Servicing

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and Sen. Richard Shelby, the panel's senior Republican, called on President Obama Thursday to appoint a permanent director for the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Interactive Mortgage Advisors, Denver, is selling a $1 billion portfolio of Freddie Mac servicing rights but with one caveat: the seller will not offer any representations and warranties on the deal.

Fannie Mae issued $40.2 billion of mortgage-backed securities in June, up 11% in May, but far below the $130 billion it issued in the same month a year ago during a major boom in refinancings.

The Dayton City Commission of Ohio recently approved a pilot program through which the Citywide Development Corp. and Wright-Patt Credit Union will leverage $2.1 million of federal grants obtained under last year's federal stimulus bill to provide low-cost funding for the redevelopment of foreclosed homes and abandoned properties.

As loan officers who don't meet the requirements drop out of the industry, the result could be a shortage of people to take applications -- at a time when demand for refinancings is historically high.

GSE foreclosure starts are accelerating along with HAMP cancellations, with most of the increase and volume concentrated in the six-plus month delinquent category, according to a new report from Lender Processing Services, Jacksonville, Fla.

Almost 26% of consumers have FICO scores below 600, an increase from the past two years and a reading that indicates it could be next to impossible for these borrowers to get a new mortgage.

The mortgage insurance unit of Genworth Financial lost $40 million in the second quarter, a marked improvement from the same period last year when it spilled $134 million of red ink.

A high ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee wants to explore ways of recouping the cost of placing the government-sponsored enterprises into conservatorships.

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors is endorsing legislation that could help restart the securitization market for small commercial mortgages held by community banks.