Loss Mitigation

GMAC Mortgage said Tuesday that the company has signed contracts with all states participating in the Treasury Department's Hardest Hit Fund (HHF). The HHF program was established to provide targeted aid to homeowners in states hit hard by the economic and housing market downturn, specifically, states where unemployment rates are above 12 percent and home prices have experienced the steepest drops.

Negotiation talks continued this week between state attorneys general and the nation's largest mortgage servicers to settle robo-signing allegations, and those on the states' side of the table began throwing out big numbers to convince servicers they should ante up. Attorneys general advised representatives from the five largest servicing shops that they would be on the hook for at least $17 billion from civil lawsuits alone if the two parties don't reach a settlement agreement.

With millions falling behind on their mortgage payments and declining property values eating away at home equity, short sales are increasingly being looked to as an alternative to foreclosure. CoreLogic says the number of short sales has tripled in the last two years, and they're expected to increase another 25 percent in 2011. Such growth, though, can open the gate for fraudulent activity. CoreLogic estimates lenders, servicers, and investors may incur potential losses in excess of $375 million this year from ""suspicious"" short sales.

Quandis, Inc., a provider of default management technology solutions, recently launched a service that runs searches on active military personnel. The technology was developed to allow mortgage servicers to comply with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), which dictates that servicers and foreclosure attorneys must follow certain processes before foreclosing on an active person in the U.S. military.

Urban Lending Solutions has hired Dennis Postlewait and Darlene Burnham to serve as senior vice presidents of business development for the company's appraisal subsidiary. Urban Lending Solutions provides loan modification services, underwriting, valuations, and other real estate information solutions for the mortgage industry. Postlewait and Burnham are both responsible for development and growth of strategic accounts.

The U.S. housing market could experience a severe double-dip contraction marked by lower home sales and depressed house prices if Congress fails to raise the federal debt ceiling, according to the Center for American Progress, a nonprofit research group. The Center says inaction to raise the debt limit would spark a return of the economic pain of the past few years as foreclosures would remain at record highs for an even longer stretch. Not raising the limit by early August threatens to put the U.S. itself on the verge of default.

Data released by the FDIC Tuesday show that lenders' are seeing considerable improvement in the quality of loans and becoming more confident that fewer borrowers will default. First-quarter loan loss provisions totaled $20.7 billion, less than half the $51.6 billion set aside to cover bad loans a year ago, and loans and leases 90 days or more past due or in nonaccrual status fell for a fourth consecutive quarter. At the same time, though, the number of banks on the FDIC's so-called ""problem list"" is at its highest level since 1993.

Consumers who only defaulted on their mortgage during the economic recession pose far less of a risk than consumers who went delinquent on multiple credit accounts, according to TransUnion. The credit bureau says its study showed that consumers with mortgage-only defaults performed better on new loans than those with multiple delinquencies, and this was evident across all credit scoring ranges. TransUnion also says it found no evidence that borrowers who stopped paying their mortgage had an increased cash flow in the short term.

Under the terms of a settlement reached with HUD late last week, U.S. Bank will pay $1.2 million to resolve allegations that it failed to comply with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements in connection with 27 mortgage loans. U.S. Bank is the FHA's eighth largest mortgage lender. U.S. Bank did not admit any liability, but HUD documented losses of more than $465,000 in relation to these loans.

Prommis Solutions, a provider of outsourced services for the mortgage default resolution process, has promoted five executives. Kevin Phelan, Brandy Green, Matthew Thigpen, Michelle Ansley and Steven Collier have all been promoted to new executive positions, giving them new responsibilities in support of the company's growth plans for the remainder of 2011 and into 2012.