Loss Mitigation

MMREM, a national asset management firm for federal agencies and private sector servicers, investors, and insurers, launched its partial subsidiary Sperlonga Data and Analytics last week. Sperlonga provides servicers, title agents, real estate brokers, appraisers, and originators with a centralized repository of homeowner association (HOA) information and payment demands.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced the creation of a 25-person task force on Monday charged with protecting homeowners from mortgage fraud. Within the last year, the California Department of Justice says it has received thousands of complaints related to foreclosure scams and mortgage servicing practices. In addition to fraud on the default side of the business, the task force will be on the lookout for misconduct and false claims involving investments and securities tied to subprime mortgages.

Treasury has launched a Web-based tool that allows homeowners themselves to conduct a net present value (NPV) assessment of their mortgage. Under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), servicers perform an NPV test to determine if modification is a more financially sound route to take than allowing the loan to proceed to foreclosure. Treasury is encouraging both homeowners who have been denied a HAMP mod and those considering applying for the program to use the new online calculator and share the results with their servicer.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently announced they will be issuing new guidelines this summer that will align their procedures for handling past due mortgages and implement a new incentive and penalty structure based on individual servicers' performance. Moody's Investors Service says this new directive - in particular the monetary motivation involved - will likely shift servicers' focus to loans backing the GSEs' mortgage bonds and away from loans in private-label residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).

Veterans wounded, injured, or disabled in the line of duty can now make reduced monthly payments on CitiMortgage-owned loans as part of a new initiative by the financial services company. The Citi Disabled Veterans Mortgage Relief Program offers an interest rate reduction of 2.5 percent on existing mortgages for a period of two years. Surviving spouses may also be eligible for the program.

CitiMortgage and Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services will host a free homeowner outreach event for distressed homeowners in Torrance, California on Tuesday. Part of the Citi Road to Recovery Homeowner Assistance Series, the event is open to all homeowners needing help with their mortgage payments.

Chase, the consumer banking and home lending business of JPMorgan Chase & Co., opened a new Homeownership Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday. The facility provides Chase borrowers who are struggling to make their mortgage payments with resources to help them avoid foreclosure. Trained advisors are on hand to help distressed homeowners evaluate their finances, review possible workout options, and answer any questions.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) recently announced a new mechanism that encourages servicers to report non-incentivized loan modifications using the agency's online system. A mortgagee letter will make this reporting a requirement in the future. FHA warns that servicers who miss the 60-day window for filing an incentive claim should still report modification terms or they may incur monetary damages by delaying future claims activity after the original loan maturity date automatically terminates the FHA insurance.

Lender Processing Services, Inc. recently added a new property module to its McDash Loan Data suite of products. The suite is offered by LPS's Applied Analytics division. The new module supplements the McDash database with an updated view of borrower equity. It combines public records information related to second liens with the analytic capabilities of the LPS Home Price Index to provide an indication of current total loan-to-value (LTV) ratios for residential housing across the country.

Sun Law Group, PLC, a law firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan that assists homeowners with negotiating and coordinating short sale transactions, and Lighthouse Title Group, a title insurance agency with 18 offices throughout Michigan, have formed an alliance to offer a joint short sale and closing service solution to homeowners in the state. The companies expect the number of short sales to continue to grow but note that these transactions present a unique set of issues that often require attorney oversight.