Servicing

Freddie Mac's third "K" multifamily mortgage deal backed by seven-year mortgages is in the works this week.

The largest state organization of real estate professionals in the country has urged the mortgage community to improve the short-sale process, suggesting, among other things that they set realistic time frames in which to make their decisions and then stick to them.

For the second week in a row, stock market volatility impacted the home purchase market, driving applications for these loans to their lowest level since December 1996 and resulting in the total number of applications received to fall by 2.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended Aug. 19, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Pending home sales in California experienced a fall of 1.7% in July from June based on contracts signed during the 31-day month, according to the California Association of Realtors.

It will take less time than previously expected for the housing market to clear the supply of distressed homes on the market, but that so-called shadow inventory will still be around for nearly four years, Standard & Poor's Rating Services said this week.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller late Tuesday removed New York AG Eric Schneiderman from the executive committee of a coalition seeking a civil settlement with the nation's megaservicers, saying he had "actively" undermined the group's efforts over the past few months.

Commercial banks funded $106 billion of retail home mortgages in 2Q, a 21% decline from the prior period, according to new figures released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Gleacher & Co., which is exiting the equities business after a strategic review, is concentrating instead on efforts that include a continuing build-out of its conforming/jumbo origination unit aimed at complementing its fixed income sales and trading platform.

In times when the debt crisis requires better economic understanding than ever, nearly eight in every 10 members of Congress lack education in economics or business and may not have housing market knowledge, according to findings from the Employment Policies Institute.

Delinquent homeowners continue to tune out their mortgage servicers while banks struggle with mortgage counseling compensation issues.During the first half of this year a staggering 5.5 million homeowners 60 days or more delinquent had never contacted their bank prompting servicers to send out over 5.5 million Hope Now letters designed to help minimize foreclosure risk.