Government

Fannie Mae has enhanced its EarlyCheck technology service to help lenders identify eligibility or data issues with loans they plan on selling to the GSE in order to minimize the risk of repurchases. With EarlyCheck, lenders now have access to Fannie Mae delivery data checks at any point in the business process, allowing them to spot and correct potential underwriting errors earlier in the process - from prior to closing through to the pre-delivery stage.

The Treasury Department has instructed three of the nation's largest mortgage servicers to make changes to the way they solicit distressed borrowers for the government's loan modification program and evaluate applicants for eligibility. In Treasury's latest report card on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America were called out by name as receiving sub-par grades in complying with the program's guidelines.

HUD has announced the availability of more than $5.1 million in grants for housing counseling training. HUD plans to fund eligible organizations to deliver full-spectrum training as part of the Obama administration's efforts to provide housing counseling to the nation's homeowners, buyers, and renters. The agency says right now, these counseling programs are critical to helping thousands of families avoid foreclosure, and it has increased the funding for such services by 36 percent in this year's HUD budget.

Legislation to stabilize the foreclosure crisis through the federal government's conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday. The Housing Opportunity and Mortgage Equity (HOME) Act would require Fannie and Freddie to allow borrowers to refinance their mortgages by locking in today's record-low interest rates for longer fixed-term loans. The legislation would affect up to 30 million mortgages held or backed by the two GSEs.

New initiatives are under way in Washington to help service members who are struggling with their mortgage payments avoid foreclosure. The efforts include a mortgage payment forbearance of up to six months where the death or injury of an active-duty service member causes a hardship for military families with a mortgage obligation. Fannie Mae and the U.S. Army made the announcement at a Pentagon event Monday.

Warren, Michigan-based Five Brothers, a nationwide provider of commercial and residential mortgage default management solutions, announced the release of its ClaimSys HUD claims processing system this week. ClaimSys acts as an enhancement to existing claims processing programs and expedites Federal Housing Administration (FHA) claims by allowing users to generate completed HUD claims A through E quickly and efficiently, according to the company.

The credit quality of first-lien mortgages serviced by the nation's largest banks and thrifts remained steady during the second quarter of 2010, according to a new regulatory report. Mortgage delinquency levels were relatively flat but elevated after rising for several quarters. Completed foreclosures were up by 7 percent from the previous quarter, but mortgage modifications increased 18 percent, and the report found that newer mods are showing significantly lower re-default rates.

Bank of America reports that it has provided mortgage modification assistance to more than 680,000 homeowners since January 2008, 79,859 of which have been completed through the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). According to the company, it leads the industry in HAMP modifications. BofA officials say HAMP results have slowed in recent months due to the implementation of a full documentation requirement prior to initiating a trial mod plan.

Freddie Mac says it cut its total mortgage portfolio by an annualized rate of 5.2 percent in August. The GSE has been downsizing for most of this year. Only two months during the early part of 2010 saw increases in the company's portfolio size. The GSE also reported that its single-family delinquency rate decreased to 3.83 percent in August, down from 3.89 percent the month before. The multifamily delinquency rate, on the other hand, increased to 0.32 percent, up from 0.30 percent in July.

State and federal regulators stepped in to shut down the operations of two community-based lenders over the weekend -- Haven Trust Bank Florida in Ponte Vedra Beach and North County Bank in Arlington, Washington. So far this year, 127 names have landed on the FDIC's failed-bank list. The real estate and financial crises have taken their toll on the nation's banking system. Institutional closings in 2010 are well on pace to surpass the 140 bank seizures that characterized 2009.