Loss Mitigation

Chase has opened two new Homeownership Centers in North Carolina to provide one-on-one help for borrowers struggling with their mortgage payments - one in Fayetteville, near Fort Bragg and the second in Jacksonville, near Camp Lejeune. The company is staffing all of its Homeownership Centers near military bases with employees who have served in the military or military family members. Chase also recently set up Centers near bases in Texas and Virginia, and has plans for openings later this year in Tennessee and Washington.

Mortgage delinquencies rose to 6.62 percent in August, according to a report from CreditForecast.com, supported by Moody's Analytics and Equifax. This is up from 6.54 percent in July. Delinquencies for both first mortgages and home equity loans posted increases for the month, rising to 6.85 percent and 4.14 percent, respectively. However, the CreditForecast.com report predicts the delinquency picture will improve later in the year with a return of economic growth.

New data released by Lender Processing Services (LPS) Tuesday shows the population of mortgages going unpaid in the United States contracted during the month of August. LPS offered the media a sneak peak at several key mortgage performance statistics slated for public release later this month. The company says there were 6,397,000 home loans at least 30 days delinquent or in foreclosure as of the end of August. That's down from 6,538,000 the month before.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is working alongside other federal agencies to create ""common-sense national servicing standards,"" according to the Treasury's advisor on the bureau Raj Date. One of the issues Date plans to address through national servicing standards is what he says has been a lack of incentive for originators and others involved in the front end of the lending process to ensure a borrower has the ability to repay their loan.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is calling for independent reviews of almost 4.5 million loans. After examining 200 loans from each of 14 major servicers, regulators determined enforcement actions were necessary, but said their review was not nearly enough to answer all questions. In addition to assessments of individual cases, the OCC is implementing a complaint process for borrowers who feel they faced financial harm as a result of an improper foreclosure action.

Banks held about 476,000 homes that they repossessed from delinquent mortgage borrowers as of the end of July, according to Barclays Capital. That tally represents a 17 percent contraction from 574,000 REOs on the books just 10 months earlier, in September of 2010, just as the robo-signing scandal began grabbing headlines. According to Barclays' analysis, the average number of months a loan has spent in foreclosure has climbed from around 10 months just before October of last year to more than 12 months today.

Gerner & Kearns, Co., L.P.A. (G&K) recently announced that it has been designated by the FDIC as outside counsel in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan. The firm's practice areas include foreclosure, bankruptcy, evictions, origination and REO closings, loss mitigation, and commercial litigation with respect to the industry's residential and commercial portfolios.

Field Asset Services (FAS), a nationwide provider of field services to the REO industry, announced the availability of a new pre-foreclosure service called Avert this week. The company explained that by utilizing integrated technology and building on FAS's experienced staff, Avert offers banks and servicers, for the first time, a single source solution to reduce default expenses and avoid foreclosures.

Rep. Darrell Issa of California has sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) expressing his concerns and requesting information about an alleged deal between Fannie Mae and Bank of America. Issa references an August 10th report detailing a deal between Fannie and the bank in which the GSE reportedly purchased the mortgage servicing rights of 400,000 troubled loans for $500 million. Issa says the transaction is ""worrisome"" and appears to have shifted risk from BofA to Fannie Mae.

Freedman Anselmo Lindberg, LLC has been added to Freddie Mac's Designated Counsel and Trustee network for the state of Illinois. The firm is already part of Fannie Mae's retained attorney network for Illinois and is now able to provide total GSE services to further meet its clients' needs. Freedman Anselmo Lindberg has been offering representation in Illinois as a full-service creditor's rights firm since 1980.