Servicing

Prices of homes sold by owner/occupants are rising for the first time in years and there has been modest price appreciation in January and February, according to a new CoreLogic report.

Since the housing crisis began in 2007, mortgage rates have currently dropped to all-time lows and home prices continue to bottom out in most markets. The big question still lingers on the mind of everyone in the industry: Are we on the road to a recovery or are there still gloomy days ahead?

A weak job market combined with growing demand for field services is forging innovative alliances that generate small business opportunities.

Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay civil money penalties and conduct a review of 60,300 foreclosures conducted by its former servicing subsidiary, Saxon Mortgage Services, as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Reserve Board.

Minor adjustments in the approach to distressed property data analytics and communication with the homeowner may separate a foreclosure from a sustainable workout. The key is in considering all the data involved, including factors that are not strictly related to servicing and field services.

Ocwen Financial Corp., which relies heavily on its overseas workforce, has decided to shutter a pair of North Texas servicing offices, laying off almost 680 mortgage workers in the process, according to a recent filing with the Texas Workforce Commission.

What are the most successful private companies operating in various financial markets including the mortgage space doing to prosper in 2012? Input from hundreds of Inc. 500 CEOs who have maintained above-average growth and profitability during tough economic conditions indicates there are six areas of focus that they considered key to their company's success.

Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee are urging the Federal Housing Finance Agency to take more aggressive steps to allow refinancing by homeowners with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages.

Investors are increasingly demanding servicers/special servicers file hazard insurance claims on REO properties regardless of whether they will be approved.

With spring right around the corner, and signs of economic recovery everywhere, there is a feeling that brighter days are ahead. Glimmers of hope can even be seen in one of the most distressed U.S. housing markets in the country.