News

With delinquent mortgages at unprecedented levels, sheer market conditions command a staff the size of a small army dedicated to working with distressed borrowers. Servicers have added thousands to their loss mitigation teams over the past few years and most are still recruiting. JPMorgan Chase has added more than 10,100 new employees nationwide to the default and loss mitigation organization since 2008, almost doubling its staff. Chase has partnered with HOPE NOW, nonprofits, and state agencies conducting over 1,500 local events through April.

Regulators closed three banks over the weekend – two in Colorado and one in Illinois. Colorado Capital Bank, Castle Rock, Colorado, and Signature Bank, Windsor, Colorado, were closed by the Colorado Division of Banking, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. First Chicago Bank & Trust, Chicago, Illinois, was closed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which also appointed the FDIC as receiver.

eMASON, Inc. has launched a new product that facilitates compliance with the new Single Point of Contact requirement set forth by the Obama administration. Clarifire Community Portal delivers business process automation, secure centralized communication, and real-time collaboration, while increasing efficiency and reducing cost. In addition to assisting servicers in implementing a ""Single Point of Contact,"" servicers can use the application to eliminate dual processing and for escalation and exception management processes.

Stewart Lender Services (SLS) announced the acquisition of a majority ownership of PMH Financial, a full-service REO outsource and subservicing company with an active inventory of $2.5 billion in real estate assets.

Congressman Bill Posey of Florida has introduced a bill which would allow lenders to classify modified mortgages as accruing rather than non-accruing. Posey claims federal bank regulators are hindering the ability of community banks to modify home loans and keep homeowners out of foreclosure. A subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing Friday to review Rep. Posey's Common Sense Economic Recovery Act.

With mortgage delinquencies at unprecedented levels, it's become clear that the current servicing-fee model is lacking. The GSEs and Ginnie Mae are in the process of developing new servicing compensation structures to provide greater flexibility for the servicing of nonperforming loans. As deliberations move forward, the Mortgage Bankers Association is recommending they consider the idea of a new ""reserve account"" strategy to cover the higher expenses associated with default servicing.

A judge has denied Bank of America’s motion to dismiss a case involving tens of thousands of homeowners who claim the bank denied them help through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Homeowners are asking that Bank of America provide permanent loan modifications to eligible borrowers and award damages to homeowners wrongfully denied modification. The attorney for the homeowners claims the bank is depriving homeowners of federal bailout funds that could save them from foreclosure.

The Applied Analytics division of Lender Processing Services, Inc. recently introduced the LPS Home Price Index (HPI). The LPS HPI shows historical price trends for residential properties in the United States, offering estimates of property values that underlie residential mortgage portfolios and securities. LPS says the new tool is a reliable way to estimate borrower stress, negative equity, and potential for default and loss.

Allonhill, an independent third-party review firm specializing in mortgage due diligence and credit risk management, hired 25-year mortgage industry veteran Jennifer LeSueur as managing director of due diligence, overseeing Allonhill's private-sector due diligence operations. LeSueur previously served as director of underwriting at Teletech Loan Services and was VP of credit risk oversight at Aurora Loan Services.

RE/MAX Excalibur Realty, RE/MAX Fine Properties, and RE/MAX Professionals have ranked among the top residential real estate brokerages in the state of Arizona based on ""The List"" survey published annually by the Phoenix Business Journal. RE/MAX was the only company to place three brokerages in the top 21 rankings based on 2010 local residential sales volume. Forty-four percent of the brokerages' sales last year were bank-owned and HUD-owned foreclosures.