Amilda Dymi

Insiders agree that while best loss mitigation strategies vary case-by-case including a loan modification, a deed-in-lieu, a short sale, doorknockers and face-to-face interaction, or the one point of contact, servicing compensation remains a key mortgage industry challenge for both servicers and their third party service providers.

Yet another RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report blends in with recent past industry news that ultimately sugarcoat a reality where the effects of the economic crisis and foreclosure processing delays due to regulatory requirements or pending litigation often are immensurable.

Oak Grove Capital has originated a $59.5 million Fannie Mae bond credit enhancement loan for the acquisition and renovation of 694 affordable housing units on the Southside of Chicago.

Everyone is fighting for their own.Progress in the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s “key customer and investor protections” are threatened by efforts of industry groups to weaken the rules and stop the funding of the agencies responsible for making those reforms a reality—at least in the view of the Consumer Federation of America.

The ongoing crisis-related confrontation between state regulators mitigating customer rights and trade organizations vouching for the mortgage industry continues to generate new regulatory updates that increase the foreclosure backlog.

Data show mortgage servicers are not meeting their customers’ expectations. And negative brand image perceptions may further deteriorate as disheartened borrowers cannot take advantage of historically low interest rates and see no clear housing and overall economic recovery in sight.

Wells Fargo & Co., the nation's second largest servicer, has invited 13,000 customers to its two-day Chicago Home Preservation workshop scheduled for August 17-18 in the Windy City.

A Fitch report suggests the securities market needs to be aware of how pending U.S. risk retention regulations compare to European Union laws and how they are expected to affect the behavior of issuers and investors.

A Trepp report shows in July the overall U.S. delinquency rate of commercial mortgage-backed security loans jumped to 9.88%, an all-time record increase of 51 basis points compared to June—which is largely attributed to technical changes in data reporting and analytics.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has just opened for business. One year ago, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, including the Consumer Financial Protection Act, which created the CFPB.

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officially opened its doors last week, lenders and servicers began bracing themselves for the increasingly tougher challenge of keeping a fair balance between their customer and investor accountabilities.

The debt-limit crisis debate and the seemingly irresolvable political party differences about how many trillions of dollars are needed to resolve the country’s economic problems—along with President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner’s pleads for support on national television—concern mortgage professionals in a specific way.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is once again cooperating with nonprofit credit counseling agencies to ensure its Emergency Homeowners Loan Program comes to the rescue of New York’s distressed homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

The new era in field services has changed the job description for both field service companies and their employees.

The crisis has turned property valuations into one of the biggest challenges for the mortgage industry, especially for managers of bank-owned properties feeding demand for valuation tools.

A new alliance between the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, designed to address foreclosure prevention, property disposition, homeownership promotion and community development over a three-year period, will combine strategies developed by Wells Fargo and outreach initiatives conducted by the mayors and their constituents.

Florida’s condominium owners may have won a few legal battles that could teach a thing or two to peers facing foreclosure related hardship in other states.

Much in the spirit of “we all are in this together,” city officials from America’s endangered cities are tapping into the wisdom of cross-discipline experts to examine housing and overall economic challenges to find long-term solutions.

Differences between vacant and occupied properties tend to be striking. The foreclosure law, however, is the same. And that, insiders say, is a huge problem with short- and long-term consequences.

Home remodeling contractors' survey finds recent federal regulation is causing "a significant increase in the cost" of remodeling projects nationwide.