Servicing

Mortgage application volume increased by 7.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended May 13, as the continuing decline in interest rates drives those consumers who can to refinance. Still, refi application volume is 50% below the most recent peak in this activity which occurred last October, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Veterans who have been affected by recent tornadoes in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee that have VA-guaranteed home loans may be able to receive special disaster assistance from their loan servicer.

CoreLogic said one of the main reasons why the real estate industry and finance markets continue to have problems is negative equity for a borrower.

Fitch warns that the joint effect of re-defaults, accounting changes and regulatory scrutiny will cause significant increases in troubled debt restructuring rates, especially non-residential debt.

In April second mortgage default rates increased for the first time in at least five months, from 1.42% in March to 1.51%, according to the Standard & Poor’s and Experian Customer Credit Default Index.

Any hope of a housing market recovery next year may be dashed, if state attorneys general and the major mortgage servicers can't reach a settlement by August, according to economists at Wells Fargo.

News of the retirement of Mark Oman as the head of the mortgage group at Wells Fargo reminds us that the career of this unassuming mortgage banker has been exceptional.

Mortgage bankers funded $118 billion of Federal Housing Administration backed single-family loans during first-half of fiscal year 2011, a 19% decline from the same period last year.

The connection between jobs and home sales has been well documented. But how about the correlation between employment and house prices?

Nationstar Mortgage Holdings, the nation’s 19th largest servicer of residential loans – and a top subservicer for Fannie Mae -- late Monday filed registration papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission, declaring its intention to go public.