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Tag Archives: Loan Modification

Bank of America Loses $2.2B in 2010

The nation's largest bank reported this morning that it lost $2.2 billion in 2010. During the fourth-quarter period, Bank of America posted a net loss of $1.2 billion, which included a goodwill impairment charge of $2.0 billion in its home loans and insurance division. Had it not been for this charge, the company says it would have earned $756 million in the fourth quarter. The company called 2010 a year of ""necessary repair and rebuilding."" Bank of America is the only one of the 'Big Four' to report a loss.

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Association of Mortgage Investors Encourages Bank Transparency

Banks already facing many legal issues have yet another group on their hands that is closely examining servicing practices and demanding greater transparency. The Association of Mortgage Investors has released a white paper featuring remedies to restore and stabilize the U.S. mortgage and housing markets. The group of investors accuse servicers of making the mortgage process confusing. Their paper says they look forward to continued reviews and the involvement of state attorneys general.

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Free Online Resource Aims to Help Americans Facing Foreclosure

Free online software for the creation of personalized mortgage modification applications under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and other lender programs is now available from FreeMortgageFix.com. The company says paperwork is undeniably the No. 1 reason for the delays with the HAMP loan modification program and unnecessary denials, and it believes its online program is the answer.

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Vacant Homes in Chicago Putting Added Burden on City Funds

According to a report released Thursday by the Woodstock Institute, vacant homes in the city of Chicago are piling up and costing the city millions of dollars while bringing crime and blight to neighborhoods. According to the report, there were more than 18,000 properties on the city of Chicago's vacant buildings index as of September 2010. Vacant and abandoned properties can rapidly spiral into disrepair, affecting the values of neighboring properties and attracting criminal activity.

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Losses on Private-Label Mortgage Securities to Increase: Moody’s

As the backlog of foreclosures continues to drive down housing prices, losses on private-label residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) will increase in 2011, according to Moody's. The forecast for more red ink seeping from home loans sold to investors comes despite the fact that the agency believes the rate at which loans become delinquent will decline during the year. Moody's expects flaws in foreclosure practices that have recently come to light to delay foreclosures by three to six months, further extending the window of losses for investors.

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FDIC May Have Stricter Servicing Rules in the Works For Banks

Reports have surfaced that the FDIC is contemplating stricter requirements that would force banks to disclose what potential ramifications a loan modification on a first lien they service would have on an underlying lien. Industry analysts have speculated that servicers may be reluctant to modify a primary loan because the bank that services the loan also holds the second lien. Such an arrangement could be considered a conflict of interest and prompts some to wonder if investors would be swayed if they knew of the arrangement beforehand.

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Michigan Housing Authority Sees Success in Foreclosure Counseling

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) has provided free foreclosure counseling assistance to more than 17,000 families through the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program over the last two years. Created by Congress in January 2008 to address the nationwide foreclosure crisis by increasing the availability of free counseling for families at risk, the NFMC program has provided 1.12 million struggling homeowners with foreclosure prevention counseling across the nation.

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HOPE NOW Celebrates 4 Years, Releases November Data

The HOPE NOW industry alliance completed its fourth year in existence in 2010. The organization's latest market report estimates 1.65 million homeowners received permanent loan modifications from January to November 2010. The organization says it plans to be even more aggressive in its outreach efforts to distressed homeowners this year. Going forward, each of its members will participate in one major outreach event per month, in regions that have been most heavily affected by the mortgage and foreclosure crises.

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Attorneys General Close to Making Agreements with Top Five Servicers

There has been no shortage of reports of state attorneys general seeking accountability from servicers that they allege mishandled foreclosures. Now it's being reported that attorneys general in all 50 states are near to reaching settlements with the nation's top five mortgage servicers, including Bank of America and GMAC Mortgage. The states are looking to develop separate agreements, rather than one encompassing settlement; and they plan to pursue a civil investigation rather than a criminal one.

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Chase Bank Donates $100,000 to HOPE LoanPort

The online loan modification Web portal HOPE LoanPort announced Tuesday that it received a $100,000 grant from Chase Bank to help facilitate mortgage modifications. The Washington, D.C.-based company, developed by the HOPE NOW alliance, is a Web-based instrument that helps simplify the mortgage modification process by allowing HUD-approved housing counselors to collect and then upload modification documents directly to the mortgage servicers and track the applications.

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