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Foreclosure

New HAMP Report Disappoints, as Half Fall out of Trial Program

The administration released new numbers Friday on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Housing analysts and market observers say the results are disappointing at best. The latest report shows that nearly half of the homeowners approved for trial modifications have fallen out of the program. And during July, servicers converted just 36,695 HAMP trials to permanent status, a significant slow-down considering growth in permanent mods averaged more than 50,000 a month throughout the first half of this year.

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Financial Asset Services Launches Door Knock Service

Financial Asset Services, Inc. (FAS) has launched a new door knock service to help mortgage servicers with loss mitigation. The company says successful door knocks can lead to discussions of short sale transactions or deed-in-lieu negotiations for the servicer and allow homeowners to leave the property on their own terms.

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NY Banking Department Issues New Regulations for Mortgage Servicers

In its efforts to protect homeowners and avoid another mortgage and foreclosure crisis, the New York State Banking Department has issued new rules regarding the business practices of mortgage loan servicers. The regulations, which go into effect October 1, include halting foreclosure actions for borrowers being considered for, or currently in, a trial or permanent modification, as well as developing procedures for consumer complaints and ensuring homeowners do not have to submit multiple copies of required documents.

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Steel Mountain Capital Initiates SMART Asset Management

SMART Servicing, LLC, an affiliate of Steel Mountain Capital Management, recently announced the availability of its new privately owned software, ""SMART""--Servicing Management Asset Recovery & Tracking. The system provides residential mortgage professionals with relevant loan-level information to control loss severity, as well as asset-level transparency outside the traditional servicing system formats, the company says.

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As Servicers Shift Focus from HAMP, Completed Mods Near 1M Mark

The industry has completed about 975,000 permanent loan modifications so far in 2010, according to estimates released this week by the HOPE NOW Alliance. Of those, only a third have been processed under the umbrella of the federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Two-thirds have been servicers' own proprietary mod programs. HOPE NOW also reports, though, that servicers have initiated more than 1.2 million foreclosures this year.

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TransUnion: Mortgage Delinquencies Drop for Second Straight Quarter

The national mortgage delinquency rate - measuring the ratio of borrowers 60 or more days behind on their payments - fell again in the second quarter of 2010, suggesting credit conditions in the housing sector have begun to stabilize, according to TransUnion. Data released Tuesday by the credit bureau show that the national delinquency rate dropped to 6.67 percent in Q2. That's down from 6.77 percent during the previous three-month period, which marked the first time in 12 quarters that TransUnion recorded a decline in mortgage delinquencies.

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Massachusetts Extends Homeowners’ ‘Right-to-Cure’ to 150 Days

Gov. Deval Patrick has signed into law a package of foreclosure initiatives that he says will keep people in their homes and stabilize neighborhoods across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The legislation was deemed an emergency measure by lawmakers. In addition to extending the mandated 90-day right-to-cure on foreclosures created in 2007 to 150 days, it creates new protections for tenants renting apartments in foreclosed buildings and establishes mortgage fraud as a crime.

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CoreLogic Index Shows Sharp Slow-Down in Home Price Increases

CoreLogic reports that home prices in the United States increased in June, marking the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year gains in residential property values. But the company says price appreciation has slowed considerably--a sign that we're likely in for further declines heading into the fall season. According to CoreLogic, national home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 1.4 percent in June compared to a year earlier. That follows a 3.7 percent jump in May. CoreLogic says June's 2.3 percentage point deceleration from May is ""very large by historical standards.""

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Study Shows Foreclosure Lowers a Property’s Value by 27%

Foreclosed homes permeate the American landscape. According to data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), they make up about one in 12 houses with under $1 million left on the mortgage. These foreclosures drive down home prices, but it can be hard to determine how much depreciation is caused by the foreclosure and how much is economical factors. One economist from MIT and two Harvard researchers have put a price tag on foreclosures. They've determined that foreclosure itself reduces the value of a home by 27 percent.

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RealtyTrac Foreclosure Data Now Available through Moody’s Analytics

RealtyTrac's foreclosure, property, loan, and home sales data is now available via Moody's Analytics, an independent provider of economic forecasting and credit risk services. By aggregating RealtyTrac's proprietary foreclosure information and combining it with local economic and house price measures, Moody's says banks, asset managers, and federal and local governments are given insight into all stages of the foreclosure process.

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