Amilda Dymi

A class action filed in New York over $3.4 billion in two mortgage-backed securities offerings ruled in favor of the banks that issued the MBS reaffirms that the law does not bend to political correctness.“Together we stand” may be valid in life but not in a court of law. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied class certification in a mortgage-backed securities lawsuit that alleged misstatements about residential mortgage loan origination practices in the offering documents for securities backed by those mortgage loans.

Remodeling may seem passé as the mortgage market and the economy at large strive to recover from the crisis, but research findings along with insider’s expectations show it is anything but. Far from a stagnant activity it is “poised for growth.”

Going forward, this year and most probably the next, the market is expected to go through a cathartic jump in foreclosure filings mostly due to “unexpectedly mixed” activity during the last quarter of 2010.RealtyTrac’s Year End 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows a record 2.9 million properties received foreclosure filings by the end of 2010, up 2% from 2009 and 23% compared to 2008.

The Ibanez case ruled against the lender in a lender-borrower dispute over the validity of a foreclosure proceeding is not just a highly political homeowners’ protection issue. It sets a precedent expected to greatly affect the mortgage industry in the future.

Experts predicting a better year for the mortgage market foresee more of a status quo situation when reviewing the foreclosure inventory, especially in states like Florida and Nevada, which are not expected to see their real estate owned property books shrink any time soon—at least not in the next couple of years.

Real estate owned properties are on everybody’s mind, and this book of business is raising concerns about how long it will take for the REO inventory to be absorbed by the marketplace.The volume of properties going through the foreclosure process is staggering. As more foreclosures continue to add to the existing inventory it seems to be no end in sight to the crisis in the near future.

Even when it is obvious that a specific business strategy makes perfect logical sense, it becomes far more convincing when data confirm its value as well.The National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program is one case in point. For homeowners who work with an NFMC counselor, “the odds of curing a foreclosure” are 1.7 times higher than for homeowners who do not.

The Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft red flags rule that required businesses to meet identity theft consumer protection laws before the Dec. 31 deadline is now in full effect. And according to FTC estimations it affects about 11 million businesses, many of which may still be unaware of the law and its impact on their business.

Millions of delinquent or foreclosure loans in need of default management assistance have created demand far and beyond the capacity of existing specialty servicers that, in return, is fostering the creation of mega servicer shops.

Most people tend to agree that the future of financial service exchanges is in a virtual marketplace. What has never been very clear is how fast it will happen and who will turn out to be the primary drivers of that switch: the banks or their customers. A survey conducted by Fiserv Inc. showed 11% of online consumers are currently connected with their bank or credit union through a social site while up to 36% of those not yet connected expressed interest in doing just that

Millions of delinquent or foreclosure loans in need of default management assistance have created demand far and beyond the capacity of existing specialty servicers that in return is fostering the creation of mega servicer shops.Some insiders worry that servicing market changes of the recent past will lead to the birth of large specialty servicers and the too-big-to-fail mentality that eventually brought some of the nation’s largest banks so close to bankruptcy that they were bailed out of failure by federal funds.

Small business owners facing a multitude of challenges both financial and non-financial have to rely on affordable technology that helps increase operational efficiency.Mike Gordon, vice president of the FICO banking industry practice, a provider of decision management solutions expects to see banks intensify their overall growth efforts and improved operational efficiencies. Lender servicers are now facing the need to improve customer relationships and collections’ management in times when unemployment and delinquency rates are at record highs.

The often unintended, adverse consequence of the subprime product crisis is the lender’s tendency to use caution when introducing new and affordable loan programs that are not “plain vanilla.” Agreed, the era of “exotic” mortgages is gone. Yet, going forward, the hope is that instead of reducing mortgage choices, the industry will come up with well structured creative options.

Many customer advocates warn that identity theft is a problem for all--more so homeowners to whom such a problem can lead to default or foreclosure--need keep in mind during the year. Spokesperson for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling Silver Spring, MD, Gail Cunningham says that even though identity theft risk is higher during the holidays, customers need to regularly check their credit rating reports and other resources designed to help them avoid having access to credit suspended or compromised.

Data indicate the renewed mortgage industry urgency to encourage short sales and other preforeclosure solutions that help control bank repossession rates is not necessarily shared by buyers in areas where foreclosures are more affordable.An updated report by Foreclosure-Response.org that reviewed delinquency data from March 2009 to June 2010 for all 366 U.S. metro areas reveals that “the severity and trajectory of the problem vary dramatically across the nation.”

Especially in times of crisis debt collectors may not be on customers’ favorite list but once a fraudster takes the place of a legitimate collector customers and their financial services providers are victims of financial abuse.Such risk becomes even higher during an economic crisis where the number of debtors tends to grow.

In the new era following the subprime-lending disaster most mortgage lenders are looking more carefully at the implementation of their underwriting and quality control criteria—including the Federal Housing Administration.Citing “serious” underwriting standard violations the FHA Mortgagee Review Board has permanently withdrawn FHA approval of Cambridge Home Capital LLC and is also seeking a monetary penalty of $182,000.

There is a difference between employees that are happy to have a job and those who enjoy showing up to work every morning. And it is not all about having chosen the right profession. It usually boils down to the right company culture and executive practices.

New data reaffirm that state laws have and will continue to have a noticeable effect on foreclosure rates nationwide and even more so in some of the most the problematic states such as Florida.The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows 262,339 foreclosure filings that include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were filed in November 2010, up 21% from the previous month.

How to use resources more efficiently is a longstanding issue that is bound to challenge servicers as they face another year where foreclosures dominate the marketplace.The sometimes necessary evil of transferring homeownership from the borrower to the lender is recognized as a loss for the economy at large, but the challenge starts with choosing between the twin evils of a foreclosure and short sale.