Servicing

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.

Fitch's U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities report shows 2011 ending with another decrease in delinquencies during December, but notes that office delinquencies are continuing on an upward trajectory.

The trend toward fewer loans becoming delinquent appears to have halted momentarily, according to the latest mortgage monitor report released by Lender Processing Services.

Almost hands down most mortgage trade groups and sectors of the business have shot down a "fee for service" concept to replace the existing GSE servicing compensation structure. But don't tell that to Lenders One, a nationwide cooperative of residential funders.

Strong refinancing activity spurred mortgage companies to add new loan officers and processors to their payrolls in November for the second consecutive month.