Servicing

Mergers and acquisitions are emerging as an effective way mortgage servicing technology providers streamline separate tools into larger more compatible systems.John Guzzo, managing director at BerkeryNoyes, a New York-based investment banker and a mergers and acquisitions expert, said due to the crisis private equity investors have been fairly quiet in the past two and a half years. But it has started to change as some “relatively restless investors” are becoming more active and opening new investing opportunities for mortgage technology vendors.

The affidavits’ scandal and increasing demand for foreclosure documentation reviews requires greater efficiency from servicers, subservicers and specialty servicers alike, despite their procedural differences.Duke Olrich, CEO of DRI, warns that working through the present crisis will not be possible without default management technology. “It’s not like the S&L crisis,” back in 1984 when he started DRI, the mortgage veteran says, because the much more complex tasks and “the sheer size of the current situation” overwhelm servicing staff to the point that workflow automation becomes indispensable.

Changing economic conditions, their effect on consumer behavior and related shifts in credit risk are driving efforts to provide credit scoring models with a more predictive risk assessment edge.VantageScore Solutions, Stamford, Conn., is one such provider that redeveloped its credit-scoring algorithm.Sarah Davies, SVP of product management, analytics and research, told this publication VantageScore 2.0 is based on over 45 million data files and expands credit rating analysis beyond the typical two-year period dataset to a three-year window. Changes are expected to increase the score’s predictive power from 10% to about 15%.

Amherst Securities is advising investors to be overweight on MBS, telling them that prepayment speeds are not really a factor – despite ultra low mortgage rates.

The White House wants the Federal Housing Administration to enter the business of co-insuring small loans to finance energy-saving home improvements.

Radian Group Inc. on Tuesday increased the size of its convertible senior note offering to $400 million, a $50 million hike from its initial plan.

The 'Robo-gate' scandal doesn't appear to be having much of an impact on the foreclosure market in California, according to ForeclosureRadar chief Sean O'Toole.

Home values across the U.S. fell 0.2% in the third quarter, signaling more trouble ahead for the mortgage and housing industries, according to the latest House Price Index from Integrated Asset Services.

The performance of loan modifications completed by Fannie Mae servicers took a step up in the fourth quarter of 2009 as the government's HAMP program finally started to kick in.

National City's warehouse lending chief Paul Best has landed a job with People's United Bank of Connecticut, one of the largest thrifts in the Northeast.