Servicing

When water stops seeping through a drain and sits in a sink, a plumber typically faces a clogged-up drain. That plumber's tools include a plunger and a snake pipe. The mortgage industry's foreclosure situation is a lot like that clogged drain.

A House Financial Services subcommittee has approved a bill that would establish a foundation for a new private-label securitization market for mortgages.

Kirchmeyer & Associates, an appraisal and real estate data company, is rebranding itself as The Kirchmeyer Group and has created a new division to offer alternative valuation products.

The average weekly Freddie Mac survey rate for the 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped 5 basis points during the week ending Dec. 15, returning to its record low of 3.94% for the first time since the week ending Oct. 6.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said it is now adamantly opposed to any radical change in servicing compensation and has launched a "call to action" campaign, urging its members to heavily lobby the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Foreclosure filings involving default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were down 3% in November across the country from the previous month, according to RealtyTrac's latest foreclosure report.

The Comptroller of the Currency is advising banks to review their foreclosure policies and procedures, urging them to address the risks associated with taking possession of homes, acquiring the properties and becoming the actual owner.

Former FHA commissioner David Stevens, who now heads the Mortgage Bankers Association, says hiking GSE guarantee fees to fund an extension of the payroll tax cut is "bad policy," calling such a maneuver a "slippery slope."

The backlog of real estate-owned homes held by banks and the government is "staggering," Fitch Inc. said this week.

Neil Barofsky, the former special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, this week hammered the Obama Administration and Treasury Department at a panel discussion on the foreclosure crisis, saying fears of a political backlash led to the administration's tepid response to the housing crisis and refusal to back principal reductions.