Foreclosure

Ally Financial is withdrawing all foreclosures in Maryland signed by an employee who admitted to being a robo-signer. Jeffery Stephan testified under oath that he signed off on thousands of foreclosure documents every month without verifying their accuracy or signing them in the presence of a notary. Ally has agreed to dismiss and re-file 250 active foreclosure cases in the state that he approved.

The task force assembled by federal banking regulators to investigate the industry's servicing and foreclosure practices after the robo-signing scandal broke is expected to release the results of its findings as early as February. John Walsh, acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, says on-site reviews by task force examiners are ""largely complete"" and federal agencies have begun the next phase of formulating actions that should be taken to ""fix problems in the mortgage servicing and foreclosure area.""

Fannie Mae issued a servicing guide announcement Tuesday amending the company's requirements regarding foreclosure attorney fees for properties located in the state of Maryland. Effective for mortgage loans referred to an attorney on or after February 1, 2011, Fannie Mae is increasing the maximum allowable attorney fee for legal work related to non-judicial foreclosures from $950 to $1,300.

According to RealtyStore, a provider of local foreclosure listings, the median price of bank foreclosures in Miami-Dade County, Florida, are nearly half that of the current market rate. The firm's analysis showed 64 percent of all foreclosures for sale in the county are marketed by banks. The other foreclosures are listed for sale by government entities, including HUD and the GSEs. Bank-owned foreclosures are priced 47 percent less than the median market price. When it comes to government foreclosure pricing, the discounts are even deeper.

Consumer advocacy groups have been joined by federal lawmakers in their campaign against a mortgage lending rule change proposed by the Federal Reserve. The Fed has recommended revising a stipulation that allows homeowners to stop a foreclosure on the grounds that the lender violated disclosure requirements outlined in the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA). With consumers' rights at the forefront of regulatory reform, the Fed's decision is attracting criticism. A group of senators is calling the proposal ""unfortunate and unnecessary.""

Banks already facing many legal issues have yet another group on their hands that is closely examining servicing practices and demanding greater transparency. The Association of Mortgage Investors has released a white paper featuring remedies to restore and stabilize the U.S. mortgage and housing markets. The group of investors accuse servicers of making the mortgage process confusing. Their paper says they look forward to continued reviews and the involvement of state attorneys general.

Recent data from Barclays Capital examines the ramifications of the fourth quarter foreclosure debacles on REO roll rates. Data released Friday shows the foreclosure-to-REO rate dropped 57 percent in judicial states the last few months of 2010, and dropped 42 percent in the non-judicial states. In New York, the roll rate ground to a near stop, dropping a whopping 91 percent in December when compared to the rate from January to October 2010.

FEI, a national provider of posting, publication, auction management, property preservation, and asset management services based in Washington, recently acquired RSVP, a national provider of similar services headquartered in California. Together, FEI and RSVP will offer foreclosure services including posting, service of process, and publication management that controls the production and placement of legal notices in 2,300 publications from coast to coast.

According to a report released Thursday by the Woodstock Institute, vacant homes in the city of Chicago are piling up and costing the city millions of dollars while bringing crime and blight to neighborhoods. According to the report, there were more than 18,000 properties on the city of Chicago's vacant buildings index as of September 2010. Vacant and abandoned properties can rapidly spiral into disrepair, affecting the values of neighboring properties and attracting criminal activity.

A recent report by ForeclosureRadar shows unexpectedly mixed foreclosure activity in its five-state coverage area for the month of December. The California-based firm found that foreclosure starts were down in Arizona, California, and Washington; flat in Nevada; and higher in Oregon. Completed foreclosure sales numbers were also mixed across the West Coast states. ForeclosureRadar says the disparity in activity could be due in part to the differing laws between states.