Tag Archives: Attorneys & Title Companies

The percentage of distressed properties in home purchase transactions climbed to its highest level in nearly a year last month, according to an industry report released Tuesday. The distressed property index tracked as part of the report indicates that the share of sales transactions involving distressed homes climbed to 49.6 percent in January. Comments from real estate agents collected as part of the survey confirms the growing share of distressed properties, particularly in hard-hit markets.

This week national organizations Women in Default Services (WinDS) and Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) signed an alliance agreement to enhance their nationwide representation of businesswomen and business growth. WinDS is an organization aimed at advancing the careers of women working in default services.WIPP represents 54 national women and small business organizations,advocating for and on behalf of women and minorities in business in the legislative process of the United States.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly investigating lenders' procedures for packaging home mortgages into securities bonds for sale to investors. Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the probe, says the SEC sent subpoenas last week to Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo. The subpoenas focus on the earliest stage of the mortgage securitization process, in particular, the role of master servicers.

Michael Neumann, an independent real estate agent in the Chicago area, says he used to worry about the confidentiality of offers he would pass to prospective clients via email. But having recently employed the document management and signing process developed by DocuSign and secured with out-of-band authentication from Authentify, Neumann no longer worries about who might be picking up the proposals he sends electronically.

The FDIC said Tuesday that it added 31 banks to its so-called "Problem List," bringing the total number of troubled institutions under the agency's watchful eye to 860. The third-quarter additions came even as the industry turned a healthy profit and the volume of nonperforming loans declined. FDIC-insured institutions earned $14.5 billion last quarter, up from $2 billion a year ago. Noncurrent loan balances dropped by $8.3 billion, marking the second straight quarterly decline.

Counseling and foreclosure prevention services are now available for free to struggling homeowners with Fannie Mae loans in Phoenix. Fannie Mae's fifth facility in a series of nationwide help centers, the Phoenix Mortgage Help Center allows borrowers to meet with on-site English- and Spanish-speaking staff and experienced housing counselors to discuss their mortgage situations.

Foreclosure proceedings commenced by lenders between July and September in California jumped on a quarterly basis for the first time since early 2009, but the number of homeowners who moved all the way to foreclosure fell from the prior quarter and a year ago. According to MDA DataQuick, some 83,261 notices of default were posted at county recorder offices in Q3, as the movement of mortgage defaults from lower-cost submarkets into pricier enclaves retreated somewhat. The number of homes foreclosed on totaled 45,377.

The Wolf Firm recently announced that James R. Knoles has joined the firm's litigation department as its newest associate attorney. In this position, Knoles' primary responsibilities entail the representation of lenders on unsecured, asset-based, and mixed collateral commercial loans. Knoles is a member of the State Bar of California, admitted in 1988.

Skyline Financial Corp., an independent direct mortgage lender headquartered in California, has raised $8.2 million for company growth. The new funding is the first institutional round of financing raised by the 25-year-old company. GRP Partners, a venture capital firm focused on investing in financial technology and digital content, led the investment. Skyline will use the new capital to increase its mortgage staff by 80 percent and more than double its home-loan production.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services has launched its Web-based OneFile mortgage processing solution, allowing lenders to replace paper-based processes. The majority of lenders--76 percent--still rely on paper-based methods to process mortgages, according to a survey conducted by the technology firm. Wolters Kluwer says its OneFile platform is designed to improve productivity, lower costs, grow portfolios, and improve borrowers' customer experience.