Servicing

After an exhaustive selection process that’s gone on for more than a year, Freddie Mac selected two new vendors to outsource real estate owned property disposition.

In violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, JPMorgan Chase has admitted to overcharging about 4,000 military members on their home loans and improperly foreclosing on the homes of 14 military families.

With the housing finance market so dependent on government-backed mortgages, federal regulators -- with the blessing of the Treasury Department -- have decided to exempt Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-issued bonds from the new risk retention rules.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinanced roughly 3.6 million loans in 2010 with 11% of that volume tied to high LTV loans processed under the Home Affordable Refinance Program, according to new figures released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The House Financial Services Committee late this week voted to terminate a Federal Housing Administration principal reduction program designed to refinance underwater borrowers.

Redwood Trust’s second jumbo mortgage-backed securitization closed last week and it showed, according to Redwood, that loans can be financed in this market with rates just 0.5% above the government-sponsored enterprise market, which bodes well for the long-awaited private market’s possible return.

Federal regulators issued a tough opening salvo in settlement talks with the nation's largest residential servicers, presenting them with a 27-page term sheet that would force major changes to the industry and step up loss mitigation efforts.

Flagstar Bank ended the year with $1.87 billion of outstanding warehouse commitments, a 23% jump from the same period a year ago, according to survey figures.

Summit Bank, Prescott, Ariz., would be "an attractive acquisition" for a mortgage bank or Small Business Administration lender, the institution's president said.

Redwood Trust officials have been hearing plenty of talk about other firms entering the jumbo MBS space—but aren’t holding their breath about seeing new bonds issued anytime soon.