Servicing

PHH Mortgage Corp. became the latest mortgage servicer to declare it is not initiating a foreclosure moratorium.

To secure title insurance on REO sales, Bank of America has agreed to indemnify a major insurer if the title is challenged due to robo-signings and other improper foreclosure processing practices.

Freddie Mac has begun using the Giant mortgage participation certificates as a way to create economies of scale internally within its retained portfolio, according to a spokesman.

As the national foreclosure crisis continued on unabated this week, the mortgage industry received some sobering news Thursday morning – that bank repossessions reached an all-time high in September as servicers took back a record 102,134 homes.

Rental apartments are the favorite sector for real estate investors, according to an annual survey conducted by the Urban Land Institute and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said the growing robo-signing scandal was symptomatic of the poor incentives that marred the securitization market, but she opposed a universal freeze on foreclosures.

Radian Guaranty Inc., Philadelphia, has hired its first ever chief franchise officer, a position designed to build and promote the value of the company's mortgage insurance offerings.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency expects servicers working for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to review affidavits before any foreclosure action, eviction, or REO sale.

Even though loan brokers have been going out of business in droves the past three years, the wholesale lending channel is alive and well, according to the nation's largest table funder, Wells Fargo & Co.