Servicing

More distressed homeowners are actively pursuing solutions to their financial needs, a promising 2011 trend expected to continue this year. And their starting point is the Web.

Macy's announced last week that it will close some of its stores, while opening and replacing others. But Harris Trifon, Deutsche Bank Securities' global head of commercial real estate debt research, said that in terms of CMBS, "the impact of the announcement will be minimal."

We heard an interesting one the other day and it goes like this: Supposedly, auditors were giving one bank servicer a hard time because foreclosure notaries that worked for the bank did not physically see their co-worker sign the documents.

Advocates for Consumer Affairs, a compliance and risk management firm that audits mortgage loans nationwide, said it plans to concentrate their efforts to make sure homeowners receive loans that are enforceable from financial institutions.

The battle over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is moving from Congress to the courts.

It's a distinction that doesn't portray the mortgage business in a very good light. But it's a milestone nonetheless: The national Loan Modification Scam Database has now collected more than 20,000 complaints.

A condo apartment in the Blue Diamond development on Miami Beach sold for $2.248 million last year. And it was a short-sale!

My inbox was slammed by emails from readers who said "right on" to my commentary that the White House is (wrongly) using mortgage brokers as a whipping boy for the mortgage crisis. But some larger questions still loom: Does this White House even know what a loan broker is? I would guess not.

Regulatory impediments may have the power to considerably change not only one's ability to engage in a mortgage-related transaction but to impact larger housing performance in 2012.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is using its authority over non-banks to target independent mortgage servicing companies.