Home / News / Loss Mitigation (page 300)

Loss Mitigation

Mortgage Delinquency Roll Rates Peaked in Summer 2009: TransUnion

The number of consumers rolling their delinquency status on mortgage payments from 30 to 60 days past due and 60 to 90 days past due peaked in July 2009, according to a new study from TransUnion. It's interesting to note that the National Bureau of Economic Research has declared the end of the nation's latest recession to be June 2009, one month before the roll-rate crest. TransUnion says although we may have left the worst of the recession behind, from a credit perspective we were just hitting the toughest period for consumer default.

Read More »

The Work Number Launches New Automated Verification Products

The Work Number, a service of Equifax, has launched two new automated products, AuditChek and AccountChek, within its outsourced verification solution. AuditChek enables lenders to computerize the direct retrieval and authentication of tax transcripts and Social Security verification or proof of employment and income. AccountChek automates the process of deposit and asset verification, providing an electronic confirmation of a borrower's account balance and analysis of transaction history.

Read More »

GSEs Blacklist Controversial Foreclosure Law Firm in Florida

Freddie Mac announced Tuesday that it has terminated its relationship with the law offices of David J. Stern, P.A. in Plantation, Florida. Fannie Mae, too, says it has suspended business with the so-called Florida foreclosure mill. The Stern law firm is one of the largest in the state, processing thousands of cases a month, and had been retained by both Fannie and Freddie as a preferred legal counsel for its servicers to go to handle pending foreclosures and home repossessions.

Read More »

Fitch Says 7M Homes in the Shadows Will Take 40 Months to Clear

Fitch Ratings puts the industry's shadow inventory - meaning loans that are seriously delinquent, in foreclosure, or REO - at 7 million homes. The agency says based on recent liquidation trends, it will take more than 40 months to clear this distressed inventory. While the volume of newly delinquent mortgages has begun to improve, liquidation rates have been constrained by weak demand and initiatives to modify loans. On top of that, Fitch says the recent discovery of defects in the foreclosure process is prolonging the housing correction.

Read More »

Single-Family Delinquencies Fall for Both Fannie and Freddie

The percentage of home loans 90 or more days past due held by the nation's two largest mortgage companies has declined yet again. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have reported a steady drop in their single-family delinquency rates since February of this year. According to the latest figures from Fannie, its serious delinquency rate fell to 4.70 percent in August. Freddie's dropped to 3.80 percent at the end of September. Movement in the two GSEs' multifamily delinquency rates was mixed.

Read More »

Completed Loan Mods Now Top 1.4 Million for 2010: Report

Mortgage servicers have completed 1.4 million permanent loan modifications so far this year, according to the latest estimates from HOPE NOW. Servicers have been granting permanent loan modifications through proprietary and HAMP programs at a steady pace of about 150,000 per month. But consumer advocates and federal watchdogs say their efforts are unfortunately overshadowed by the sheer volume of delinquencies. HOPE NOW says there are still over three million homeowners at least two months behind on their mortgage payments.

Read More »

NCCI Expands Services to Property Inspection, Occupancy Verification

National Creditors Connection, Inc., a provider of field contact, loss mitigation, and onsite inspection services, has developed a nationwide property inspection/occupancy verification service to provide servicers with a snapshot of property condition and occupancy of a loan in foreclosure. The company says this service accommodates industry standard requirements set forth by the GSEs and will help servicers determine the best resolution for troubled loans.

Read More »

GSEs Instruct Servicers to Help Unemployed Through State Programs

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have both issued notices to servicers that they must work closely with state housing finance agencies to provide mortgage assistance to homeowners who've lost their jobs. Treasury awarded $7.6 billion for housing agencies in certain states to develop programs that provide temporary relief to unemployed homeowners. Effective immediately, GSE servicers are instructed to accept all monthly mortgage payments from housing finance agencies on behalf of borrowers enrolled in state-specific programs.

Read More »

Default Not Always Imminent For CMBS Transfers to Special Servicing

While most loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) that transfer to special servicing are driven by borrowers looking to prevent future defaults, some recent transfers are showing something else entirely - opportunistic borrowers looking to capitalize on current market conditions, according to Fitch Ratings. The majority of special servicing transfers are classified as imminent default, but this is a ""catch-all"" label. Fitch has been monitoring the market in light of this fact and says some of the results are surprising.

Read More »

Title Insurers Forego Guarantees on Foreclosure Paperwork Accuracy

Title insurers are voicing their confidence in mortgage servicers' ability to correct foreclosure paperwork problems. They've decided not to require banks to consent to agreements vouching for the validity of foreclosures, after talks between the two groups reportedly fell through surrounding large-scale indemnity arrangements. A blanket indemnity agreement to cover insurers against ""robo-signed"" foreclosures had been drafted, but title insurers say banks' actions to remediate deficiencies make it unnecessary.

Read More »