Servicing

Mortgage default rates remained largely unchanged in February amidst mixed results nationwide, according to data released by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second-largest servicer of U.S. mortgages, is buying the right to handle $45 billion of home loans from Ocwen Financial Corp., according to a person familiar with the transaction.

Fortress Investment Group plans to cash out its entire stake in commercial mortgage banker Walker & Dunlop.

The number of borrowers who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their home continued to improve last year, according to CoreLogic.

But derivatives that magnified their performance woes were the bigger culprit, according to a new book by investor Howard Hill, who created models for collateralized mortgage obligations before the meltdown.

The sale of $16.7 billion in nonperforming loans by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Department helped the owners of about 16,700 homes avoid foreclosure, the agency said.

An expected rush of refinancings of Federal Housing Administration loans could force some mortgage servicers to take writedowns in the first and second quarters, but they have more incentive than ever to keep borrowers in the FHA program instead of letting rivals lure away their customers.

Mortgage professional hiring and new job appointments for the week ending March 13.

Proposals for stiffer capital requirements will reduce the number of mortgage servicers, which in turn will cut access to credit, mortgage-company executives said at an industry conference on Wednesday.

It's not just about cutting lawns and patching holes. To convey a foreclosed property into the Department of Housing and Urban Development's ownership, servicers are on the hook for every last detail of a vacant house. Here are five key pieces of the preservation puzzle.