The Servicing Empire Strikes Back!

Mortgage servicers may want to send a bouquet of flowers to Wells Fargo CFO Howard Atkins who — based on his conference call comments this morning — appears to be standing up to the media pack of wolves that has been portraying most mortgage firms as Bozo the Clown when it comes to foreclosures. Atkins told analysts and reporters that the nation's foreclosure mess is "overstated" and "misrepresented." Of course, there appears to be a handful of large servicers out there (and perhaps more?) that are/were doing very sloppy paperwork on their foreclosures. As I've advised servicers many times: don't be cheap. Hire more workers. Give someone a job. Meanwhile, The Washington Post published a story this morning about a borrower named Joshua Bartlett who hasn't made a payment on his Ft. Myers, Fla., townhouse in three years. He bought the home for $158,000 in 2005, engaged in a cash-out refi a few years later, then lost his job in the construction industry. (The story is unclear, but it looks like he may've had a payment option ARM.) Bartlett — whose home has plummeted in value — told the newspaper he isn't quite sure why his servicer (Bank of America) hasn't kicked him out yet, but admitted, "I kind of feel guilty, but then I think about my downpayment and the payments I made…I was an indentured servant to them, and now I'm living for free"…