Government

A dozen U.S. senators are pooling their influence to persuade federal regulators to work with state attorneys general and other federal agencies to ""fix the broken foreclosure process,"" as the lawmakers put it. In a letter to the OCC, the senators stressed that the regulators' consent orders do not preclude states' efforts to hold servicers accountable for any wrongful foreclosures. In a separate move, lawmakers have tagged a servicing regulation bill on as an amendment to the larger economic development legislation making its way through Congress.

Ruling in favor of Avelo Mortgage, an appellate court in California declared Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) a proper beneficiary on the deed of trust. Citing an earlier decision involving Countrywide, Judge David Milton ruled that MERS has the authority under California law to assign a deed of trust, and that borrower agreements make it clear MERS, as nominee of the lender, has the right to exercise any interest on the lender's behalf, including the right to foreclose and sell the property.

The nation's Capitol stands out as the ""shining star"" in nearly every market report that crosses the wire. Washington, D.C. has consistently resisted home price declines, sales activity bucks widespread trends, and foreclosure numbers, too, have been almost non-existent due to an unofficial moratorium. Is it the absence of foreclosure property that's behind D.C.'s defiant market performance and will it turn now that emergency mediation rules have been enacted to restart foreclosures? Local experts say no, D.C. is just a market to itself.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued its third report to Congress Monday, detailing the regulator's 2010 annual examinations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The GSEs' losses last year totaled $28 billion, versus $94 billion in 2009. The amount of taxpayer support needed by the two mortgage giants also narrowed, but FHFA says both Fannie and Freddie remain ""critical supervisory concerns,"" primarily because of continuing credit losses from loans originated during 2005 through 2007.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision have extended the deadline for 12 of 14 mortgage servicers to submit their plans for conducting foreclosure reviews. Under April's consent agreements, servicers are required to retain independent consultants to review all residential foreclosures processed in 2009 and 2010. Initially, servicers had until May 31st to submit their plans for these reviews, but at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, the deadline has been extended by 30 days.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller wants lawmakers to extend a state law that requires creditors to provide notices of free, confidential mortgage counseling services to homeowners in the state facing foreclosure. Under a law that expires July 1, lenders must inform delinquent borrowers about Iowa Mortgage Help, a provider of counseling and mediation services for struggling homeowners to help them pursue an alternative to foreclosure.

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), a Jacksonville, Florida-based provider of technology, data, and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, announced Monday that Joe Jacquot has been named SVP of government affairs. Jacquot served from 2007 to 2011 as deputy attorney general of Florida and chief of staff for former Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Florida Realtors president, Patricia Fitzgerald, was in Canada last week with Gov. Rick Scott and other business leaders to encourage Canadian companies to do business in Florida, a move expected to benefit the state's troubled real estate markets. Fitzgerald notes that a large percentage of Florida property sales each year are to international buyers, with Canadians making up 36 percent of all international property sales in the Sunshine State.

Servicers completed 1,666 short sales and deeds-in-lieu (DIL) under the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program in April. That's up 73.7 percent from the number of HAFA transactions completed the month before. HAFA has been in place since April of 2010. According to Treasury's latest report, which covers program activity through April of this year, a total of 7,113 short sales and DILs have concluded through HAFA. Treasury says a short sale typically takes 120 days to complete under the program.

Home equity continued to head south during the first part of the year, but losses were eclipsed by another big jump in the value of financial assets as the stock market sustained positive movement. This, combined with a further reduction in overall debt levels, pushed household net worth higher during the first quarter, according to the Federal Reserve. Real estate assets lost $349 billion of their value over the first three months of 2011. The Fed says a mere 38 percent in homeowner equity is now the norm.