Servicing

The departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development, along with 49 state attorneys general, filed their joint $25 billion agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers in court Monday.

Fannie Mae is making progress on cleaning up its massive alt-A portfolio, but the $182 billion of guarantees had an average LTV ratio of 101% at yearend, according to supplemental documents the GSE filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A fourth quarter decline in applications among the nation's top lenders will result in weaker first quarter origination volume. But there has been a pick-up in application volume in the current quarter, which will result in more interest rate locks for the period, a report from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods notes.

While Fitch's February CMBS delinquency data showed relative stability overall compared to the previous month and a year ago, there were some variations in sub-markets such as a high level of 60-day late payments in Atlanta office loans.

The struggling housing market needs to look to every possible financing source. So, how are housing bonds doing? According to our sister publication, The Bond Buyer, housing bonds were off last year. But in a small victory, they were not off as much as the entire market.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Ocwen Loan Servicing's rating as a special servicer to 'SQ2-' from 'SQ2'.

The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday released details on steps three more mortgage servicers are taking to correct deficiencies in their foreclosure practices.

Protestors interrupted Bank of America Corp.'s chief executive Brian Moynihan during an investor presentation Thursday, shouting "Bust Up Bank of America!" and, curiously, "It's International Women's Day."

The outstanding amount of home mortgages as of 4Q11 fell $40 billion quarter-over-quarter and $240 billion year-over-year to $10.3 trillion, Standard & Poor's analysts noted, citing the Federal Reserve flow-of-funds data.

Steve Jobs, the visionary leader of Apple computer who died last October probably never gave much thought to the REO business. Use of his creations, however, have become pervasive worldwide in the business and entertainment industries. iPhones, iPads and Mac computers are everywhere.