Servicing

Mortgage defaults in California reached a four-year low at the end of last quarter, according to DataQuick.

High-ranking members of the House Financial Services Committee have introduced a bipartisan bill that encourages banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to rent foreclosed properties as a way to reduce REO sales and stabilize house prices and communities.

A petition has been created by Change.org to support an American soldier fighting in Iraq whose family home in Oregon may be foreclosed on when he visits next month.

Realis Real Estate Software has released Prelude for real estate agents to effectively and efficiently manage multiple short sale properties and transactions.

Garth Graham, president of Financial Literacy Solutions, Plantation, Fla., thinks that servicers have had plenty of interaction with housing counselors in the current crisis. But he’s not sure they’re handling it the right way, or even looking at the most crucial factors.

As foreclosure rates remain high and vacant properties grow nationwide, states and local communities are enacting difficult ordinances during the registration process for these empty homes.

Based on earnings reports and call report filings from smaller banks, Trepp is projecting delinquency rate improvements for residential and commercial mortgages in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter.

For the fifth time since August 2010, Mountain Real Estate has acquired another bank-owned property in Southern California.As part of a joint venture with Harridge Development Group LLC, MREC purchased a property that is entitled for 67 residential units as well as an adjacent commercial parcel zoned for apartment use.

Fannie and Freddie could continue to operate even if the U.S. debt ceiling is not raised by Aug. 2. But raising the ceiling alone, without a budget deal, would leave them—and a mortgage market that relies on their guarantees—vulnerable.

Michelle Korsmo will become the new chief executive of the American Land Title Association, replacing Kurt Pfotenhauer, who is leaving at the end of the month to become executive vice president and vice chairman of First American Title Insurance Co.