Servicing

One third-party vendor is seeing more of its mortgage servicer clients use short sales as a strategy to reduce timeframes and loss severity for managing homes in default. In fact, many client buyers are also using this remedy in terms of doing their due diligence when buying distressed assets in bulk sales.

Commercial mortgage securities issuance is still far below 2007 levels—five bonds pooling commercial property loans have come to market in the past six months—and the deals are dramatically different from those assembled before the credit crisis.

The Irving, TX-based servicer Saxon Mortgage Services, Inc. has signed up with the National Community Stabilization Trust “First Look” program, which gives participants priority access to distressed properties for sale.

Jumbo loan production—in particular non-GSE jumbos—has increased nicely the past few quarters, but it appears that hopes for a revival in the securitization market for these mortgages may be stillborn.

Mortgage servicers completed 120,350 proprietary loan modifications in July and 757,750 for the first seven months of this year, according to new figures released by the HOPE Now Alliance.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will require homeowners with "green energy" loans from municipalities to pay them off when refinancing their mortgages — unless the borrowers don't have enough equity, in which case the green liens can stay.

The outlook for commercial real estate loans that collateralize CMBS continues to improve due to increased activity in the CMBS new issue market and strong demand for distressed CRE loans in the secondary market, according to one full-service loan sale advisor for commercial debt.

Nara Bancorp sold a $61 million pool of troubled commercial mortgages to Garrison Investment Group of New York for about 63 cents on the dollar.

Large banks are agreeing to give local governments and nonprofit groups the ability to buy foreclosed homes before they are sold to private investors, according to a report in the Associated Press.

MetLife Bank plans to officially launch its new warehouse lending division in the fourth quarter and is in the process of hiring between four and six additional staffers for the business.