Amilda Dymi

Recent recommendations of the Federal Reserve provide guidance that may benefit the private-label residential mortgage-backed securities sector, according to Fitch Ratings.

After investing $1.3 billion into rental housing in the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2011, NeighborWorks America, one of the country's largest network providers of affordable housing and community development training, expects more growth this year.

The watch list of servicers supervised by the Federal Reserve and The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is not that long, but the number and types of requirements they need to abide to is and includes independent foreclosure reviews whose application deadline is ticking.

Thanks to the Dodd-Frank Act, mortgage servicers will continue to have their hands full this year.

More distressed homeowners are actively pursuing solutions to their financial needs, a promising 2011 trend expected to continue this year. And their starting point is the Web.

Regulatory impediments may have the power to considerably change not only one's ability to engage in a mortgage-related transaction but to impact larger housing performance in 2012.

Servicing technology has both progressed significantly and become obsolete, at least in the view of Dave Vida, a mortgage industry veteran of more than 20 years who, like most of his peers, is eyeing what to do next.

The complex issue of how Wall Street relates to Main Street brought into the limelight by the Occupy Wall Street movement was in fact delivered by the ongoing economic crisis and the seemingly never-ending foreclosure disaster.

As it shifts into a more customer-driven philosophy, insiders say, the mortgage servicing business model is becoming more woman-friendly than ever.

Of the 11 largest servicers evaluated through the Fannie Mae Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards program, only CitiMortgage, Everbank, GMAC Mortgage (Ally Bank) and Wells Fargo made a satisfactory grade in the third quarter.

Subjective thinking still is playing catch-up with the objective need for mortgage process automation, pushing mortgage technology providers to expand their paper-to-paperless offerings.

Awareness to the negative equity problem faced by millions of borrowers and their lenders continues to concern market insiders as they strive to come up with solutions that can help ease the setback. It is the goal of the new Home Affordable Refinance Program and some insurers whose products offer some degree of protection as an added incentive to homeowners interested in refinancing or taking on a new mortgage.

A hot legal issue known among insiders as the City of Chicago ordinance transfers the burden and costs of vacant property ownership from the mortgagee to the lender clashing with some county-level foreclosure process requirements.

Of the 11 largest servicers evaluated through the Fannie Mae Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards program, only CitiMortgage, Everbank, GMAC Mortgage (Ally Bank) and Wells Fargo made a satisfactory grade in the third quarter.

A new report indicates unexpected changes in geographic patterns that helped cause nearly $20 billion in flood and hurricane losses to homeowners and lenders in 2011 call for a re-evaluation of existing emergency plans and insurance options.

A hot legal issue known among insiders as the "City of Chicago ordinance" transfers the burden and costs of vacant property ownership from the mortgagee to the lender clashing with some county-level foreclosure process requirements.

To those who agree that traditional approaches to financial education have generally failed, the newly created Consumer Credit Research Institute is a timely endeavor. Encore Capital Group of San Diego said it established the customer study center in an effort to promote financial literacy through a better understanding of distressed customers and the way they make financial decisions.

It may seem like a stretch, but insights from Zacks Investment Research indicate voluntary compliance to a set of rules could be even more effective than mandatory foreclosure laws.

Encore Capital Group of San Diego has established the Consumer Credit Research Institute in an effort to promote financial literacy through a better understanding of distressed customers and the way they make financial decisions.

Insight into the relationships between banks and consumers deemed critical to the recovery of both the housing market and the overall economy indicate mortgage banks need be aware of misperceptions about how mortgage delinquency and economic stress impacted borrower behavior-including "strategic default."