Servicing

The Obama administration is looking at creating a major refinancing program to help the housing market and give the economy a jolt, according to industry officials.

Origen Financial Inc., a Southfield, Mich.-based real estate investment trust that manages residual interests on manufactured housing loan securities, lost $3.5 million in the second quarter, a 15% improvement over the $4.1 million lost in the same period last year.

The House of Representatives in Illinois has amended House Bill 1960 by giving homeowners an additional 30 days to file a motion to appeal a court's jurisdiction during the judicial foreclosure procedure.

Arizona regulators said the primary mortgage insurance subsidiary of The PMI Group, Walnut Creek, Calif., had a $320 million deficit in its policyholder position and that was one of the factors which led to the decision to appoint a supervisor over the company's operations.

Accenture announced its acquisition of Dallas-based mortgage outsourcing provider Zenta Monday, in a move that puts the global consulting and outsourcing provider in the thick of the mortgage origination business and the massive loss mitigation efforts ongoing in the mortgage servicing industry.

In the wake of recent market volatility and record low rates, the spotlight in the business is on secondary marketing executives, which could see some changing of the guard in this area as a result.

The number of residential loans entering the foreclosure process is falling with "no evidence" that a backlog is building up that could suddenly flood the market, according to the chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

TMS Funding, Milford, Conn., is making jumbo loans available through its wholesale channel, president John Walsh told this publication.

The national delinquency rate on outstanding home mortgages ticked up to 8.44% in the second quarter, which means roughly $793.4 billion of residential loans are 30 days or more past due.

The loan-limit countdown has begun. In lieu of lower loan limits on conforming loans and mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, some lenders have already stopped taking applications for financing in amounts above $625,500.