News

Data released Monday shows an increase in mortgage related fraud in areas with high rates of foreclosures and underwater borrowers. Risk analytics firm Interthinx released its annual Mortgage Fraud Risk Report which analyzes loan applications and determines the most significant mortgage fraud risk trends for the past year. According to the report, overall mortgage fraud risk is highest in areas that have been hit hardest by the housing and economic downturns, and fraud criminals are migrating to these regions.

The number of new filings for foreclosures in the state of New York fell in 2010, but the percentage of properties in the foreclosure process is growing, according to a new report from New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. He says the sharp drop in new filings can be attributed in part to a temporary suspension of foreclosure related activity, not an improvement in the market.

NRT REOExperts LLC, a full-service REO service provider and member of the NRT family of companies, announced the appointment of several new members to its executive team last week. Stephen Benetz was named president of the company. Benetz appointed Walter Mullen, Mary Gomez, and Ximena Wolf to leadership positions at NRT REOExperts, and promoted Kathy Jeffers Volk and Phil Collier to new positions from within the NRT REOExperts management team.

The mortgage default risk index from University Financial Associates (UFA) registered a reading of 141 for the first quarter of 2011. The index's baseline of 100 correlates to the default risk of the 1990s. Translation -- investors and lenders should expect defaults on loans originated in Q1 to be 41 percent higher than that of loans originated in the 1990s. UFA says the most important story behind the numbers is that the default risk index has found a plateau, and if inflation rates continue to rise, default risks will improve more rapidly.

New York City Comptroller John Liu has announced a victory for the members of the New York City Pension Funds who have long been calling for banks to conduct an independent audit of their mortgage foreclosure practices. The NYC Pension Funds requested an audit of the banks' practices in November and again in January to no avail, but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ruled that the banks must put the group's request on the ballot at their annual shareholder meetings this spring.

In a partnership with the city of Detroit, Bank of America will open two customer assistance centers in the area to provide homeowners at risk of default or foreclosure with counseling and on-site decision making for mortgage modification programs or other payment assistance. The bank also plans to donate and refurbish 10 vacant homes for the city's ""Project 14"" program, and will work with the city to identify up to 100 low-value and vacant properties for demolition.

Safeguard Properties issued a notice Thursday announcing the appointments of four individuals to its executive and management teams. Michael Greenbaum has been named to the newly created position of VP, REO. Apryl Seide was appointed as the company's general counsel. Jennifer Anspach has been promoted to director of finance and accounting, and Russ Klein has been named director of quality control.

Radar Logic's latest RPX Composite, which tracks home prices in 25 major metros, declined to $179.50 per square foot in January, its lowest level since 2007. The company says the rapid decline suggests weak market fundamentals, including a high supply of homes coupled with high rates of mortgage defaults. The report also notes that sales of foreclosed homes by financial institutions, or ""motivated sales,"" made up 35 percent of all home sales as of January 20, the second highest share of motivated sales that Radar Logic has observed.

Fannie Mae and Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida (NHSSF) celebrated the one-year anniversary of Fannie Mae's South Florida Mortgage Help Center on Thursday. Since opening its doors in March 2010, the South Florida Mortgage Help Center has worked with more than 1,000 struggling families with loans owned by Fannie Mae. Of these, more than 64 percent received a retention solution that allowed them to remain in their homes.

Allonhill, an independent third-party review firm specializing in mortgage due diligence and credit risk management, has hired Craig Wildrick as COO. Wildrick, a 20-year financial services veteran, is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations as well as the implementation and management of the company's due diligence and credit risk management services. He was formerly COO for Aurora Bank.