News

A second state has filed a lawsuit against Bank of America for alleged deceptive loan modification and foreclosure practices. Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced that her office has also opened a lawsuit against the company and its affiliates regarding its residential mortgage servicing procedures. Bank of America says it is disappointed by the lawsuit and is currently engaged in multi-state discussions to improve foreclosure related processes and programs to help distressed homeowners.

California continued to feel the housing slump in November with a 12.4 percent decrease in sales from last year, according to statistics from MDA DataQuick. An estimated 31,403 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month -- down 3.9 percent from October. The median price paid for a home in California during the month of November was $255,000. Foreclosure sales made up 37.8 percent of the existing homes sold last month.

Data released by NeighborWorks America Monday illustrates the value of foreclosure prevention counseling for distressed homeowners. The organization has found that a homeowner who works with a housing counselor is nearly two times more likely to avoid foreclosure than those who go it alone. Counseled borrowers also lower their monthly mortgage payments by nearly twice as much and are less likely to re-default after a mortgage modification.

Consumers usually hunt for the best deal -- except when it comes to their mortgages. While 96 percent of American consumers compare prices when shopping, nearly 40 percent obtain just one home loan quote, according to a new survey from LendingTree. The survey also revealed that only 28 percent of borrowers are very confident they received the best possible deal on their current mortgages. Even though 85 percent of consumers use the Web to comparison shop other items, only 21 percent say they shopped online first for mortgage rates.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard has filed a lawsuit against Bank of America for alleged fraudulent acts committed after a March 2009 lawsuit. Last spring, BofA agreed to develop a modification program for customers in the state to resolve Goddard's allegations that Countrywide had engaged in fraud in originating and marketing mortgage loans. Since then, Goddard says BofA has violated the provisions by failing to make timely decisions on mod requests and proceeding with foreclosures when modifications were pending.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly investigating lenders' procedures for packaging home mortgages into securities bonds for sale to investors. Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the probe, says the SEC sent subpoenas last week to Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo. The subpoenas focus on the earliest stage of the mortgage securitization process, in particular, the role of master servicers.

California-based Ellie Mae announced the launch of its second major release of Encompass360 this week. The mortgage management product includes 24 upgrades designed to make it easier for users to comply with lending regulations and improve business management, productivity, and visibility, according to a statement from the company.

Congressman Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), chairman of the House oversight subcommittee, has released a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) expressing concern about reports that the Obama administration is pressuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to write down principal mortgages. Neugebauer argues that the GSEs' participation in such a program would increase taxpayer losses - already approaching $150 billion - and run counter to the statutory obligation of FHFA to minimize taxpayer exposure.

The number of bank closings has slowed in recent months, and that's given the FDIC reason to believe that the worst phase of institutional collapses is behind us. The FDIC's board of directors has approved a $3.96 billion operating budget for 2011, which the agency described as ""down slightly from the 2010 budget,"" when the board raised the amount by 55 percent to cope with an elevated number of bank failures. Officials are touting the fact that no increase is planned for the upcoming year as a sign the financial sector is at least stabilizing.

The Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) sent a notice earlier this month to mortgage professionals warning them that they may be out of work at the first of the year if they fail to submit required applications. The new Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System contains more stringent requirements and all industry licensees including individuals, companies, and branch offices, are required to re-apply under it by no later than December 31, 2010.