Servicing

The 50 state attorneys general investigating the robo-signing debacle are looking at issues regarding the accuracy of information used by servicers in the foreclosure process as well as the imposition of fees and force-placed insurance, according to Iowa AG Tom Miller.

The 12 Federal Home Loan Banks are getting closer to paying off their REFCORP obligations and their regulator wants them to use that extra money to rebuild retained earnings.

Bank of America, the nation's largest servicer of home mortgages, said in prepared testimony Tuesday that the company is at a "crossroads" between loan modification efforts "and the reality of foreclosure" with 14% of its home mortgage customers in some stage of delinquency.

Commercial real estate investment banking firm George Smith Partners has hired Eric Hamermesh as senior vice president, and director of business development.

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Irvine, posted a profit just shy of $1 million in the third quarter, a 68% decline from the same period last year, as it struggles to generate new revenue from its mortgage and real estate service businesses.

Amid continued weakness for the Federal Home Loan Bank System, its chief regulator said it is committed to getting the regional GSEs back to their core mission of lending to members.

The American Securitization Forum Tuesday continued to defend residential mortgage-backed securities against foreclosure-related challenges with the release of a promised study that its executive director said differs from the findings of a congressional oversight committee on the issue.

While robo-signing has been the most high-profile foreclosure concern for residential mortgage-backed securities lately, it appears it is a relatively low risk compared to the currently less-prominent one related to missing and defective documents, according to a recent Moody’s Investors Service report.

In their first week back since the midterm elections, lawmakers are taking up the robo-signing scandal in multiple venues.

The Federal Housing Administration ended fiscal 2010 with a cash reserve ratio of just 0.50%, a slight decline from the same period a year ago, but strong enough that Congress will not have to use taxpayer money to bolster the fund.