News

The deadline for servicer implementation of the administration's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program has arrived. HAFA aims to help homeowners who are unable to qualify for a loan modification by providing them with the option to pursue a short sale or deed-in-lieu. To encourage HAFA participation, the Treasury Department raised financial incentives. Borrowers are now eligible for $3,000 in relocation assistance, and servicers will receive $1,500 to cover administrative and processing costs for a short sale or deed-in-lieu completed under the program.

FHA officials have warned that they will be keeping a close eye on lenders to ensure the agency's standards are being followed, and that pledge became painfully apparent for two mortgage companies last week. FHA has permanently withdrawn its approval of Atlanta-based RSA Financial, Inc. and 1st Alliance Mortgage of Houston, Texas. The actions impose steep penalties on the the two lenders and prevent them from originating and underwriting new FHA-insured mortgages.

There is a growing consensus among lenders that home prices have stabilized, according to analysts at Barclays Capital. Research by the investment firm also indicates that loan mod efforts have risen significantly, and banks are more aggressively disposing of troubled real estate assets. Barclays' analysts sifted through the Q4 earnings transcripts for 20 regional and national banks to decipher their take on the housing market, and the conclusions point to significant improvements when it comes to real estate holdings.

With financing in the commercial real estate sector severely constricted and billions in multifamily mortgages on the verge of coming due, Freddie Mac is stepping up to the plate to ensure strapped apartment owners have an avenue to refinance their debt. The GSE has launched a new lending program that allows mezzanine debt on qualifying multifamily first mortgages. Freddie officials say the initiative will reduce the number of properties that may otherwise become defaults, drawn-out workouts, or foreclosures.

The Treasury Department announced Friday that it has received a total of $181 billion from companies to repay their government bailouts. The new figures were released after the Treasury collected full repayment on Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money given to insurance and investment firm Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. in the sum of $3.4 billion. Automaker General Motors also repaid $1 billion. While the auto industry's bailout is expected to be one of the biggest TARP losers, Treasury now estimates that its programs aimed at stabilizing the banking system will earn a profit.

Encore Equities, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Encore Enterprises, Inc., recently appointed Jeremiah Sunden as VP of capital markets. He will be responsible for cultivating Encore's investor network and identifying projects that meet the company's investment criteria.

Commercial real estate firm Signature Associates has launched a new business unit to help property owners secure mortgage term extensions, mortgage workouts, and refinancing in today's challenging marketplace.

There are thousands of troubled mortgages in need of modification, but some lawmakers think there is a conflict of interest, in the form of second mortgage ownership, that may be preventing large mortgage companies from voluntarily offering modification services. In hopes of eradicating this issue, two members of the House Financial Services Committee have introduced the Mortgage Servicing Conflict of Interest Elimination Act, which prohibits servicers from owning debt secured by a home that backs a mortgage they already service.

Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, Inc., the integrated real estate brokerage franchise and relocation services business of Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential Financial, Inc., and Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, an online real estate marketplace, recently announced an expansion of their business relationship.

The U.S. Department of Labor released new numbers Friday, and although the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent, the still-elevated number of jobless Americans continues to be one of the biggest obstacles to recovery in both the residential and commercial real estate markets. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in an interview ahead of the labor report, ""The unemployment rate is still terribly high, and it's going to stay unacceptably high for a long period of time.""