News

Payment Gone, LLC, creators of Khafre Back Office, announced Wednesday the launch of its commercial loan modification software module. The company says this marks the introduction of the first commercial mortgage mod software on the market. The new module is designed to enable servicers to accurately capture and manage their clients' portfolio of commercial properties and to quickly analyze clients' complete financial picture.

Delinquencies on prime jumbo loans continue to climb, and Fitch Ratings says they could reach 10 percent as early as next month. Loan performance among high-end mortgages within private residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) showed further weakness in January, as serious delinquencies rose for the 32nd consecutive month. Meanwhile, sales of seven-figure homes last year in California hit their lowest count since 2002.

Low interest rates have pushed more Americans to refinance their mortgages, and the Federal Housing Administration has announced enhanced refinance guidelines to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. As a result, banks and lenders are faced with an increasing volume of loan modification and refinancing requests.

Mortgage principal - to cut or not to cut - has grabbed a fair share of the media spotlight in recent weeks, with a number of experts plugging principal reduction as a practicable means of ensuring homeowners don't redefault on their modified loan. While lenders are often prohibited from trimming the principal by agreements with investors, one such group, representing holders of some $100 billion in mortgage securities, is lobbying Congress to enact legislation that addresses the problem of underwater mortgages by reducing the debt.

Lowers & Associates (L&A), an independent provider of risk management and loss prevention services to the financial services sector, recently announced its new commercial mortgage asset management (CMAM), workout, and loan restructuring services.

Even with improvements beginning to peek through the debris of the housing crisis, mortgage defaults continue to rise at an incredible rate, and the story is no different for the federal government's mortgage insurance agency. The latest numbers from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) show that loans at least 90 days past due hit 9.12 percent at the end of 2009. That figure is up from 6.82 percent one year earlier. Foreclosures also soared 41 percent, but short sales as a means of avoiding foreclosures outpaced even that figure, increasing 140 percent.

Lender Processing Services (LPS) turned a $74.9 million profit in the fourth quarter, or 77 cents per share. The Florida-based company attributed its success to record improvements in its loan facilitation business, as well as solid demand for its default services as lenders continue to seek out efficiencies to handle a still-growing number of defaults and foreclosures.

Not even the nation's most recognized and iconic home can escape the deterioration that typifies today's real estate landscape. The value of the White House fell 5.1 percent last year, according to the online real estate marketplace Zillow.com. In January 2008, the company put the value of the White House at $308 million. Twelve months later, and the 132-room mansion built in 1792 is worth $292.5 million.

The innovative eClosingNet (eCN) service offered by eLynx, a Cincinnati-based portfolio company of American Capital, has gained industry acceptance quicker than anticipated, according to a recent announcement by the company.

Lincoln, Nebraska-based Mortech, Inc., a mortgage technology software company, has joined forces with Ellie Mae, the Pleasanton, California-based provider of enterprise mortgage origination technology solutions, to create an integrated offering of the companies' flagship solutions.