Servicing

If the Federal Reserve launches a new round of MBS buying it could cause spreads between mortgages and Treasuries to tighten — as would be expected — but it also would spur returns for broker/dealers.

A group of 14 mortgage loan servicers that entered into the April settlement with the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have set up the independent foreclosure review mechanism the agreement calls for.

Statistics have long shown a personal financial crisis may lead to depression that breaks families apart. Add to that mortgage default, foreclosure and the so-called midlife crisis known to affect many people over 50 years old, and a new problem emerges. New data are linking mortgage default to “substantially increased risk” of depression among this particular group of homeowners.

Radian Group, which controls the nation's third largest mortgage insurance company, posted strong third quarter earnings of $183.6 million, but attributed those gains to changes in the "fair value" of "derivatives and other financial instruments" —- to the tune of almost $207 million.

MountainView Servicing Group said it has completed the sale of a $442 million package of Fannie Mae bulk servicing rights.

Hudson City Bancorp Inc., Paramus, N.J., earned $84 million in the third quarter, in what its top executive called a “difficult environment facing portfolio lenders."

The bankruptcy of MF Global Holdings Ltd. and its ensuing suspension as a primary dealer shook the larger market Monday morning, putting downward pressure on rate-indicative bond yields.

Bank of America opened a customer assistance center last week in Warwick, R.I., to assist its struggling mortgage customers in this region.

A Realtor's attempt to defraud a Midwest Bank of $60,000 was thwarted with the assistance of a Web-based offer-processing service that eliminates the possibility of foreclosure fraud.

The mortgage insurance industry wrote $4.9 billion of new coverage in September, down $700 million from August, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America. However, two private MIs—Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. and PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.—were ordered by their respective regulators to stop writing new business during August.