Servicing

The Federal Housing Administration acquired 98,349 REO properties and sold 87,709 during its fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, according to a report on the FHA mortgage insurance program released this week.

An 18 basis point rise in rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages resulted in a decline in mortgage application volume of 14.4% last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The data was not adjusted for Veterans Day.

Home prices fell 1.1% in September after falling 1.2% in August, according to the just released CoreLogic house price index.

Real estate investment trust Annaly Capital Management Inc. has formed a subsidiary that plans to provide warehouse financing and other origination services starting in the first quarter of next year.

American Home Mortgage Servicing late Tuesday announced that it had hired GMAC Mortgage veteran David Applegate as its new president and CEO.

An expected drop in the conforming loan limit could make new nonagency mortgages more compelling, according to executives at Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc.

State attorneys general are trying to reach an agreement with several mega-servicers on how to fix the loan modification process and end certain practices such as 'dual tracking' that create borrow stress and confusion.

Until now, the quality of services rendered by mortgage technology vendors and bank owned foreclosure management quality has been rated empirically. That reality may change.

It is not all bad news...Findings from Standard & Poor’s and Experian show customer credit defaults are steadily declining for mortgages and all other credit lines giving hope for an uptake in consumer spending that will help the overall economic recovery. In October the first mortgage S&P Experian Consumer Credit Default Index declined to 2.91, a decrease of 3.36% from the previous month and 38.15% from the October 2009 level.

Short sale processing inefficiencies are challenging servicers' efforts to shift the foreclosure-short sale ratio, which currently sides heavily on foreclosures. Capacity pressures add to that challenge, at least in the near future.Addressing a panel at the Source Media Best Practices in Short Sales and REO conference in San Diego, president and CEO of the Irvine, Calif.-based MOS Group, Greg Hebner reminded industry peers that data is not encouraging.