Servicing

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC will pay $153.6 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it misled investors in a complex mortgage securities transaction just as the housing market was starting to plummet.

The risk retention proposal drafted by federal regulators is likely to hinder the development of a private securitization market and make it harder to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a new paper by Moody's Analytics.

Demand for free foreclosure-counseling grants continues to exceed by far the amounts of federal and other funds available, according to NeighborWorks America.

California pending home sales increased in May, resulting in the first year-over-year increase in 18 months, according to the California Association of Realtors.

At least a couple of automated mortgage service providers see demand for household level profiling.Geoscape, a Miami-based provider of online geo-demographic information, analytics and research, has partnered with 40-year veteran of marketing data management, Acxiom, Little Rock, Ark., to enhance information about ethnically different borrowers.

Fannie Mae has priced its second multifamily DUS REMIC in 2011 and in doing so employed a structure not previously used within its guaranteed multifamily structures program.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has selected CredAbility to help homeowners with reduced income apply for federal funds to avoid foreclosure.

Green River Capital, an REO asset management and loss mitigation provider, has expanded its services into the commercial real estate market.

A pair of automated service providers said Monday they are partnering to provide more granular household-level borrower data within ethnic demographics.

CoreLogic released a tool Monday to let servicers run automated checks on pools of loans to determine if borrowers are protected from foreclosure by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.