Servicing

WASHINGTON—Noting new life in the market for commercial mortgage-backed securities, a survey of industry specialists suggests that issuances could once again reach $100 billion by 2013.

The list of states seeking to halt foreclosures is growing longer. On Oct. 6, Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray announced a civil lawsuit challenging foreclosures in which legal documents were apparently executed by so-called robo-signers.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has hired a private law firm as it continues to review subpoenaed loan documents from banks and Wall Street firms that sold Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac private-label MBS.

Total Mortgage Services, a fast growing New England nonbank lender, has hired Michael Dimech as its new operations chief.

Fidelity National Financial chief executive Alan L. Stinson is stepping down from that job, but remaining with the company as an executive vice president. Chief operating officer George P. Scanlon will take over the CEO job.

In drafting risk retention rules, federal regulators should consider the impact capital and accounting requirements will have on issuers of private-label MBS, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Board.

Fannie Mae has filed suit against several insurers including Great American Financial Resources Inc. and The Travelers Cos., claiming they are responsible for losses on the $131 million the GSE paid for fraudulent mortgages it bought from U.S. Mortgage Corp. and its CU National Mortgage subsidiary.

Safeguard Properties, Valley View, Ohio, has promoted Michael Halpern to director of community initiatives where he will head up the REO field service company’s newly created government relations department.

On behalf of commercial banks, insurance companies and mortgage servicers, loan sale advisor DebtX plans to sell $1.1 billion in commercial real estate and residential loans in 10 separate transactions through early December.

The U.S. Treasury may have to shell out an additional $73 billion to $215 billion to keep the capital positions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from going negative, according to new loss projections released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.