Servicing

Mega-servicers like Bank of America and Ally Financial are kidding themselves if they think they can declare the foreclosure mess behind them after short self-investigations and blithely resume operations as before.

The National Credit Union Administration will continue the liquidation of U.S. Central Federal Credit Union and WesCorp Federal Credit Union next week with the sale of $2.82 billion worth of ten-year guaranteed notes comprised of cash-flows from commercial mortgage-backed securities held by the two now-defunct corporate CUs.

Consumers have stopped using their homes as personal piggy banks with cash-out refinancings falling to their lowest level ever in the third quarter, according to figures compiled by Freddie Mac.

The PMI Group Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif., took the worst hit of the four mortgage and title insurance companies that reported third quarter earnings today, with a loss of $281 million.

HAMP compliance agents are targeting the 10 largest servicers to see if they exhausted all loss mitigation options before proceeding with foreclosure sales, according to a Treasury Department official.

Sen. Mark Warner, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, called on President Obama to set up a task force to examine the foreclosure paperwork issue that has stalled thousands of foreclosures and raised questions about their legality.

Title insurance giant Fidelity National Financial has canceled a requirement for lenders to guarantee proper foreclosure procedures, citing "heightened" review processes by several mortgage servicers.

After its executives insisted during last week's earnings call that its foreclosure practices were sound, Wells Fargo & Company late Wednesday said it planned to correct and resubmit up to 55,000 improperly filed documents by mid-November.

Headlines are changing daily regarding foreclosure moratoriums and the default servicing process. Opinions are mixed on whether or not more government regulations are a good thing for the industry.

Title insurance giant Fidelity National Financial, Jacksonville, Fla., earned $83.2 million in the third quarter, a 14% rise from the same period a year ago, citing strong business inflows thanks to rising refinancings.