News

Law enforcement officials say fraudsters and con artists see opportunity in turmoil, and right now, arguably the most tumultuous economic sector is housing. In its first year, the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force more than doubled the number of defendants charged with mortgage fraud. Mortgage fraud punishments followed the same trend, with nearly twice as many prison sentences of more than two years. But task force members say it's not enough, especially when the economy hasn't fully recovered.

Conditions across multiple financial sectors suggest economic stabilization and growth. It's the housing market that's holding back economic recovery, according to the credit bureau Equifax. The company's latest analysis of national credit trends points to shadow inventory and REOs as major mortgage market depressors. Growth in these areas has led to bigger write-offs. Equifax says write-off dollars for home finance in 2010 more than doubled that of 2006 and 2007 combined.

San Antonio, Texas-based Hollerbach & Associates, an independent real estate services and title research firm, will continue on in its status as endorsed partner of TBA Services Company, Inc. (TBASCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Texas Bankers Association. This will be the firm's seventh consecutive year with the designation. Hollerbach & Associates is the only abstracting and title research firm in Texas to be considered an endorsed partner of TBASCO.

Prospect Mortgage, a California-based lender authorized to provide HomePath financing for Fannie Mae, now offers the HomePath Renovation Mortgage. HomePath is Fannie Mae's vehicle for the marketing and disposition of REO properties the GSE has acquired through foreclosure. The HomePath Renovation financing tool allows homebuyers to purchase a Fannie Mae HomePath property and include up to $35,000 for non-structural repairs and restoration as part of the loan.

Reverse mortgage businesses accounted for a bigger share of industry casualties during the first half of 2011. Data released Tuesday shows that three lenders, which together made up 46 percent of the market for FHA's reverse mortgage program, called it quits earlier this year. The study noted that one factor impacting the dwindling sector is the possibility that borrowers will miss insurance or tax payments, which can trigger default on federally insured loans.

Denver-headquartered Phoenix Asset Management recently announced several promotions within its leadership team. Jim Steffen, former company VP, was promoted to president. David Francis was promoted from AVP to VP. Jaysen Greenleaf was promoted to director of client relations and business development.

Milestone Asset Resolution Company, a diversified financial services management firm, announced several changes last week regarding the expansion of its business operations following a corporate investment from Oaktree Investment Holdings. Oaktree will acquire a non-controlling equity position in the company, and going forward, Milestone will be known as Sabal Financial Group.

Fitch Ratings expects that Bank of America's recently proposed settlement for mortgage repurchase and servicing claims will positively affect the ratings of approximately 10 percent of Fitch-rated U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in the affected Countrywide trusts. In addition, the ratings agency says payouts from the settlement in the short term and improved servicing practices over the longer term are likely to further improve recovery prospects for a larger portion of bonds.

Eight California real estate investors have agreed to plead guilty for conspiring to rig bids at foreclosure auctions in Northern California. The U.S. Department of Justice says the investors face felony charges for a scheme that involved fixing bids by agreeing to refrain from bidding against one another, and paying other potential competitors not to bid in the public auctions. The bid-rigging occurred between May 2008 and January 2011 in Contra Costa County and Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay area.

Ally Financial Inc., one of the nation's five largest mortgage servicers, acknowledged receipt of subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Wednesday. The subpoenas are directed at Ally Financial Inc. and GMAC Mortgage LLC's mortgage activities. Ally says the subpoenas may result in adverse judgments, fines and penalties, or injunctions.