Servicing

David H. Stevens, the president and chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, will remain at the trade group rather than departing to run SunTrust Mortgage, as he announced plans to do a month ago.

The stock market soared upwards on Friday morning and that rising tide also brought up many stocks associated with the mortgage industry.

The members of the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America wrote $8.7 billion in primary new insurance during May, compared with $7.1 billion in April and $3.9 billion for May 2011.

An independent government watchdog has a sharp message for the federal agency that must decide whether to allow principal reductions on hundreds of thousands of government-backed mortgages: Time's wasting.

CitiMortgage has introduced a reduced mortgage payment program for qualifying servicemembers who have to permanently relocate and need immediate financial relief.

The FHFA said that half of all borrowers who received loan modifications in the first quarter had their monthly payments reduced by over 30%, and one-third included principal forbearance.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is planning stronger disclosure requirements for reverse mortgages as more evidence emerges that senior citizens are using the product without fully understanding its main features and risks.

The operators of an allegedly deceptive mortgage modification business will pay more than $750,000 in ill-gotten gains to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. The settlements also permanently ban the 11 defendants from selling any mortgage assistance relief products.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded seven classes from six different Home Equity Conversion Mortgage securitizations.

Fitch Ratings has found that several types of U.S. structured finance assets have been performing way better than expectations, even far better than has been widely reported.