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BofA Reports Improvement in Net Income, Decline in Servicing Portfolio

After a net loss of $2.2 billion in 2010, Bank of America reported net income of $1.4 billion, $0.01 per diluted share, for the year in 2011, according to the company's earnings report released Thursday. On a fully taxable-equivalent basis, net interest expense declined 15 percent for the year arriving at $94.4 billion. BofA's mortgage servicing portfolio is on the decline. The $1.8 trillion portfolio reported at the end of the year is down from $1.9 trillion in the previous quarter and $2.1 trillion a year ago.

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Firms Launch $450M Program to Convert REOs Into Rentals

Government officials are in the process of reviewing 4,000-plus recommendations for turning repossessed homes into rental properties in order to trim the REO inventory held by federal housing agencies. The administration says it is pursuing potential ideas for REO-to-rental pilot programs ""with a sense of urgency,"" but two California firms don't plan to wait on the government's involvement. Carrington Holding Company and Oaktree Capital have partnered to buy up $450 million in REOs and convert them into rentals.

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Housing May Turn the Corner in 2012: CoreLogic

CoreLogic's chief economist Mark Fleming says 2012 may be the year the housing market begins to turn the corner. He notes that housing is an industry with long business cycles. Regional housing recessions typically take three to five years to find their bottom, and the national housing recession has behaved similarly in that it has bounced along a bottom for the past two years. But Fleming says he's seeing some positive indicators - both existing-home sales and single-family housing starts have begun to increase, and affordability is at an all-time high.

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Wolters Kluwer Names Former Fed Regulator VP of Professional Services

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services continues to expand its regulatory and risk management consulting services. The company recently brought on Timothy R. Burniston to serve as VP and senior director of professional services for its risk and compliance business. Burniston, previously a senior associate director with the Federal Reserve Board's division of consumer and community affairs, joins the company's growing roster of more than 400 in-house regulatory and risk management experts.

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AG Negotiations with Banks Linger on; Settlement Possibly Imminent

After estimations that state attorneys general would reach a settlement with banks by Christmas failed to pan out, word today is the settlement is weeks away. Negotiation talks between state counsels and the nation's five largest servicers are entering their second year, and a few attorneys general have already left the table. The parties are supposedly ""very close"" to a settlement that would provide 1 million homeowners with principal reductions, according to remarks from HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan on Wednesday.

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Freddie Mac Approaches 2012 with ‘Cautious Optimism’

Freddie Mac expects a 2 percent to 5 percent increase in home sales in 2012 amid moderate economic growth over the year, according to the GSE's U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for January. Approaching the year with ""cautious optimism,"" Freddie Mac's chief economist Frank Nothaft says there are some positive signs in the job market and consumer confidence levels, and even housing is starting to raise hopes for a continuing, gradual economic recovery.

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Clayton Holdings Closes Green River Capital Acquisition

Clayton Holdings LLC announced Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of Green River Capital. No financial details were disclosed. Green River has a staff of approximately 200 and a nationwide network of more than 5,000 real estate brokers, providing REO, short sale, and BPO services to investor, financial institution, and GSE clients. Green River will continue to operate as a standalone business, under its current brand and led by its current management team.

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Orlando Realtors See Dramatic Rise in Short Sales and Median Price

The overall median sales price of existing homes in Orlando, Florida, was $115,000 in November, up 9.52 percent from a year earlier. The Orlando Regional Realtor Association attributes the gain to an increase in short sales, which are now changing hands with smaller discounts. The number of short sale transactions in November 2011 jumped 39.38 percent compared to November 2010, while the median price of short sales improved by 7.07 percent to $106,000.

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Citi’s $1.2B Fourth-Quarter Profit Misses Market Forecasts

Citigroup's fourth-quarter results fell far short of analysts' expectations, despite a 40 percent drop in credit losses from the previous year. The company reported net income of $1.2 billion, or 38 cents per share, for the fourth quarter of 2011. Analysts were looking for 50 cents per share. Company officials told investors that legacy mortgage issues are the single largest source of risk facing the U.S. banking industry. Citi saw loan buybacks go up 80 percent in 2011 as it stockpiled reserves for mortgage litigation costs.

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Senator Criticizes OCC’s Guidance on Foreclosed Properties

One Ohio congressman is taking the plight of homeowners in his foreclosure-ravaged state straight to federal regulators. Sen. Sherrod Brown says guidance issued to mortgage servicers last month by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) amounts to ""a free pass"" for banks to abandon foreclosed homes, a practice Brown says undermines neighborhoods and property values and leaves local taxpayers on the hook for maintenance and cleanup costs.

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