Foreclosure

Moody's Investors Service projects the national rate of underwater homeowners could reach 50 percent by early 2011. Florida's All Statewide Property Corporation says it has found a solution to this dilemma by forming satellite limited partnerships to by bulk mortgages from lenders and reducing principal balances to current market values.

According to a recent article written by Andrew Jakabovics, an associate director for housing and economics at the Center for American Progress, the Federal Housing Finance Administration's (FHFA) house price index (HPI) is a reminder that local markets behave differently over time, which strongly affects both lenders' and insurers' profitability, or lack thereof.

President Obama and his administration are floating an idea to prohibit lenders from foreclosing on a home unless the borrower has been considered for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The proposal would also halt any foreclosures already in process once a borrower has been accepted into the trial phase of the program. A Treasury spokesperson confirmed that a foreclosure ban is under consideration, but stressed that it is one of many ideas on the table and has not been approved yet.

Santa, Ana California-based First American Document Solutions, a member of the First American Corporation and a single point of access to a large land records database, recently announced that it has enhanced its online title policy and document retrieval capabilities.

The administration's Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) is set to expire June 10. It's a central component of the government's foreclosure prevention efforts and is currently one of the only mortgage relief programs to help underwater borrowers. With the sunset date looming, several industry trade groups have joined forces to urge officials to extend HARP for another year, and they say a decision needs to be made quickly to prevent foreclosures on creditworthy borrowers.

Reversing a long historic trend, mortgage default risk for consumers with high FICO scores now exceeds their credit card default risk, Minneapolis-based FICO recently reported. The provider of analytics and decision management technology said this disturbing revelation creates unknown risk in lenders' credit portfolios, as well as counter-intuitive trends in consumer behavior.

Ocwen's Paul Koches offers insight into the industry's slow pace when it comes to mortgage modifications. Koches says the assumption that servicers make more money from foreclosures than modifications just isn't true. He explains the operational and technical obstacles that can hamper the modification process and offers concrete imperatives that could streamline and accelerate the loan modification drive.

In an effort to better market its foreclosed property listings, Lansdale, Pennsylvania-based Keystone Asset Management, a national provider of comprehensive REO, default management, and property valuation services, recently partnered with Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, Inc.

In response to the overwhelming amount of foreclosures that could have been avoided through a short sale, Retreat Capital Management Group, a provider of loss mitigation and outsourced fulfillment solutions, and First Team National Default Solutions have formed a joint venture to manage the short sale segment of the loss management process.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has put forth a concept for a new forbearance program that would allow borrowers who've lost their jobs to remain in their homes for up to nine months. MBA cites recent statistics that show it takes the average unemployed worker six to seven months to find a new job. MBA says once new employment is secured, the program would serve as a ""bridge"" for the borrower to be considered for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).