Servicing

The nation's top five ranked servicers continued to lose market share in the second quarter – compared to the same period a year ago – as refinancings and concerns about capital rules and MSRs affected their decisions to retain receivables.

A federal judge this week ruled that the court-appointed trustee overseeing the liquidation of Thornburg Mortgage, Santa Fe, can move forward with a lawsuit against Barclays Capital alleging the investment banker made improper margin calls that helped drive the jumbo lender/servicer into bankruptcy.

Residential servicing workers, in some cases, are going through six to 10 weeks of intensive training in preparation to become effective single-point of contact liaisons for at-risk borrowers.

Municipalities are using vacant property registration and code enforcement systems to cut back unprecedented foreclosure inventory management expenses.

Radian Guaranty Inc., Philadelphia, reported a decline of roughly 600 loans in its delinquent loan inventory for August. But new notices of problem loans (late payers) outpaced cures by about 1,600 loans.

Roughly 9.43% of commercial real estate loans – including multifamily product -- that have been securitized are now 30-days or more late, a record, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Bank of America Corp. chief executive Brian Moynihan promised investors he would save $5 billion in costs by 2013, but was otherwise scarce on details during a much-anticipated speech on Monday.

Specialty mortgage servicer Wingspan Portfolio Advisors says it is further expanding into new residential-related sectors, including technology and insurance.

Demand for Federal Housing Administration single-family loans slowed in July with residential lenders originating just $16 billion of government-backed product.

Chicago's City Council published an ordinance late last week that would require banks, mortgage servicers and institutional investors to maintain vacant properties before the homes have gone through foreclosure.