Servicing

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a 9% increase in total foreclosure prevention actions taken during 2017 as a result of three September hurricanes, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

A new settlement with Massachusetts resolves all outstanding administrative actions against Ocwen Financial Corp. by a group of 30 states, but two states' legal actions against the servicer remain outstanding.

RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corp. is now subservicing mortgages originated by Neighborhood Lending Services, a Chicago-based nonprofit that provides fixed-rate loans for home purchases, refinancings and renovations.

Real estate foreclosures declined in Hawaii for a fourth consecutive year in 2017, according to statistics from the state Judiciary.

Mortgage industry hiring and new job appointments for the week ending March 23.

There was a modest decline in hurricane-related delinquent mortgages in February, a sign that there are lingering problems in the affected markets.

In the joint report with the Federal Trade Commission on debt collection practices, the CFPB said it had initiated four enforcement actions last year, had resolved one case and has five others pending.

Joseph Tomkinson, who first pared down and then rebuilt Impac Mortgage Holdings in the aftermath of the housing crisis, is stepping down as the company's chairman and CEO.

Banks say that an appeals court’s decision to ease restrictions will allow them to warn customers more easily when loans are past due or accounts have been compromised. But consumer groups argue that the decision gives financial firms license to market their products more aggressively and could lead to more harassing phone calls over unpaid debts.

It was a minor entry on the crime blotter earlier this month: Mandeville, La. police booked a 27-year-old man they said was breaking into a foreclosed home and trying to remove property.