Servicing

Redwood Trust officials have been hearing plenty of talk about other firms entering the jumbo MBS space—but aren’t holding their breath about seeing new bonds issued anytime soon.

Default management technology vendor Indisoft will begin selling its software to federal agencies under the terms of a recently negotiated contract with the U.S. Government Services Administration.

Roughly 23.1% of all residential homes encumbered with mortgages (11.1 million units) were in a negative equity position at yearend, according to new figures released by CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif.

In what could be called the housing finance industry's version of "Scared Straight," a veteran regulatory attorney read the riot act to a group of industry executives in Las Vegas, warning them that the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can be expected to come down hard on mortgage firms that don't toe the line.

The 27-page term sheet handed to the five largest residential servicers last week is a detailed, dense list of requirements that, if implemented as proposed, would fundamentally change the relationship between servicers, investors and borrowers.

Speakers at the MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference in Dallas called on servicers to move further up in their agenda fraud checks on loan modifications and short sale transactions this year and beyond.

New demand for short sales is expected to renew concerns about property valuation methodologies and compliance.Appetite for short sales and REO business support will be high at least for the next five years, said president of InHouse Inc. of Santa Ana, Calif., Jennifer Creech, a 23-year mortgage industry veteran who built her company based on an innovative approach.

The January Lender Processing Services Mortgage Monitor report shows frequent in and out loan delinquency and foreclosure traffic is one of the reasons why apparent improvements in the nation’s distressed mortgage market are relative, if not meaningless, when seen as part of the overall picture.

Thirty-year conventional prepayment speeds in February dropped by about 20%, according to Wall Street research reports.

Wang Jianxi, executive vice president of China Investment Corp., the country's $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, said Friday he does not see a strong possibility of a default on bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.