Servicing

Some regulators are using the state-run National Mortgage Licensing System to ride herd over more than just the mortgage business.

Private-label residential MBS interest shortfalls and liquidity disruptions that Standard & Poor's has been observing are likely to continue for some time, a credit analyst said in an online broadcast.

Median home prices in California for March saw their first rise in 16 months on a year-over-year basis -- at 1.6% -- while the 9.2% increase from February was the largest sequential gain in almost eight years.

Improved asset quality and declining expenses powered Washington Federal in Seattle to a $34 million profit in the quarter that ended March 31, a 32% increase from the same period in 2011.

Bank of America is preparing to sell off hundreds of foreclosed homes in bulk as part of its ongoing effort to clear out its inventory of distressed assets.

Bank of America wants to clear out the backlog of distressed homes in Florida by using technology to speed up short sale approvals.

Rumors are starting to surface that if and when a 'HARP 3.0' program is unveiled it will include non-GSE loans. As one commenter told us, "There are a lot of Alt-A loans that look just like GSE loans, but went to private investors. Why should they be punished because their loan was sold to the wrong investor?"

Citigroup, which exited the wholesale channel a few months back, funded $14.3 billion of home mortgages in the first quarter, a steep decline from the prior period.

Wells Fargo & Co. on Friday reiterated its plans to slash costs over the next year -- but executives gave themselves new wiggle room to rethink those cuts later.

The foreclosure crisis is loosening the traditionally strong tie homeowners have with their homes. New findings from FICO's latest quarterly survey of bank risk professionals indicate one way the slow recovery will affect distressed homeowners in 2012 is increased propensity for "strategic default."