Servicing

The Obama administration said it does not support halting foreclosures nationwide on the grounds that it could delay and hurt a recovery in the housing market.

Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., will hold a committee hearing Nov. 16 to review allegations of improper and fraudulent mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing by the nation's banking companies.

The Treasury Department singled out the three largest banks—Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.—for failing to properly solicit and consider homeowners for the government's loan modification program.

Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan said the servicer's new foreclosure moratorium should only last a few weeks while the firm rechecks the paperwork it submitted in thousands of foreclosure cases.

Recent revelations that Ally Financial and Chase Home Mortgage may've been cutting corners on their foreclosure paperwork have sent the servicing industry into a tizzy with new concerns being raised about massive delays in foreclosure times, and a reduction in company ratings.

Mortgage servicers completed 115,760 proprietary loan modifications in August, down 3.8% from the prior month, according to the Hope Now Alliance.

EverBank Financial Corp., Jacksonville, Fla., a top player in mortgage finance, is planning to sell up to $200 million worth of stock through an initial public offering.

Wells Fargo & Co., auctioned off a $185 million package of nonperforming residential loans this week, according to bidders and advisors who play in that market.

It’s not as hard as it used to be to find good news in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s second-quarter delinquency survey.

A legal strategy dubbed the "Mortgage Terminator" by the Miami Beach law firm which invented it has been confirmed by a Broward County, Fla., court as a viable method for protecting condominium and homeowner associations struggling to deal with the impact of foreclosures in their communities.