Servicing

A new government report says delinquencies on permanent HAMP loan modifications that are six months old are much lower than servicers' proprietary loan modification programs.

Tom Wind, CEO of Aurora Loan Services, once the premier mortgage banking arm of Lehman Brothers, is expected to step down from the lender/servicer some time this summer, according to officials familiar with the situation.

Some commercial real estate niche firms are following in the footsteps of their residential real estate counterparts that are keeping up with changing loss risk mitigation needs through partnerships.

Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services of San Francisco formed a strategic alliance with Property Sciences, a national real estate appraisal and consulting company based in Pleasant Hill, Calif., in an effort to expand the range of portfolio valuation services it provides to lenders and servicers.

"The recent alliance gives lenders the opportunity to analyze and evaluate their commercial real estate portfolios using a new suite of hybrid valuation tools," says Property Sciences vice president Andrew Mekjavich.

Even though mortgage bankers are still enjoying the steepest yield curve in years, lenders saw their average profit per loan fall to $606 in the first quarter, a 40% drop from the same period last year, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage buyers are finding new reasons to make the originators buy back home loans, ensuring that repurchases will remain a burden for lenders for the next few years.

Over the past year, the number of states with programs offering foreclosure mediation has nearly doubled, from 11 to 21, according to the Center for American Progress.

A group of investors led by Residential Credit Solutions, New York, agreed to pay 37 cents on the dollar for an $898 million pool of nonperforming residential loans offered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Bank of America Home Loans has opened a new outreach center to assist financially troubled borrowers in the Boston and surrounding regions.

The National Association of Home Builders seems confident that home buying will pick up in the second half of the year, but in the wake of federal tax credits expiring, consumers are staying out of the market longer than expected.

Luxury home builder Toll Brothers has formed a new subsidiary to invest in mortgages and property portfolios.