Servicing

As the mortgage industry waits with bated breath for the Treasury Department to present its fix for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it’s good to remember that thoughtful people already have been suggesting solutions for this intolerable $150 billion chit against taxpayer dollars that the two represent.

Lenders repo-ed almost as many properties in South Florida last year than in the previous two years combined, according to a new report.

Going forward, this year and most probably the next, the market is expected to go through a cathartic jump in foreclosure filings mostly due to “unexpectedly mixed” activity during the last quarter of 2010.RealtyTrac’s Year End 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows a record 2.9 million properties received foreclosure filings by the end of 2010, up 2% from 2009 and 23% compared to 2008.

The National Credit Union Administration plans to sell another $1.5 billion of bonds later this week, resuming its effort to raise funds to finance the corporate credit union bailout.

The Treasury Department's continued silence on its pending plan for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is fueling suspicion that the administration does not have a concrete proposal.

While foreclosure starts fell in California during December, slightly more foreclosure auctions were set than in the previous month, according to figures released by ForeclosureRadar.com.

Home sales and prices could register a small increase in 2011, but there is a downside risk that foreclosures could overwhelm buyer demand, sending values down, according to a panel of economists from some of the nation's largest banks.

Morgan Stanley & Co. late Thursday named Ken deRegt head of fixed income sales and trading, replacing Jack DiMaio, who is leaving the firm.

Inexperienced and uneducated Realtors are hampering short sales in the government's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, according to a pair of real estate professionals that specialize in distressed home sales.

The Association of Mortgage Investors is calling for the use of "specialty servicers" to modify and write down delinquent single-family loans, second mortgages, and other consumer debt.