Servicing

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.

Foreclosure inventory nationwide continued to shrink as the number of homes lost to foreclosure declined in January, according to CoreLogic.

Authorities unsealed a 40-count indictment against six individuals who allegedly targeted distressed homeowners with the false promise of loan modification services following the 2008 financial crisis.

The recent delay of new HECM rules is a reprieve for lenders scrambling to implement training and systems updates ahead of the original deadline. But it's also prompted questions about a key technology used by the reverse mortgage industry.

MGIC Investment Corp. saw its inventory of delinquent loans resume its reduction in February after growing the month prior.

Despite an increase in housing affordability, both first-time and repeat foreclosure starts reached 12-month highs in January, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Ocwen Financial's termination as servicer of two residential mortgage securitizations has no immediate impact on the strength of the company, but it does set a "negative precedent" that could eventually lead to the servicer being fired from more deals, Moody's Investors Service warns.

The City of New Orleans is planning its first online auction to sell 1,786 adjudicated properties.

Mortgage professional hiring and new job appointments for the week ending March 6.