Loss Mitigation

According to the American Credit Union Mortgage Association (ACUMA), while big banks stagger beneath the weight of the nation’s credit crisis, credit unions are among the few financial institutions that have mortgage money ready to lend to struggling consumers.

On Wednesday, the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) – the primary regulator of federal savings holding companies and thrifts, including the nation’s largest banks and mortgage lenders – called on the more than 800 OTS-regulated institutions to suspend foreclosures on owner-occupied homes until the Financial Stability Plan’s home loan modification program is finalized.

On Wednesday, February 11, Queen Latifah will kick off the Bringing Hope Home bus tour of Newark, New Jersey, to promote foreclosure prevention in the New England community. The Golden Globe and Grammy award winner and Oscar nominee will be joined by multi-platinum recording artist and actor Wyclef Jean and New York/New Jersey radio personality and actress Angie Martinez.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is expected to lay out the new administration’s comprehensive Financial Stability and Recovery Plan on Tuesday, detailing how the government will use the remainder of the $700 billion bailout money, as well as additional programs it hopes will kick-start the U.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), regulator of the nation’s GSEs and the more than $6.3 trillion in mortgage funding they supply, released its November Foreclosure Prevention Report today.

Freehold, New Jersey-based First Equity Capital, LLC has established a private equity fund to buy pools of non-performing mortgage notes in an effort to stem the tide of foreclosures and delinquencies.

Fannie Mae has begun laying off hundreds of employees at its Washington, D.C. office to make room for more employees at its Dallas, Texas anti-foreclosure office, according to multiple media reports. Affected employees include those that worked in technology, administration, communications, and the company’s single-family unit, which buys and bundles mortgages for securities.

The Distressed Property Institute is training Realtors to help struggling homeowners in danger of foreclosure. The institute, based in Florida and launched last January, is now offering the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation after in-depth on-site or online training on how to handle short sales.

Brookfield, Wisconsin-based Fiserv Inc., a provider of information technology services to the financial industry, today announced enhanced capabilities to its Home Retention Solutions offering – a system that helps financial institutions proactively identify and contact troubled borrowers with customized repayment solutions to try to keep them out of foreclosure.

Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of Bethesda, Maryland’s The RLJ Companies and chairman of Urban Trust Holdings Inc., introduced his $1 billion proposal to help homeowners avoid foreclosure during a speech at the National Housing Forum sponsored by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) this week.