Servicing

The $25 billion national mortgage settlement essentially allows the five largest servicers to police themselves - which has made many consumer advocates surprisingly happy.

With the overseers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac digging in their heels against the use of principal write-downs for troubled homeowners, Senate Democrats pressed their case for a course change on Thursday.

Auctioneer Steve Rawlings said this property would be a “lovely” family home or an “excellent” investment opportunity. Rawlings said the home is going to be sold for at least $50,000.

The loan portfolio is secured by 11 properties based in Manhattan and 14 located in Brooklyn. It is comprised of 245 residential units and 12 commercial spaces.

It's undeniable that small business is the growth engine of the economy that also helps stimulate the housing market recovery. Many of the third-party service providers, such as special servicers and foreclosure counseling agencies are small size business companies.

Management at Ally Financial Corp. is considering throwing part of its mortgage division into bankruptcy and then executing a sale of most of its "good" assets, investment banking sources said late Thursday.

The Lawyers' Committee and counsel Davis Polk & Wardwell filed a lawsuit this week in New York Supreme Court in Nassau County on behalf of 18 homeowners claiming that a network of for-profit loan modification companies conducted a scam on them.

California is taking aim at the prices banks and insurers charge for force-placed home insurance, the state announced on Wednesday.

Even though national foreclosure filings decreased in February, 21 states posted annual increases in foreclosure activity, according to new figures compiled by RealtyTrac.

The inaugural Zillow Rent Index shows "a healthy and growing rental market" across most of the country, even as home values continue to fall. And according to Zillow's chief economist Stan Humphries, rents are not rising at the expense of home values. "The opposite is true."