News

The lingering effects of the foreclosure moratoriums enacted after evidence of improper foreclosure processing came to light appear to be fading. Data released by RealtyTrac Thursday shows foreclosure filings heading upward during the month of August, with all of the increase coming from new default notices. The tracking company says overall filings jumped 7 percent between July and August. Default notices posted their biggest month-to-month increase since August of 2007, up 33 percent.

Several servicers remain below median performance level as of the first half of the year, as ranked by Fannie Mae's Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards (STAR) Program. Fannie Mae announced the STAR Program in February to measure servicers' success in providing sustainable solutions to distressed homeowners. The mid-year results released Wednesday by the GSE indicate that only four out of the 11 banks in Peer Group 1 are on track to receive at least a three-STAR rating at the end of the year.

Carrington Property Services, LLC (CPS), a residential asset management company headquartered in California, has hired Michael Harris as its new president. Harris joins Carrington from Stewart Asset Recovery (STAR) where he served as president, responsible for its day-to-day operations, including business development, product and service enhancements, and its vendor network.

While servicers attempt to develop processes to implement the single point of contact (SPOC) requirement that is part of the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Servicing Alignment Initiative, technology companies have developed solutions to address the new regulation. Representatives from several of these companies spoke about the issue during a panel discussion at the Five Star Default Servicing Conference and Expo. They say collaboration between industry partners is key to overcoming logistical challenges.

New Jersey's Superior Court has lifted the last of six injunctions handed down late last year, giving Ally Financial and its GMAC Mortgage unit the go-ahead to resume foreclosure actions in the state. The Superior Court judge issued an order this week stating that GMAC had demonstrated the ""reliability of its processes"" and is ""permitted to resume prosecution of uncontested foreclosure proceedings."" Five other servicers were given the green light to begin the regular order of processing foreclosures in the state last month.

A majority of the attendees at the social media session of the Five Star Default Servicing Conference and Expo shot up their hands when the panel moderator asked how many people used Facebook. Fewer hands hovered in the air when he surveyed the crowd about Twitter. Still fewer signaled their membership to LinkedIn. Those who aren't taking full advantage of social media marketing tools are missing out on valuable free opportunities to further their business and build their own personal brand, according to the panel's experts.

Nearly 10.9 million, or 22.5 percent, of all residential mortgages had negative equity at the end of the second quarter of the year, according to a report released Tuesday by the analytics firm CoreLogic. The figure is actually a slight improvement from the 22.7 percent of all mortgages with negative equity in the first quarter of 2011. CoreLogic says nearly three-quarters of homeowners in negative equity situations are also paying higher, above-market interest on their mortgages.

The Collingwood Group recently announced that Tom Cronin has joined the firm as a managing director. In his new role, Cronin will lead the Collingwood Group's secondary market initiatives. He will support the firm's ongoing efforts helping clients navigate the business opportunities that exist in Washington and the housing finance industry.

While the Obama administration is still working through the specifics with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on how to open up refinancing to more borrowers, Keefe, Bruyette and Woods - an investment bank specializing in financial services - notes the most likely course of action is a moderate expansion of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) rather than a broad refinance program. Even a HARP expansion is likely to be modest at best, the research said.

NextAce Corp., Orange, California, unveiled SearchQ, a solution that provides immediate retrieval of property ownership from the company's Web site. SearxhQ provides users with details on property ownership on the latest deed and all ownership changes for up to 10 years; outstanding debt, including mortgages, assignments, foreclosure activity, and voluntary and involuntary liens; taxes, including current year taxes and payment information in many counties; current vesting information and an abbreviated legal description for the property.