Servicing

Plenty of mortgage banking firms are lining up to get their Ginnie Mae approvals so they can issue government-backed mortgage bonds and service the underlying loans.

One factor that could affect prepayments going forward is whether the federal officials decide to embark on another round of easing involving mortgage-backed securities purchases.

Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan explains the correlation between rising student loan debt and its impact on household formation and mortgage originations.

The Treasury Department announced Sunday that it is getting ready to sell $18 billion of the stock it purchased in American International Group, a move that will result in the government owning less than 20% of the insurance conglomerate.

Nationally, 18% of residential borrowers who are current on their loan payments are underwater, ranging from a low of 0.4% in Wyoming to 55% in Nevada.

The California firm pushing municipalities to seize loans for borrowers owing more than their homes' values, said it would expand its proposed program to include delinquent and defaulted debt.

Eminent domain for underwater loans and laws affecting foreclosures do impact loan originators, said the board of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals.

Colony Financial in Los Angeles seeks to raise as much as $150.9 million through a common stock offering and use the funds to repay a revolving credit facility.

U.S. state attorneys general are pressing four regional banks to accept a legal settlement over botched foreclosures similar to a deal reached with larger competitors earlier this year

Lender Processing Services said its president and CEO Hugh Harris underwent a surgical procedure to remove a tumor from his neck, noting he has a “treatable form of cancer.”