Government

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) submitted its fourth quarter report to Congress this week detailing actions the GSEs have taken to prevent unnecessary foreclosures. The report shows a 76 percent increase in loan modifications by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the third to fourth quarters of 2008.

Scottsdale, Arizona-based Response Analytics Inc. has released a new software module developed for mortgage servicers, investors, and mortgage insurers that the company says dramatically simplifies the administration of loan modifications under the federal government’s Making Home Affordable plan unveiled earlier this month.

Two Texas companies, SigniaDocs, a provider of electronic mortgage services, and World Wide Notary, a provider of electronic notarization, announced on Monday that they have integrated their platforms to support eSignatures and eNotarizations for any mortgage document or document set.

In a rare television interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes:http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml this weekend, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the American public that the U.

Santa Ana, California’s RealEC Technologies Inc., a provider of collaborative mortgage network solutions that is majority-owned by Lender Processing Services, today announced that it has surpassed a milestone of more than 42 million real estate orders processed through its network, since the company was founded in 1998.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said it will delay the planned implementation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) required use:http://www.hud.gov/news/requireduserule.

In a new report issued this week, Navigant Consulting, Inc. found that beyond the billions in writedowns, the credit crisis produced an alarming 576 new litigation matters filed in U.S. federal courts in 2008.

Bank of America wants to bulk up its portfolio with more jumbo mortgages, according to Barbara Desoer, the bank’s head of mortgage, home equity, and insurance services. Desoer told Bloomberg News:http://www.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said this week that the administration is close to finalizing its plan for alleviating the burden of toxic mortgage assets, which many argue was the cause of the nation’s financial tailspin.

Pleasanton, California-based Ellie Mae announced on Friday the launch of the company’s HVCC-compliant appraisal services, a new program designed to help banker, lender, and broker clients comply with the GSEs’ Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) that goes into effect on May 1, 2009.