News

LendingTree has filed a lawsuit against the online real estate marketplace Zillow Inc. and three other competitors, which alleges the companies stole LendingTree's method for providing borrowers with a comparison shopping experience for home mortgage products. The North Carolina-based online lending exchange claims its four rivals all infringed on LendingTree's 2002- and 2003-patented formulas for competitively matching borrowers with lenders based upon a single loan application from the consumer.

A survey conducted of more than 5,000 licensed appraisers across the country by the appraisal management company Coester Appraisal reveals that only 3 percent of appraiser respondents have less than five years of experience, a result that contradicts lenders' and independent appraisers' claims that appraisal management companies (AMCs) are employing inexperienced appraisers. More than half of the AMC appraiser respondents have been in the business for 15 years or more.

Nearly 31,000 borrowers with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans forfeited their homes through a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure during the second quarter of this year. The figure represents a 27 percent increase over the previous three-month period. The GSEs also reported that their volume of permanent modifications under the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) increased 65 percent, but at the same time, foreclosure starts and foreclosure sales were also up by double digits.

Steve Archambault, Democratic candidate for attorney general in the state of Rhode Island, recently released details of his plan to combat mortgage fraud and protect consumers in his state. According to the Mortgage Asset Research Institute, Rhode Island led the nation in mortgage fraud in 2008. Archambault says he also plans to target current banking practices that contributed to historically low home values.

For the first time in five months, fewer sellers cut the asking price of their home in August, according to the online real estate marketplace Zillow. As of the end of last month, the company says just over one-fourth, 28.8 percent, of all listings on Zillow had at least one price reduction. That's a decrease from the 30.1 percent of listings that had a price reduction as of the end of July. Zillow says nationally, the median price cut amounts to 7 percent.

The total value of distressed commercial real estate (CRE) in the United States right now is $186.9 billion, including properties in default, foreclosure, and lender REO, according to data from the research firm Real Capital Analytics. The Transwestern company Delta Associates says this tally represents an increase of 12 percent, or $20.1 billion, since June and means CRE distress has risen back to the level it was in March of this year. But the company says a plateau in the $165-$200 billion range will be the norm for a while.

Moody's Investors Service says U.S. banks have already written off nearly two-thirds of the real estate loans expected to go sour through 2011. The credit ratings agency projects banks will incur $744 billion of loan charge-offs between 2008 and 2011. Moody's analysts say an estimated $476 billion of these losses have already been recognized, leaving $268 billion, or 36 percent, remaining. So far, 68 percent of residential mortgage losses have been accounted for versus 49 percent of bad commercial real estate loans.

The real estate auction house of Williams & Williams and Auction Network, an Internet television network for live auctions, issued a joint statement Wednesday announcing a merger of the two companies. The newly created parent company, WWM (Williams, Williams & McKissick) Holdings, LLC, is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and will remain under private ownership.

Long-term mortgage rates inched up this week, breaking a buyer-friendly trend of successively falling to record-lows week after week for the past three months. The question now is, will the threat of rising interest rates push prospective homebuyers to take a leap? Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 4.35 percent this week. Fifteen-year mortgages, on the other hand, came in again at last week's record low of 3.83 percent. Bankrate, however, reported a jump in mortgage rates across the board.

Field Asset Services (FAS) recently launched Collateral Command, a solution for property management services and support that offers lenders and servicers a single source for managing foreclosed and REO properties. Included within the Collateral Command suite is Utilities Management Service, which allows banks, servicers, and lenders to leverage FAS and its industry relationships to streamline the day-to-day tasks of managing the utilities process and payments.