Servicing

• Paperless FHA
• Servicing Roundtable
• Lender Outsourcing
• Appraisal Regulations

Wells Fargo has come under a fresh wave of public scrutiny over allegations that the largest mortgage servicer developed an in-house, how-to manual for producing falsified documents to justify foreclosures.

A lawsuit alleges that Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown violated state law by diverting hundreds of millions of dollars from the national mortgage settlement into California's general fund.

Communities and governments would avoid having to deal with abandoned properties on a protracted basis, which pulls down local property values and creates an unnecessary backlog in the court system.

Official puts servicers on notice that they should be ready to help borrowers who can’t afford the higher monthly payments.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to address the growing problem of vacant and abandoned properties that banks and mortgage servicers have walked away from to avoid maintaining the homes.

Holders of residential mortgage-backed securities are planning to communicate with trustees and master servicers about Ocwen Financial’s practices, according to the Association of Mortgage Investors.

Hope LoanPort has started new collaborative partnerships with several national organizations to collectively provide foreclosure-related fraud prevention assistance to homeowners.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act played a key role in helping underwater homeowners keep their homes after the crash. But it may also have unwittingly encouraged strategic default.

As interest rates increase, prepayment speeds are falling precipitously, extending the maturities of mortgage-backed securities, especially the guaranteed variety. This trend is likely to cause future declines in MBS values.