Servicing

Principal reductions, such as those agreed to in the state AG settlement with five large servicers, may help residential MBS performance in some ways but hurt in others, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings.

The government's bulk sale initiative to turn foreclosed properties into rentals could be "counterproductive" in certain states, according to the National Association of Realtors which is demanding the initiative be scaled back.

For the first time in more than 20 years, market research and analytics firm Mortech LLC did not conduct its annual lender survey and will not publish its annual mortgage industry trends and analytical report.

Gateway Mortgage Group, Tulsa, Okla., this week launched a new correspondent lending division that will purchase conforming and government loans from depositories and mortgage bankers, with the aim of retaining the servicing rights.

What do the federal bureaucrats who run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac know that private mortgage lenders don't?

Wells Fargo & Co. is in the market with a $270 million package of nonperforming residential mortgages, according to investors and investment bankers who play in the space.

Due to the seasonal declines in home prices and slowing foreclosure pipeline which is depressing home prices, the negative equity share rose in late 2011.

In an effort to reduce foreclosure rates among military families, Hope Now facilitated an event that brought together mortgage financiers and stakeholders with the focus being on prevention of foreclosure for military families.

Foreclosure activists rallied outside the San Francisco home of Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf recently, armed with life-size cardboard cutouts of him inscribed with the unflattering tagline, "Wall St. Robber Banker."

Federal Housing Administration single-family endorsements rose 9.5% in January from the prior month while the percentage of seriously delinquent government loans inched up to 9.8%.