News

The performance of first-lien mortgages serviced by large national and federal savings banks continued to improve in the third quarter of 2013, reports the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The regulator's latest report indicates strengthening economic conditions, mortgage servicing transfers, home retention efforts, and home forfeiture actions are all contributing to improved performance of banks' residential mortgage assets.

The United States Senate voted Monday to confirm Janet Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve following Ben Bernanke's departure at the end of January. She will be the first woman to take the job in the Fed's history. According to reports, Yellen's nomination passed in a vote of 56-26. Like her predecessor, Yellen seems to favor the strategy of keeping monetary policies loose as the economy works to get back on its feet--a position her opponents have criticized.

After months of contentious debate, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) finally has a new director. Mel Watt, the former North Carolina congressman, was sworn in Monday to a five-year term as the first Senate-confirmed director of the FHFA. Watt, 68, represented the 12th congressional district of North Carolina as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 21 years prior to accepting his new post.

Genworth Financial, Inc., announced the hiring of Lori M. Evangel as EVP and chief risk officer. Evangel joins the company from Aflac, where she served as managing director and chief risk officer for global developments, positions that involved her working to develop the company's investment division risk management function.

The information technology company Dhandhania Infotech (DhanInfo) is expanding its business process outsourcing (BPO) operations to meet growing demand from U.S. customers for its real estate- and mortgage-related services. The India-based company assists corporations with staff-centric tasks such as property preservation data entry, real estate virtual assistants, and search engine optimization for Internet marketing.

Borrowers earning at least $100,000 per year are more likely to use the Internet when shopping for a home, while those making less than $50,000 rely more on agents, lenders, and advice from family and friends when making borrowing decisions, according to recently released survey results from Fannie Mae. However, all income groups said they would like to make greater use of available online tools than they currently do.

MERSCORP Holdings was once again absolved from legal misconduct according to the company. The Virginia-based company announced on Friday that the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on December 31, 2013 in Mayme Brown v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc, (MERS) affirming the U.S. District Court's dismissing all of the Clerk's claims against MERS.

As conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), recovered nearly $8 billion on behalf of taxpayers in 2013 through settlements with financial institutions. FHFA sued 18 financial institutions in 2011 alleging violations of the federal Securities Act of 1933 and in some cases, fraud, related to sales of private-label mortgage securities to Fannie and Freddie between 2005 and 2007.

While the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for October showed a 13.6 percent year-over-year leap, other measures are seeing more subdued gains. Lender Processing Services' index put prices in October 8.2 percent higher than they were at the start of 2013. Similarly, Zillow says home values are up only 7.1 percent from last year and appreciation rates should slow even further over the next 12 months.

Under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rules, servicers will have to provide very detailed and accurate information to borrowers about each aspect of their loans and any foreclosure procedures that may occur, according to Richard Koch, SVP at Morningstar Credit Ratings. Koch believes the new regulations will provide opportunity for some, but hardships for others because of the increased burden of time and expense necessary for compliance.