Servicing

A new trade group that caters to the 'hard money' segment of the mortgage industry has drafted a code of ethics for its members — lenders that are privately held and cater to borrowers who can't get credit elsewhere.

Residential loan applications fell by 1.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, but there was a slight improvement in new purchase money loans, according to figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is asking the Federal Housing Finance Agency to assure lenders that their servicing contracts with the GSEs will not be repudiated in the event of their liquidation by the government.

BDO Seidman has brought on Richard Hauer, a commercial property workout professional, to assist the New York consulting firm's bankruptcy and restructuring professionals on all real estate-related issues.

A Jefferson County District Court judge in Colorado has barred Sherron L. Lewis, Jr. from providing consumers with foreclosure-relief services.

One third-party vendor is seeing more of its mortgage lender and servicer clients negotiate cash for keys in order to reduce timeframes and loss severity for managing REO assets.

Borrowers have defaulted to the tune of nearly $65 billion in financing in the tri-county South Florida region since the real estate crash began in 2007, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

Warren, Michigan-based provider of commercial and residential mortgage default management solutions Five Brothers has introduced a new tool that helps speed up and simplify the preparation, delivery, notarization and tracking of all mortgage documents.

A unit of Mariner Holdings LLC, Leawood, Kan., has purchased part of a $760 million portfolio of property loans from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Surviving during this crisis may be the primary concern for many mortgage servicers. But as in the old saying: good is the enemy of great, aiming to innovate and move ahead of the crowd is better than just aiming to survive.