Servicing

Former FHA commissioner David Stevens, who now heads the Mortgage Bankers Association, says hiking GSE guarantee fees to fund an extension of the payroll tax cut is "bad policy," calling such a maneuver a "slippery slope."

The backlog of real estate-owned homes held by banks and the government is "staggering," Fitch Inc. said this week.

Neil Barofsky, the former special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, this week hammered the Obama Administration and Treasury Department at a panel discussion on the foreclosure crisis, saying fears of a political backlash led to the administration's tepid response to the housing crisis and refusal to back principal reductions.

Outstanding mortgage debt secured by apartment buildings rose to $806 billion at Sept. 30, a $4.1 billion increase (up 0.5%) from mid-year, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Ranieri Real Estate Partners LP, New York, has established two new advisory services groups and as part of the initiative signed a definitive agreement to acquire boutique investment banking and advisory firm, Occom Capital Partners LLC, which has offices in New York and Portland, Maine.

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.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, through an affiliate, has increased an existing repurchase agreement with Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Capital.

The independent consultants hired by bank servicers to review and assess the claims of millions of borrowers who may have been harmed in the foreclosure process will not be able to contact these borrowers directly or even talk with housing counselors, according to testimony at a Senate Banking subcommittee on Tuesday.

Wednesday morning we were greeted with the news that an affiliate of Newcastle Investment Corp. – a publicly traded REIT – has agreed to pay almost $44 million to Nationstar Mortgage in exchange for receiving 65% of the interest payments on a $9.9 billion pool of MSRs.

An affiliate of Newcastle Investment Corp. – a publicly traded REIT – has agreed to pay $43.7 million to Nationstar Mortgage in exchange for receiving 65% of the interest payments on a $9.9 billion pool of MSRs.