Servicing

Will Clint Eastwood walk through the streets of Minneapolis, proclaiming how the U.S. mortgage industry is back? If you're not sure what I'm talking about, go see last weekend's Chrysler/Fiat commercial during the Super Bowl. (As an aside, I think the whole political take on that commercial has been blown way out of proportion.)

After six straight years of bad news, a panel of economists offered a more upbeat picture of the U.S. housing market during congressional testimony Thursday.

In addition to the national mortgage servicing settlement, Nevada has reached a side deal with Bank of America, state Attorney General Catherine Masto announced late Thursday.

The $25 billion 'robo-signing' settlement with the five mega-servicers includes a new set of servicing standards - and a mortgagor's ‘Bill of Rights' - to prevent future processing and foreclosure abuses.

WASHINGTON - Depending on who you talked to, the massive mortgage servicer settlement announced Thursday was either a "criminal sell out" or a much-needed shot in the arm for the housing market.

A federal judicial panel denied a motion to include the Dallas County district attorney’s lawsuit against Merscorp in the ongoing multidistrict litigation against the private loan registry in Phoenix.

A small Minnesota bank is in hot water with its regulators after suffering steep losses on loans to some high-profile business executives.

The government-owned Ally Financial has issued an offering book on Residential Capital Corp. in the hope that it can finally unload its money-losing mortgage division and take the rest of the company public, according to investment bankers familiar with the matter.

The $26 billion 'robo-signing' settlement with five major servicing banks announced Thursday morning could yield nearly $35 billion in principal reductions, according to Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan.

Early Wednesday afternoon it appeared that New York and California would not be part of the 'robo-signing' deal and then - from what we're told - the White House put the full court press on the two, laying out the political ramifications for these two very Democratic states.