Servicing

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac spent roughly $640,000 this fall to send 100 of their employees to the annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association in Chicago, a decision their regulator defended amid criticism from GSE critic, Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas.

Fannie Mae acquired $58.4 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in October, its best purchase month since January and a sign that low rates are starting to spur new activity in the primary market.

With over two million vacant properties throughout the country available for a prospective buyer to purchase, it is important for financial institutions to distinguish their distressed homes from the competition in order to remove these assets from the market in an efficient amount of time.

Coordinated Central Bank actions aimed at easing European financial concerns gave most industry stocks a lift Wednesday morning as the Dow rose more than 400 points.

Credit risk managers expect consumers will have trouble making payments on a variety of loan types, according to the European Credit Risk Survey taken by FICO and Efma.

Members of the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America have developed a new loan workout template that helps address problems between a servicer and mortgage insurer when settling a borrower's loan modification.

The American Legion is calling on Congress to extend the $729,750 loan limit on Department of Veterans Affairs guaranteed loans before the ceiling drops down to $625,500 on January 1.

The majority of national homeowners said in a survey that falling market values are currently a greater threat to them than a fire or a natural disaster.

October was the second best month of the year for the private mortgage insurers in terms of applications received, but the third worst in terms of the cure/default ratio, according to the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America.

FHA-approved servicers are completing just 10,000 foreclosures a month due to bottlenecks caused by the robo-signing scandal. But settlements with state attorneys general and compliance with regulatory consent orders are expected to free up that pipeline and FHA now expects to pay a slew of claims on defaulted loans next year.