Servicing

Signs are definitely pointing to a rise in REO activity across the country in specific markets, particularly in Massachusetts, New York, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee and elsewhere.

While the national foreclosure inventory has declined for 26 consecutive months to 951,000 mortgages, there remains a significant imbalance between the volume of loans in foreclosure in judicial and nonjudicial foreclosure states.

Acquisitions of large portfolios of single-family rental properties are continuing at a rapid pace, even as investors concentrate on renovating, and filling vacancies in, their existing inventories.

Second-quarter earnings at the country's largest mortgage banks met analyst expectations, according to a recent report from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

New York's banking regulator asked Ocwen Financial Corp. for information about an insurance agreement that it says may be designed to funnel fees to an Ocwen affiliate for minimal work.

Mortgage-bond trustees rejected a part of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $4.5 billion settlement offer over investor claims of faulty mortgages while accepting the deal for most of the transactions.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc., best known for energy trading and its control of the New York Stock Exchange, is engaged in negotiations that would give it a foothold in the $9.4 trillion U.S. mortgage market.

Freddie Mac sold $659 million of "deeply" delinquent home loans in its first offering of such debt.

As banks lose money on mortgages and retreat from the business, PHH Corp. is rushing to cash in.

While distressed borrowers said they're more satisfied with the customer service they receive today than a year ago, servicers with large portfolios of distressed loans were still ranked lower than their peers in a recent J.D. Power survey.