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Foreclosure

California’s Foreclosure Activity Drops in First Quarter: Report

Lending institutions started formal foreclosure proceedings on fewer California homes last quarter. MDA DataQuick reports that a total of 81,054 notices of default were filed at county recorder offices during the January-to-March period. That's down 4.2 percent from the prior quarter and 40.2 percent from a year ago. DataQuick says it's seeing signs that the worst may be over in the hard-hit entry-level markets, but problems are slowly spreading to more expensive neighborhoods.

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Mortgage Investors Say Big Banks Need to Modify Second Mortgages

In response to the notable first quarter profits reported by Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, the Association of Mortgage Investors (AMI) released a statement saying these four banks need to stop shifting their mortgage losses to investors in first-lien mortgages and confront their conflicts of interest. While the big banks have aggressively modified first mortgage debt, AMI says they have done little to nothing on second liens. As a result, homeowners remain deeply in debt with second mortgages that exceed the current value of their home.

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Existing-Home Sales Jump 6.8% in March

Sales of previously-owned homes rose higher than expected in March, reversing a three-month slide. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Thursday that existing-home sales jumped 6.8 percent to a 5.35 million-unit annual sales rate. Forty-four percent of last month's sales were attributed to first-time buyers racing to make the window for the homebuyer tax credit, but NAR still sees the March numbers as a signal of what will be a strong spring season and a broad home sales recovery.

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Freddie Mac Offers Mortgage Assistance to Flood Victims

Freddie Mac said Wednesday that its full menu of mortgage relief options is being extended to families whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the recent floods in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and West Virginia. Specifically, the mortgage giant is giving servicers the discretion to reduce or suspend mortgage payments for up to 12 months for borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages.

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FHLBank Pittsburgh Donates $500,000 to State HFA’s Foreclsoure Fight

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLBank Pittsburgh) recently announced that it is contributing $500,000 to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) to assist the agency in its foreclosure prevention efforts. This grant will allow PHFA to reach more homeowners under its Homeowners' Equity Recovery Opportunity (HERO) program, which aims to help borrowers not eligible for a traditional mortgage refinance product, due to credit issues or owing more on their home that its current appraised value.

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Wells Fargo Reports First Quarter Net Income of $2.5 Billion

In the first quarter of 2010, Wells Fargo earned $2.5 billion, or $0.45 per common share, according to the San Francisco-based bank's earnings report released Wednesday. Wells Fargo said all business segments contributed to the strong earnings results. The bank specifically pointed to improvements in home retention efforts and credit quality, which it described as having ""turned the corner.""

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Inspector General Casts Shadow on New HAMP Programs

Neil Barofsky, TARP special inspector general, has been highly critical of the government's foreclosure prevention programs. On Tuesday, he put the administration's new initiatives to help unemployed and underwater homeowners under the microscope. Barofsky says several issues could impede program effectiveness, including the voluntary nature of principal write-downs, disparate appraisal requirements across subprograms, and the short timeframe given for unemployment forbearance.

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ISGN and EquityRock Launch Equity Sharing Loan Mod Service

Technology provider ISGN Corporation has partnered with EquityRock, a pioneer in residential real estate equity sharing, to create a unique loss mitigation solution that allows lenders who offer mortgage principal reductions to retain a stake in the property's future appreciation. According to the two companies, the solution is the first equity sharing loan modification service of its kind in the industry.

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Loan Value Group Names Craig Lipsay Managing Partner

Loan Value Group LLC, a solutions provider that helps mortgage lenders address the risk of strategic default, has named Craig Lipsay as managing partner. In this role, Lipsay will work directly with institutional clients to implement the company's Responsible Homeowner Reward, a program that provides cash payments to eligible homeowners affected by negative equity as long as they remain current on their mortgages.

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