Tag Archives: Foreclosure Prevention

Bank of America reported Tuesday that it saw a profit of $6.2 billion during the third quarter of this year, compared to a loss of $7.3 billion a year ago. Perhaps the biggest headline-grabber gleaned from BofA's third-quarter numbers is that the company lost its position as the largest U.S. bank by assets. On the mortgage side of the business, BofA says it has successfully implemented the rollout of a single point of contact for default servicing. Provisions for credit losses declined 37 percent from the year-ago quarter.

The mortgage banking law firm of Butler and Hosch, P.A. has announced the appointment of Amber Paxton as its new SVP of operations and Tyrutte Kimbrell as VP of vendor relations for the Southern region. Paxton joins Butler and Hosch with more than 15 years' experience that includes managing mortgage default operations in compliance with both GSE and non-GSE guidelines. Kimbrell brings 10 years of experience in default servicing to the firm.

Help for underwater homeowners has moved from principal writedowns to refinancing in the settlement negotiations between state attorneys general and the nation's five largest mortgage servicers. According to a widely circulated report, the proposal made its way into the talks last week. Borrowers who are current on their mortgage payments but owe more than their home is worth would be able to refinance at today's lower rates. The main caveat is that the loan must be owned, not just serviced, by one of the five banks.

ServiceLink announced Tuesday that Greg Whitworth has joined the company as EVP of servicing solutions. Whitworth will help develop ServiceLink's overall default and servicing business strategy, and will focus on building a consulting practice. ServiceLink is a Fidelity National Financial company and currently provides its solutions to 15 of the top 20 mortgage lenders and servicers. ServiceLink's flagship workflow and content management technology, Commerce Velocity, will be a key area of focus for Whitworth.

The state of Hawaii has now gone live with its Mortgage Foreclosure Dispute Resolution (MFDR) program. MFDR is a key component of Act 48 signed into law by Gov. Neil Abercrombie this spring and is intended to ""reform the foreclosure process"" in the state, according to government officials. The program is designed to offer owner-occupants of residential property in non-judicial foreclosure the opportunity to meet directly with their lenders to modify their loans or work out an alternative to foreclosure.

Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee point to the GSEs and the Obama administration's housing programs as areas for Congress' deficit reduction super-committee to examine as it works toward cutting $1.5 trillion of the nation's debt. A letter drafted by Chairman Spencer Bachus and signed by 20 Republican committee members first calls for an increase in the GSEs' guarantee fees and then the elimination of such programs as HAMP and HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

Wells Fargo reported net income of $4.1 billion over the July-to-September period. The company called it a ""record"" quarter, but even with profits up 21 percent from the prior year, the numbers were overshadowed by the fact that Q3 results missed market expectations. It's the first time in more than two years that Wells Fargo didn't meet analysts' forecasts. A decline in loan charge-offs and nonperforming assets, as well as an $800 million reduction in loan loss reserves helped to counter declining revenue.

Amid a challenging environment for servicers, CitiMortgage, GMAC, and Ocwen have outperformed major competitors with regards to loss mitigation and foreclosure timelines, according to a recent report from Moody's Investors Service. The company's Servicer Dashboard rates major servicers on their performance from June 2010 to June 2011. Moody's notes that Bank of America's and Chase's performance assessments were affected by large servicing acquisitions and foreclosure moratoria.

GMAC Mortgage has teamed up with the Loan Value Group, LLC on a pilot program that provides financial incentives for borrowers with VA loans to remain current. GMAC is offering Loan Value Group's Responsible Homeowner (RH) Reward program to a group of Veterans Administration (VA) customers who are current on their mortgage payments but have seen a significant decline in the value of their homes. The program returns a portion of their lost equity in exchange for continued, timely mortgage payments.

While five major banks continue to deliberate with the state attorneys general for a settlement involving violations in mortgage documentation, the same five banks, plus several others, also face charges for committing fraud against veterans and taxpayers. Defendants accuse 13 banks of ""a brazen scheme to defraud both our nation's veterans and the United States Treasury of millions of dollars"" by overcharging borrowers in connection with home loans refinanced through a U.S. Veterans Affairs program.