News

Colorado lawmakers are hoping to mitigate the effects widespread foreclosures are having on local communities in the state. This week, Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law a bill that he says will secure neighborhoods against abandoned properties that have fallen into foreclosure by cutting in half the minimum time frame for a foreclosure sale, as mandated by the state.

Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, a commercial and multifamily mortgage finance business based in Newark, New Jersey, announced Friday that it has launched the Agency Gateway program, a new short term loan program for multifamily property owners seeking to refinance or acquire properties that do not currently qualify for a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac permanent loan.

Only 10 percent of the $41 billion of distressed commercial real estate from a year ago has been resolved and is no longer held by the lender, according to new data from the research firm Real Capital Analytics. The company's analysis shows that securities trusts and domestic lenders have settled a comparably small portion of their distress from last year. Of those loans resolved, commercial mortgage-backed securities holders are more likely to have restructured the mortgages, while domestic banks are more likely to have foreclosed.

In an announcement Friday, Fannie Mae said it is changing the eligibility criteria for purchasing and securitizing adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) products. For ARMs with an initial period of five years or less, Fannie Mae will require that borrowers be qualified at the greater of the note rate plus 2 percent or the fully indexed rate (index plus margin). The company said it created these new standards to protect homeowners from potentially dramatic payment increases and to help ensure that borrowers who hold these types of mortgages can sustain them beyond the initial interest rate period

After two-and-a-half years, Seth Wheeler is resigning from his post as senior advisor for the U.S. Treasury Department. Wheeler, originally hired under former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, was a key architect in the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says servicers are failing in their efforts to modify loans. Geithner told a Senate subcommittee that his office has received ""countless frustrated phone calls"" from borrowers, and is troubled by reports that servicers have foreclosed on eligible homeowners and repeatedly claim to have lost documentation. Geithner says Treasury is already conducting compliance reviews targeted at certain servicers and may withhold incentive payments.

In an effort to further educate consumers about the home buying process, Calabasas, California-based Bank of America Home Loans has unveiled an enhanced online home loan guide that includes customized tools on budgeting, affordability, and choosing the right kind of loan. The enhanced site includes interactive tools and calculators, the ability to save worksheets and information for use at a later date, and a new local mortgage loan officer finder.

The civil charges brought against investment bank Goldman Sachs for allegedly defrauding mortgage investors could turn criminal. Federal prosecutors with the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan are reportedly investigating the Wall Street fixture for possible criminal misconduct in dealings involving an investment vehicle and transactions related to subprime residential mortgages. Goldman Sachs and its executives continue to deny any wrongdoing.

Despite the wide-spread impact the mortgage meltdown has had on the U.S. economy, today's borrowers continue to spend very little time researching their home loan, a recent Zillow survey found. The survey of 2,729 adults, conducted on Zillow's behalf by Harris Interactive, found that borrowers are spending no more time researching a home loan today than they did in 2008.

In a proposal submitted to the Treasury Department, the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) detailed how it plans to use $699.1 million in federal aid made available through the administration's Hardest Hit Fund. According to the proposal, CalHFA will use the funds to implement four distinct programs, three designed to help California homeowners remain in their homes and one intended to help underwater homeowners transition out of their homes into more affordable housing.