Servicing

State attorneys general will meet Monday to discuss a potential settlement with bank servicers over the robo-signing scandal, according to a spokesman for Iowa AG Tom Miller.

Roughly $30 billion of Freddie Mac servicing rights that once belonged to the now defunct Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. could hit the market next month, according to officials close to the auction.

Sales of existing single-family homes rose in December for the third straight month and Realtors are hoping it could be the start of a long-awaited recovery in the housing market.

Let's cut to the chase. With all the shouting, flailing and verbosity on the subject of the REO problem, does anyone offer a practical, workable solution?

Survival of the fittest will continue to be the theme in 2012. And the annual MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference is the precursor of events to come, says Derrick Logan, senior VP in the strategic alliance group for REO Allegiance, Bayonne, N.J. "It sets the tone for the whole year."

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton outlined his plan to help troubled mortgage borrowers before a standing-room-only crowd packed into an auditorium the size of a football field at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center during the National Retail Federation's Annual Convention & Expo this week.

In today's challenged housing market, creating and preserving value in REO portfolios is critical. There are three ways servicers can protect their bottom lines.

Not only has the housing meltdown affected state and local governments, servicers and investors, but homeowner associations too. These associations rely upon property taxes to pay for such services as utilities, trash pickup, snow removal, landscaping, and road and building maintenance, but vacancies have mitigated the number of improvements made in these communities.

Borrowers delinquent on their mortgage payments are more likely to avoid foreclosure by receiving loan modifications when they attend counseling services, according to published reports.

Sen. Sherrod Brown is urging government negotiators to force banks to pay for a potential mortgage servicing settlement out of their own pockets, rather than by writing down the value of mortgage-backed securities owned by investors.