Servicing

A top reason why borrowers continue to be intimidated by the prospect of facing their lender-servicers is fear they will be taken advantage of.

The House of Representative late last week passed a defense authorization bill that includes an expansion of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to shield more military families from foreclosure while increasing penalties on lenders for compliance violations.

Clinton Group Inc., an investment manager which says it is one of the largest shareholders in Radian Group Inc., is calling on the Philadelphia-based private mortgage insurer to put itself up for sale.

A bill was introduced in Congress requesting that the Federal Housing Finance Agency cease its plan to sell Fannie Mae-owned foreclosed properties in California to large investors.

Nearly 165,000 borrowers have filed requests for reviews on how their servicer treated them in foreclosure—to see if they are entitled to damages—according to new figures released by the OCC.

Frederic Gladle pleaded guilty in January to one count of bankruptcy fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft for charging distressed homeowners fees in exchange for fraudulently delaying foreclosure sales.

It seems clear that changes made to the HARP program late last year have spurred a strong wave of usage that the industry didn’t anticipate. It doesn’t matter, of course: mortgage bankers are now writing new HARP loans left and right and competition is picking up thanks to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac upgrading their AU systems.

Documenting and verifying a borrower’s income is one of the most basic tasks for an underwriter. While this appears to be relatively simple, validating income has become increasingly complex and susceptible to borrower fraud.

New York's Department of Financial Services hammered banks over their relationships with force-placed insurers in a Friday hearing, challenging JPMorgan Chase officials on lucrative reinsurance arrangements that the Department suggested are tantamount to kickbacks.

Competition is heating up among banks in the government's revised Home Affordable Refinance Program, which has helped spark a refi boom and contributed to strong mortgage profits at most banks.