Servicing

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.

In Aug. 3 testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Thomas Hamilton, speaking on behalf of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, stated that possible steps to take to solve the issues currently affecting our mortgage finance system could include the government limiting the amount of borrowing that banks can do from the Federal Home Loan Banks, and developing a market for covered bonds in the United States.

Identifying potential buybacks can be particularly challenging when refinancing application volume picks up as it did recently when rates dropped notably during a volatile period in the market.