Hope Now servicers modified 45,000 subprime loans in January, up 16% from December's level, and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he expects the numbers to increase now that all the servicers have adopted the American Securitization Forum's protocol for fast-tracking subprime borrowers into loan modifications and refinancings. "I am pleased to announce that as of today, all of the Hope Now members that service subprime mortgages have the protocol in place, ahead of the rising volume of resets in the coming months," Secretary Paulson told the National Association of Business Economists. The Treasury secretary stressed that government-led efforts to prevent foreclosures should be focused on borrowers struggling to make their payments or facing a reset they cannot afford. And he threw cold water on a proposal to restructure "underwater" mortgages so the borrowers have an incentive to stay in their homes. "Any homeowner who can afford their mortgage payments but chooses to walk away from the underwater property is simply a speculator -- and one who is not honoring his obligation," Mr. Paulson said.
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Elevated delinquency levels have not affected expected losses, however, due to home price appreciation, Fitch Ratings said.
4h ago -
Retail lenders, including Beeline, Tomo Mortgage and Rocket Mortgage, settled with the department over infractions like submitting a false certification to not having the proper liquidity to be in the program.
4h ago -
A pair of bills, one with bipartisan support, look to address the issues around heirs' property so these families can have clear title on their homes.
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The agreement, in which the real estate giant admits no wrongdoing, will cover around 70,000 agents.
7h ago -
Doxo plans to fight the FTC complaint, which focuses broadly on consumer finance, but there are signs of confusion about the company's role in mortgages too.
April 25 -
Members of the LGBTQ community were most likely to have experienced housing bias, according to a Zillow survey, which also found many people don't recognize how fair lending laws could help.
April 25