Servicing

Yesner & Boss PL have opened a new law office in Boynton Beach, Fla., to handle short sale and foreclosure cases.

At least 20 lenders are participating in FHA's principal reduction program to refinance underwater borrowers with two major lender/servicers launching pilot programs of their own, according to Federal Housing Commissioner David Stevens.

The Lightstone Group, a privately held real estate company, acquired a 750,000-square-foot shopping center in Orlando, Fla., for approximately $25 million.Opened in 2003, Festival Bay Mall is a single-level, enclosed entertainment and shopping center.

Redwood Trust on Tuesday closed its second jumbo MBS deal within 10 months, boasting that the economics on the transaction support private-sector financing of prime mortgages at rates within 0.5% of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac instruments.

The Home Affordable Modification Program has helped more than 500,000 struggling borrowers with a median annual income of $46,000 remain in their homes, according to the Treasury Department, which found itself defending the program this week.

Mortgage application volume declined 6.5% for the week ending Feb. 25 even though the average contract rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan fell 16 basis points, according to figures released Wednesday morning by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Thrift institutions originated $42.2 billion of single-family loans in the fourth quarter, up nearly 17% from the prior period, according to figures released by the Office of Thrift Supervision.

The Treasury Department, which controls almost 75% of Ally Financial, named investment banker John Durrett to the bank holding company's board of directors.

The 12 Federal Home Loan Banks have voluntarily agreed to rebuild their retained earnings now that their 20-year obligation of making interest payments on $300 billion of Resolution Funding Corp. bonds ends later this year.

Research data and analysis are adding up to industry fears that the Federal Housing Administration’s sharp loan volume increase of recent years is moving the agency “into uncharted, risky territory” making it more crucial than ever for policy makers to come up with “a delicate balancing act” that would ensure the FHA “is not pushed too far.”