Servicing

As home lenders fret about a forthcoming regulatory proposal on risk retention, Freddie Mac soon will require a little more skin in the game from their borrowers.

Equator, a software provider to the default and REO industry, has launched three new products for lenders and servicers to use for REO and short sale inventory.

As scammers continue to prey on vulnerable, financially stressed homeowners, the California State Department of Real Estate is warning consumers to be wary of promises for loan modification and mortgage relief.

With brokers miscalculating repair costs on bank-owned REO properties by hundreds of thousands of dollars, BrokerPriceOpinion.com has developed a new online tool to fix this problem.

Yesner & Boss PL have opened a new law office in Boynton Beach, Fla., to handle short sale and foreclosure cases.

At least 20 lenders are participating in FHA's principal reduction program to refinance underwater borrowers with two major lender/servicers launching pilot programs of their own, according to Federal Housing Commissioner David Stevens.

The Lightstone Group, a privately held real estate company, acquired a 750,000-square-foot shopping center in Orlando, Fla., for approximately $25 million.Opened in 2003, Festival Bay Mall is a single-level, enclosed entertainment and shopping center.

Redwood Trust on Tuesday closed its second jumbo MBS deal within 10 months, boasting that the economics on the transaction support private-sector financing of prime mortgages at rates within 0.5% of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac instruments.

The Home Affordable Modification Program has helped more than 500,000 struggling borrowers with a median annual income of $46,000 remain in their homes, according to the Treasury Department, which found itself defending the program this week.

Mortgage application volume declined 6.5% for the week ending Feb. 25 even though the average contract rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan fell 16 basis points, according to figures released Wednesday morning by the Mortgage Bankers Association.