Servicing

Operational improvements are key to the mortgage servicing market. Today their business practices are being scrutinized like never before, yet robo-signing issues and regulatory compliance concerns only add to the basic need of being efficient.

A mortgage that is more than 60 days late might seem like an automatic disqualification for inclusion into a government-backed security. However, until last week, servicers were able to pool such loans into securities backed by the Government National Mortgage Association.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., late this week introduced a comprehensive bill that would force mortgage servicers to act in the best interests of investors while pressuring them to engage in loan modifications.

CoreLogic paid $75.8 million on Monday to repurchase 4 million shares of its common stock from its former parent company, First American Financial Corp., according to Securities and Exchange Commission disclosures.

Servicers looking for creative ways to stem losses might consider giving hard-up borrowers some old advice: it pays to advertise. Pays the mortgage, that is.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh defended bank regulators Thursday for moving forward with an enforcement action against the top 14 mortgage servicers even while several of those banks continue to negotiate with state attorneys general and other federal agencies.

Bank of America funded $58.4 billion of home mortgages in the first quarter, a 33% decline compared to 4Q, and a further sign that the megabank — like many others — is suffering from a weak home buying market.

As the megabanks continue to write down the value of their residential servicing portfolios, now may be the best time ever to buy housing receivables, according to a new report from Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp., New York.

The chief congressional proponent of the risk retention rule says federal regulators have gone too high in setting a 20% downpayment requirement on single-family loans that meet the "qualified residential mortgage" test.

Foreclosure filing activity decreased over the past three months by 15% from the last quarter in 2010 and 27% lower than the first quarter of last year, according to the latest RealtyTrac foreclosure market report.