News

Fannie Mae reported a net loss of $8.7 billion for the first three months of this year, which company executives say was primarily driven by a decline in home prices during the quarter. Fannie's first-quarter shortfall actually narrowed compared to a year earlier, when the company reported a loss of $13 billion. The GSE has requested another $8.5 billion in taxpayer funds from Treasury, bringing its total draws to nearly $100 billion. Fannie Mae acquired 53,549 single-family REO properties through foreclosure in the first quarter.

HUD has released a report detailing recent business activity at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). It shows that the federal agency's inventory of REO homes has ballooned as sales from this portfolio fell sharply during the final months of 2010 and early part of this year. The number of repossessed single-family properties held at the end of February 2011 was 68,801. That figure represents an increase of more than 50 percent from a year earlier.

Sixteen percent of homeowners receiving permanent assistance through the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) have been disqualified from the program for missing three consecutive payments, according to Treasury. Federal officials say HAMP's permanent mods are performing well over time, with a better track record of sustainability than the industry's private modifications. There are currently 587,000 borrowers in a permanent HAMP modification.

Las Vegas region home sales held at a five-year high in March amid strong activity from investors and cash buyers focusing on foreclosures. Due to the large number of discounted, foreclosure properties on the resale market, the median sales price fell in the area. According to figures from DataQuick, the median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Las Vegas metro area in March was $117,000, it's lowest mark since January 1996.

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage has added three key executives to its ranks within the last few weeks. Industry veteran Luther Peacock has joined the company as chief risk officer. Stephannie Mower has been named managing director and will lead the company's newly launched Investment Client Services business. And Mortgage banker Mike Duggan has joined Berkadia's St. Louis office, which is the center of operations for its HUD and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) platform.

California's Code 3 Realty & Mortgage Inc. will begin foreclosure prevention conference calls this month to provide information to homeowners facing foreclosure, as well as owners and renters occupying homes after they have been foreclosed. While many real estate companies host foreclosure prevention workshops for distressed homeowners, Code 3 contends that attendance at these events is usually low because foreclosure is such a sensitive topic and can be embarrassing for many. The company believes telephone conferences offer a discrete alternative.

Kansas-headquartered South & Associates, P.C. announced this week the opening of its full-service law office in West Des Moines, Iowa. This is the firm's fifth law office. South & Associates specializes in foreclosure, eviction, bankruptcy, litigation, title resolution, and loss mitigation, as well as commercial and special assets.

The national unemployment rate rose to 9.0 percent in April, up from 8.8 percent in March, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. Employers added 244,000 new jobs to their payrolls last month, but the government agency says the number of unemployed was little changed at 13.7 million, as people who had previously given up looking for work resumed their search. Job creation in the private sector accounted for all of last month's gains.

In the wake of the industry's robo-signing issues, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report urging the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to make mortgage servicing standards a priority. After examining applicable laws and interviewing mortgage investors and other industry participants, the agency concluded that federal laws do not specifically address the foreclosure process, and as a result, oversight of servicers has been ""limited and fragmented.""

Germany's largest bank has been hit with its second lawsuit of the week related to the company's U.S. mortgage business. The city of Los Angeles has filed a civil law enforcement action against Deutsche Bank for allowing properties it has foreclosed on to fall into ""serious disrepair"" and for the alleged illegal eviction of hundreds of low-income tenants renting the foreclosed homes. The city attorney says Deutsche Bank has become one of the largest slumlords in Los Angeles.