Servicing

At least one mortgage category in North Dakota has fewer delinquent borrowers than graduates in my high school class. A lot fewer.

Home equity lending increased for the first time last year but overall mortgage originations in January were the lowest since November 2008, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

After halting an Ocwen deal to purchase mortgage-servicing rights from Wells Fargo, New York's Department of Financial Services is turning its attention to another nonbank servicer, Nationstar.

HomeStreet plans to sell two pools of delinquent residential loans that it will continue to service.

Google Capital, the growth capital fund of Google Inc., has made a $50 million equity investment in Auction.com.

While the budget was once again focused on other issues than financial services, it provided an update on the White House's priorities as well as a prediction that the FHA's fortunes will soon improve.

Improving housing markets continued to push down the overall delinquency rate of commercial and multifamily mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A drop in foreclosures has been a constant occurrence throughout the country as the market slowly recovers from one of the worst housing crises ever.

PNC also disclosed more details about three subpoenas it received from the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan related to National City Bank, the Cleveland-based subprime home lender PNC purchased in 2008.

Rules enacted last year appear to be steadily forcing banks to exit the mortgage servicing business, transferring such rights to nonbanks. The situation is stoking fears on Capitol Hill and elsewhere that regulators went too far.