Government

Will Loan Modification Disputes Change Servicing and Further Damage U.S. Capitalismx What a year it was. In 2008, home values took a beating while Wall Street investors were out nearly $7 billion. In the American tradition, the next step is to figure out who’s responsible for what, and that means a lot of people will be heading to court and to Congress in 2009.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) are expanding the scope of the mortgage performance data gathered from national banks and thrifts to include additional information on the affordability and sustainability of loan modifications made in 2008.

President Barack Obama signed the administration’s sweeping stimulus package into law on Tuesday. It now carries a $787 billion price tag, and is a mix of government spending and tax cuts. The White House estimates the package will save or create 3.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York purchased $23.2 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) for the week ending February 11th. That tally brings total MBS purchases since the government program began in early January to $114.

White House officials said that President Barack Obama is scheduled to unveil the administration’s new housing and mortgage relief program on Wednesday during a speech in Phoenix, Arizona, one of the areas hardest hit by the nation’s foreclosure epidemic.

St. Louis, Missouri-based Lenders One Mortgage Cooperative, a national alliance of mortgage bankers, has enlisted StreetLinks National Appraisal Services to provide its members with appraisal services and compliance expertise.

Both chambers of Congress approved the final version of the federal stimulus package late Friday. The bill now carries a $787 billion price tag. White House officials said President Barack Obama will sign the federal stimulus package into law in Denver on Tuesday.

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Deputy Director John Pistole told a Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that mortgage fraud investigations are intensifying in both volume and scope as the economic crisis worsens.

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced on Friday that they are suspending all foreclosure sales and evictions of occupied properties through March 6th, in anticipation of the Obama Administration’s national foreclosure prevention and loan modification program.

Leading policymakers, including the new Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, practitioners, and housing and economic experts from around the country came together February 12-13 in New York.