Servicing

Improvements in foreclosure activity while temporary and expected to wear off before yearend may lead to some stabilization.RealtyTrac February data show that in part due to processing moratoria, foreclosure activity decreased by 14% from the previous month and by 27% from February 2010 to a 36-month low.

Gramercy Capital Corp., New York, has received a one-month extension in the maturity date from lenders on $791 million in loans for a payment of $3.5 million.

In a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. statement released today on the legislative proposals to create a U.S. covered bond market, the agency said that it has "significant concerns" regarding the United States Covered Bond Act of 2011 (H.R. 290).

The recent earthquake in Japan may have damaged some coastal areas of Hawaii and California, including some Hawaiian hotel real estate securing commercial mortgage-backed securities loans.

Reverse mortgages apparently have drawn more interest as a possible way to mitigate recently heightened prepayment risk in competing investments. But with some HUD issues in litigation, FHA commissioner David Stevens resigning (albeit likely for unrelated reasons) and the recent departure of Wells Fargo from the wholesale channel, there are some other aspects of them that call for close monitoring and, in some cases, resolution.

Australian RMBS issuer Perpetual is in the market with SMHL Securitisation Fund 2011-1 worth A$600 million.

Far more than any trader's profane e-mails, due diligence reports from the securitization boom could worsen the financial industry's litigation headaches — and conceivably expose some firms and individuals to criminal charges.

Many believe the government went overboard by setting unrealistic goals, a move that could backfire and give banks more leverage to fight some of the most onerous requirements.

The Federal Trade Commission is suing a national operation with marketing false loan modification services targeting homeowners who are behind in their mortgage payments or facing foreclosure.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has extended a special program for one year so more borrowers can refinance and lower their mortgage payments.