risk of strategic default. Studies conducted by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business indicate that roughly 35 percent of mortgage defaults are strategic, and FICO estimates this makes strategic defaults more than a $20 billion problem annually.

JPMorgan Chase used its third-quarter earnings call with investors Thursday to rein in expectations about when a mortgage servicing settlement might be reached with state officials. CEO Jamie Dimon described the settlement talks as ""getting bogged down"" because of the many varying demands of each of the state attorneys general. Dimon said he thinks it'd be good for everyone involved to come to an agreement and move on, but he was quick to add, only if the settlement is ""reasonable.""

In preparation for policing the nation's largest lenders, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Thursday released its examination procedures for mortgage servicers. The bureau will begin its review of more than 100 large banks, thrifts, and credit unions with extensive examinations of their mortgage servicing practices, including complaint resolution, loss mitigation procedures, and foreclosures. The agency stressed that mortgage servicing has a huge impact on consumers and therefore is a top priority for the CFPB.