Servicing

Touting the success of the Treasury Department's New Issue Bond Purchase Program, a group of local housing finance agencies is urging the Obama administration to modify and extend the program, this time allowing the Treasury to exchange mortgage-backed securities it holds in its portfolio for MBS that wrap NIBP bonds.

Fannie Mae's PR department might contend that the GSE isn't in the business of servicing loans, but everyone in the mortgage business knows that such a statement is, shall we say, a misnomer. The government-controlled secondary market giant—as a technical matter—owns the servicing rights to every loan it guarantees, but it's the GSE seller/servicer that owns the “contract” to process those loans.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week hired Manoj K. Singh as principal examiner for risk, in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Bank of America Corp. has agreed to pay $315 million to settle claims that its Merrill Lynch unit made false and misleading statements about the quality of subprime mortgage-backed securities it sold to investors.

PNC Bank is searching for a divisional manager to oversee mortgage operations in parts of the Mid-Atlantic, South and West, according to a job notice provided to National Mortgage News.

To break a Congressional deadlock and fund the payroll tax break, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., is proposing an increase in the guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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.

California attorney general Kamala Harris arrested three officers last week who were allegedly operating an illegal foreclosure rescue company.

The Government National Mortgage Association warned seven of its MBS issuers during the first nine months of 2011 that they are in violation of agency's rules, according to an audit by the General Accountability Office.