Loss Mitigation

The credit bureau TransUnion says U.S. consumers are less of a credit risk now than they were in 2009 and earlier this year. The agency's proprietary Credit Risk Index declined 0.9 percent between the first and second quarters of 2010. The drop was more than double the decrease observed between the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010. TransUnion says it signals that ""a broad improvement in consumer credit conditions is finally taking root.""

The analysts at Moody's are downbeat in their outlook for both the U.S. economy and the housing market. They warn that the there's a stronger chance the country will slide back into a recession, and they are forecasting a longer and deeper housing correction. Because of weak housing demand, soft job creation, and the slow speed at which the industry is working through distressed mortgages, Moody's says recovery is already back-sliding into a double-dip. The agency expects house prices to fall until the third quarter of next year.

That dreaded shadow inventory of homes that has captured headlines and gripped the industry and market analysts with angst is beginning to make its way out of the darkness, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. The firm says loan modifications were successful in delaying the inevitable foreclosure. But homes that have been stuck in that neverland of somewhere between delinquency and repossession are now winding their way through the foreclosure pipeline at a quicker pace and will soon come out the other end as a short sale or REO.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray's lawsuit against Barclays Capital Real Estate, dba HomEq Servicing, just took a legal step forward with a recent decision by a state court. This week, a Montgomery County judge overruled the defendant's motion to dismiss, clearing the way for Cordray's case to move forward, and the attorney general says, setting the stage for servicers to be held legally responsible for their actions in the aftermath of the foreclosure crisis.

Distressed homeowners looking for a way out of their mortgage that doesn't involve foreclosure may find relief is on the way from a new bill introduced in the U.S. House. Lenders have taken a lot of heat for elongated short sale timelines, with stories coming in from the field that potential buyers have walked away because they can't get an approval on a short sale price. The legislation would impose a deadline on lenders to respond to short sale requests, requiring them to return an answer within 45 days.

As a one-stop shop for code violation reports and vacant property registrations, Code Violation Services, Inc. says it can typically verify the status of any violations within three to 10 days of order. During a three month period, the company analyzed 1,209 properties for one client. Forty-four were found to have code violations without fees yet assessed. The early detection saved the client $802,582 in penalties.

Mortgage insurer Genworth Financial saved almost $4.8 billion in mortgages from foreclosure in the 12 months ending June 30, 2010. These statistics represent a nearly 80 percent increase from the same period last year. More than half of total mortgage dollars saved were the result of the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Genworth reports that it completed more than 30,000 mortgage workouts nationwide during the period via its homeowner assistance program.

Ocwen Financial Corp. paid $1.196 billion for HomEq Servicing, 7.4 percent less than the Florida-based company had initially estimated. Ocwen says 134,000 home loans were transferred from HomEq and immediately boarded onto Ocwen's system on September 1. The reason for the reduction in the purchase price is that the unpaid principal balance of the boarded loans was $5.6 billion less than previously anticipated. Ocwen called it a ""normal runoff.""

California's notice of default filings, the first step in the state's foreclosure process, rose for the fourth successive month in August, jumping another 16.6 percent, according to the locally based tracking firm ForeclosureRadar. The company's latest data on the Golden State also show that fewer distressed homeowners are finding foreclosure relief, with cancellations down and foreclosure sales up. ForeclosureRadar has also expanded its coverage starting this month to include data on Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

Green River Capital announced a 30 percent increase in sales figures during the first half of 2010 due to new clients and increased efficiencies. Since early 2010, the company has also increased REO assignments by nearly 8 percent from the same period in 2009 and decreased the time each property spends on the market by almost 15 percent compared to figures during the last 12 months.