Servicing

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeing significant improvement in the quality of loans at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a result of tighter underwriting standards promulgated by the two.

M.E. Mike Wileman, president and CEO of Orion Financial Group, Southlake, Texas, which specializes in real estate-owned property document retrieval, assignments and other assistance for servicers who manage their own portfolios presents, brought to the Second Annual SourceMedia Loss Mitigation Conference in Dallas on July 21-22 one of the perks offered to attendees, an iPad.

Bogus schemes to help troubled borrowers save their homes from foreclosure were the fastest growing source of consumer complaints in 2009, according to an annual survey conducted by the Consumer Federation of America.

The U.S. homeownership rate slipped below 67% in the second quarter to the lowest level since 1999 as foreclosures and high unemployment continue to take their toll on the housing market.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is now backing efforts to establish legislative framework for European-style covered bonds in the United States, adding momentum to the effort as it resurfaces in Washington.

The delinquency rate on Freddie Mac guaranteed mortgages fell to 3.96% in June, the lowest reading since November of last year.

National volunteer programs and state government entities are busy working to unearth and close down "unscrupulous and unlicensed loan modification companies" who prey on financially stressed homeowners.

For example, NeighborWorks organizations around the country held more than 150 events during National NeighborWorks Week June 5-12 to inform tens of thousands of homeowners on how to avoid and report mortgage modification scams.

There's no question that distressed property sales wreak havoc with neighborhood price stability. But exactly how badly do short sales and foreclosures impact prices?

While a major player in the loan modification market expects an uptick in loan restructurings when employment improves, other industry participants say the relevance of the government's HAMP program is decreasing.

Congress has extended the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act through 2014 as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform bill that President Obama signed this week.