Foreclosure

A New Jersey judge has given the green light for five of six major mortgage servicers to resume uncontested foreclosures in the state after a formal review of their procedures demonstrated the ""reliability of their processes."" Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and OneWest Bank have been granted permission to restart foreclosures. Ally's GMAC Mortgage is awaiting the court's decision. Since the beginning of 2011, just over 6,000 foreclosures have surfaced in the state courts, compared to 35,000 filings at this time last year.

Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York plans to propose a bill he says will reduce the housing glut, create jobs, and stimulate the economy. Deriving inspiration from the success of the Homestead Act of 1862 -- which offered 160 acres to Americans in order to promote Western settlement -- Ackerman's Homestead: Act 2 aims to get 3 million properties off an already depressed market by providing a subsidy of up to $20,000 for down payments on foreclosed homes and a tax break for investors who purchase foreclosures for rental properties.

Lenders continue to battle the headwinds of high unemployment, a stalled economic recovery, and a backlog of bad loans from the heyday of the housing boom - all playing into a marketplace stressed with high levels of delinquencies and complex resolutions. But the underpinnings of a new age of creditworthy, financially savvy borrowers are beginning to take shape. The counseling agency CredAbility says its Consumer Distress Index has improved for three consecutive quarters.

U.S. Bank has announced several new initiatives to support the city of Milwaukee in its efforts to stabilize hard-hit communities through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). The bank is setting up a $1 million restoration fund for developers to acquire and rehabilitate foreclosed properties in the city's designated NSP zones. It has also agreed to provide $15 million in mortgages to qualified borrowers in NSP zones over the next four years, and has committed to give more than $240,000 in grants to housing agencies working within the city.

Lender Processing Services (LPS) issued a report Tuesday which puts the number of mortgages that are delinquent or in foreclosure at 6,538,000. The company's assessment is based on mortgage performance statistics through the end of July, derived from its loan-level database of nearly 40 million mortgages. The grand total of past-due mortgages has risen by nearly 190,000 over the past two months. In June, LPS' tally of loans at least 30 days delinquent or in foreclosure was 6,452,000. In May it was 6,350,000.

SingleSource Property Solutions has announced the rollout of its proprietary 'cash for keys' calculator. The company says while many firms offer a cash for keys tool, they typically focus on carrying costs alone. SingleSource's calculator arrives at a monthly cost to carry and incorporates actual eviction and redemption timelines, while taking into account rent estimates and the tenant's perceived savings.

The Federal Reserve found a small increase in consumers' willingness to borrow and banks' willingness to lend, but a decline in loan balances, according to the second-quarter household debt report issued Monday by the central bank's New York arm. Mortgage debt and home equity lines of credit each decreased by about $20 billion during the second quarter of 2011. This represents a 0.2 percent drop for mortgage balances and a 3 percent drop for home equity loans.

TransUnion's mortgage performance barometer has recorded its largest drop in delinquencies since the end of the recession two years ago. The credit bureau says mortgage delinquencies improved 5.98 percent during the second quarter, with the rate of homeowners 60 or more days past due declining to 5.82 percent. TransUnion predicts delinquencies will continue to decline throughout the year, thanks to conservative lending policies that cater to consumers with higher credit scores.

Claims Recovery Financial Services, LLC (CRFS) has hired Lynette Richter as consulting manager. She will be responsible for overseeing all operational aspects of the firm's newly launched consulting and training group. Richter has over 25 years of management, technical, and consulting experience in the mortgage servicing profession. Prior to CRFS, she was director of quality assurance with the consulting firm Lyons McCloskey, LLC.

Servicers completed 2,213 pre-foreclosure short sales and deeds-in-lieu (DIL) under the government's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program during the month of June. Treasury's latest report shows the program is beginning to pick up steam. The number of completed HAFA transactions climbed 55 percent compared to the 1,428 transactions completed in May. That follows a 70 percent jump in finalized HAFA deals between the months of March and April.