News

REO Allegiance, a national property preservation and eviction field services firm based in New Jersey, has hired Brian Daily to serve as VP of business development. Daily joins REO Allegiance with over 25 years of executive level experience throughout the mortgage industry spanning origination, servicing, and default management, including 15 years with Bank of America.

The California-based NID Housing Counseling Agency now requires its counselors to use HOPE LoanPort as the primary tool for submitting home retention applications to mortgage servicers. HOPE LoanPort, developed by the HOPE NOW Alliance, is a Web-based tool that streamlines home retention applications on behalf of borrowers at risk of foreclosure.

Clear Capital reports home prices in the western part of the country are sliding again, down 4.3 percent over the first three months of this year. The company says the West region, taken on the whole, has now officially entered double-dip territory, with home values hitting lows not seen since 2001. Across the rest of the U.S., though, Clear Capital says negative forecasts have been ""overstated,"" as prices in the other three regions have managed to find a bottom in the midst of ongoing foreclosure pressures and the traditionally slow winter season.

CitiMortgage Inc. has been hit with a class action lawsuit for allegedly denying borrowers a permanent loan modification through the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The complaint was filed with a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania on behalf of homeowners in the state who have entered into a trial modification plan, made all payments as required, and complied with CitiMortgage's requests for documentation, but have not received or have been denied a permanent HAMP mod, according to the lawsuit.

Mortgage servicers have reportedly reached an agreement with federal regulators to change their foreclosure procedures as part of a settlement for the robo-signing transgressions that were uncovered last fall. The arrangement includes no fines, but monetary penalties have not been completely ruled out. In early March, federal regulatory agencies and state attorneys general together crafted a 27-page settlement proposal, however, the states have not been part of this latest development.

A putative class action securities lawsuit filed against Freddie Mac in federal court in August 2008 has been dismissed, according to a statement from the GSE. Judge John Keenan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted Freddie Mac's motion to dismiss all claims brought by two pension funds alleging that the GSE misled shareholders about its exposure to risky mortgage loans.

Florida-based PREO operates an online marketplace aimed specifically at turning distressed properties into family homes. On Wednesday, the company announced the official launch of its new Web site, which PREO says can shrink the timeline for short sales to weeks instead of months.

The majority of Americans say walking away from a mortgage should never be an option for homeowners, even those who are struggling to make their payments, according to a survey conducted by FindLaw.com. No reliable figures exist to pinpoint exactly how many homeowners choose strategic default, which entails walking away and refusing to make monthly payments, but industry experts agree that it has become a growing concern in the fallout of the housing crisis.

Mortgage Contracting Services LLC (MCS), a nationwide provider of property preservation, inspections, and REO property maintenance, announced Wednesday the addition of Frank Elmore as chief information officer. Elmore is the first individual to hold this position at the company and, beyond overseeing MCS' technology department, is responsible for managing all information technology and computer system initiatives that support corporate operational goals.

National Creditors Collections Inc. (NCCI), a provider of field contact, loss mitigation, and onsite inspection services, recently starting using the RxOffice loss mitigation portal from IndiSoft, a technology development firm specializing in default management. NCCI plans to use the technology to enhance its field contact efforts for hard-to-reach homeowners.