REO

Past due loans within commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) rose 23 basis points in February, according to a new report from Trepp LLC. The firm noted that it's the smallest month-to-month rise since September 2009. The brief reprieve is welcome news for an industry struggling with rising defaults and looming loan maturities, but that's tempered by a quick reminder from Trepp that CMBS delinquencies are still setting new records as the highest the industry has seen since the CMBS market took hold.

Georgia-based Altisource Solutions, Inc. has broadened its mortgage service offerings to include REO asset management operations. This recent expansion extends the company's real estate disposition and closing services to include oversight and coordination of the entire REO transaction lifecycle.

In response to the overwhelming amount of foreclosures that could have been avoided through a short sale, Retreat Capital Management Group, a provider of loss mitigation and outsourced fulfillment solutions, and First Team National Default Solutions have formed a joint venture to manage the short sale segment of the loss management process.

Lenders Asset Management Corporation (LAMCO), a nationwide REO management company, announced Tuesday that industry veteran Diane M. Cardinal is now a member of its board of directors and will aid in the company's strategic direction and growth of its REO portfolios. Cardinal has more than 37 years' experience within the REO and loan servicing industry, most recently as VP of the foreclosure asset management group at U.S. Bank.

In order to streamline communication between servicer clients and their investors, San Diego-based Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS), a nationwide property preservation and inspection services provider to the financial services industry, recently partnered with HomeTelos, a Dallas-based company that specializes in the development and support of Web-based solutions that support the management and marketing of real estate assets.

When the residential housing market took its big spill, real estate auctions became a quick means for lenders to dispose of growing distressed property inventories and a popular avenue for bargain-hunting buyers. The commercial real estate sector, too, now finds itself on a banana-peel floor, and here also the auction forum is proving to be a powerful business practice for tumultuous times.

Despite having a bad rap for being slow and problematic, short sales are quickly becoming a preferred method to dispose of distressed properties. One industry survey shows short sales accounted for a substantial 15.9 percent of home purchase transactions in January nationwide. This foreclosure alternative is becoming particularly attractive in some of the hardest-hit housing markets. Lawmakers in Arizona are considering a bill that would mandate real estate agents there take 15 hours of short sale classes to learn the process.

That looming shadow of housing inventory that's graced so many headlines lately has put the entire industry on edge. And that uneasiness was validated in a report published by Standard & Poor's Tuesday. The ratings agency said this hidden supply of REOs and pending foreclosures will likely take 33 months - or nearly three years - to clear if liquidation rates hold steady. What's even more unsettling is that S&P called its estimate ""conservative.""

In an effort to revolutionize the way investors buy REO property, Austin, Texas-based Econohomes, a nationwide direct seller of residential REO properties, has launched a new Web site. Built on a robust technology platform, Econohomes' Web site combines superior information on its extensive nationwide real estate inventory with the ability for investors to bundle and purchase groups of REO properties at significant discounts.

The relentless wave of foreclosures that has swelled and battered the housing industry for a good three years seems to have retreated in January, but it's not enough to mean the storm has passed. New data released by RealtyTrac Thursday shows that foreclosure filings were reported on 315,716 U.S. properties during the month, a decrease of nearly 10 percent from December. It's a pattern we've already seen this time last year, and RealtyTrac says if history repeats itself, there will be another flood over the next few months.