Government

The Nevada Supreme Court has updated the rules governing the state's foreclosure mediation program, which officials say are intended ""to clarify and streamline the processes"" of the program created by the state legislature in 2009 to address Nevada's foreclosure crisis. Among the revised rules, which take effect March 1, the court has expanded the time to file a petition for judicial review from 15 to 30 days after a party receives the mediator's statement.

More legal woes have developed for Bank of America, as some of its mortgage investors brought a lawsuit against the lender in an attempt to force the bank to buy back bad loans. The original balance of securitized loans involved in the case was $2.8 billion, and the plaintiffs claim their trustee ""unreasonably failed"" to sue BofA. Another group of investors, which is engaged in talks with the bank in hopes of avoiding a legal battle in court, has nearly doubled the amount of allegedly faulty loans it wants Bank of America to repurchase.

Despite new rules for short sales under the government's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program which went into effect on February 1, real estate agents responding to a survey said short sale transactions are still taking too long. A survey published recently by property valuations company Equi-Trax reveals the majority of short sales are taking four to nine months to complete, and Realtors say lenders are to blame, although some concede that borrowers need to be better educated about short sales.

In a break from the typical multiple institutional closings that have become the norm of any given weekend for the last couple of years, regulators took control of just one community-based lender Friday evening -- Valley Community Bank in St. Charles, Illinois. The seizure of Valley Community brings the number of names on the FDIC's failed bank list to 23 for the 2011 calendar year.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reports that home prices nationally dropped 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 when compared to the previous three-month period. On a year-over-year basis, the agency's index is down 3.9 percent. It's the largest annual decline recorded since the third quarter of 2009. Home prices have come in below their year-ago levels for 13 consecutive quarters now. The ongoing depreciation is being attributed, in part, to an elevated number of distressed properties weighing heavy on surrounding home prices.

Research released this week by the senior research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland reveals homeownership is more sustainable for people who come to the table with down payments. The study examines the types of homeowner assistance that the government uses to promote homeownership -- generally down payment subsidies or interest rate subsidies -- and finds down payment subsidies are more helpful and less expensive.

Regulators and attorneys general say their investigations of servicing practices have uncovered critical deficiencies and shortcomings that have resulted in violations of foreclosure laws. They've made it clear that mortgage servicers will be required to make operational changes and will be hit with sanctions and penalties. It's been reported that the 14 servicers subject to the investigations will, as a group, face a hefty $20 billion in fines, but there is dissension even among the government agencies involved over the amount. Negotiations are ongoing.

The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday issued a final rule and proposed a second rule to revise the escrow account requirements under Regulation Z, and requested public comment on the second rule. The revisions would revise escrow account requirements for certain home mortgage loans.Under the final rule issued Wednesday, the escrow account for first-lien loans would only be required if the loan's annual percentage rate is 2.5 percentage points or more above the average prime offer rate.

Fannie Mae has released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2010 earnings results. The GSE reported net income of $73 million for the last three months of 2010. It's the first time the company's been in the black in over three years. Still, after a hefty $2.2 billion fourth-quarter dividend payment to the U.S. Treasury, Fannie Mae had a net worth deficit as of the end of last year and has requested $2.6 billion more in taxpayer dollars. For the full year of 2010, Fannie Mae recorded a net loss of $14 billion, compared with a loss of $72 billion for 2009.

Rep. Spencer Bachus, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced this week that he has scheduled a subcommittee hearing and full committee markup of four bills that will terminate what he says are ""failed and ineffective housing foreclosure programs."" On the chopping block are the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Short Refi Program, and the Emergency Homeowner Relief Fund passed under the Dodd-Frank Act.