Loss Mitigation

About 40,000 homeowners nationwide received permanent mortgage loan modifications from servicers in August, which includes loans completed through proprietary programs and under the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), according to data released by the HOPE NOW Alliance on Thursday.

Many private student loan borrowers are being driven into default due to a lack of information and affordable loan modification options, according to a report released Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Student Loan Ombudsman.

Fannie Mae announced earlier this week it will be adjusting the required interest rate for its Standard Modification Program. The new interest rate of 4.5 percent will be effective for all Fannie Mae mortgage loans approved for the Standard Modification Program on or after October 14, 2014.

Two Hutchens Law Firm partners were recently listed in the 2015 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession.

A federal judge earlier this week dismissed a bid by Wells Fargo Bank and Citigroup's mortgage unit to have a lawsuit against them thrown out accusing the lenders of violating federal law by inaccurately reporting information about short sales to credit agencies, subsequently hurting consumers' chances of obtaining loans.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has sued two law firms and their principal attorney, in a New York County Supreme Court accusing them of participating in a fraudulent mortgage rescue scam, Schneiderman's office announced earlier in the week.

A Mexican national living in Wichita, Kansas, was sentenced for fraudulently obtaining a mortgage modification loan through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which is funded by the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP) Christy Romero announced recently.

The Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD OIG) has recommended that Jacksonville, Florida-based EverBank Servicing Lender reimburse HUD more than $1.5 million for violating the terms of the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Preforeclosure Sale Program.

The nation's serious delinquency rate on single-family mortgage loans for August was the lowest it has been in six years, according to Fannie Mae's August 2014 Monthly Summary released earlier this week.

The office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will be committing up to $40 million to aid organizations that work through the Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP) to provide housing counseling and legal services to struggling homeowners, Schneiderman announced on Monday.