Servicing

Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus on Thursday scheduled a hearing and markup for early March to consider four bills that would terminate government-backed loan modification/foreclosure prevention programs that he calls "failed and ineffective."

A California lender began selling jumbo loans this month to global asset manager BlackRock Inc., proof that private investors are not waiting for the securitization market to fully recover before getting back into mortgages.

Unemployment, property depreciation and general economic hardship are some of the attributes why RealtyTrac.com is predicting that there will be over 1.2 million homes repossessed by banks in 2011, which would be a 20% increase from repossession rates reported in 2010.

Fannie Mae on Wednesday unveiled a new incentive program to compensate its seller/servicers that help struggling mortgagors avoid foreclosure.

A sharp drop in the level of loan loss provisions helped the banking industry earn $21.7 billion in the fourth quarter, the second highest quarterly total in more than three years, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported.

Residential refinancing activity in the fourth quarter pushed bank originations to the highest level since the spring of 2009 when the Federal Reserve was still purchasing mortgage-backed securities.

Easton Lynd Management has purchased a major asset on a distressed property for the first time in the firm’s history.

A new estimate by the Gwent Group found that real estate auctions accounted for $74.8 billion in sales during 2010.By including personal properties, auctions surpassed more than $284 billion in 2010.

As part of Marathon Asset Management’s focus on commercial real estate related debt opportunities, the credit asset management company closed a new investment to acquire a distressed retail center.

Single-family existing home sales rose 2.4% in January following a 12% jump in December, according to new figures compiled by the National Association of Realtors.