Foreclosures

National banks have experienced a dramatic drop in loan modification activity over the past year, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The bank formerly run by Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Donald Trumps' nominee to head the Treasury Department, allegedly used illegal practices in foreclosing on delinquent homeowners, according to a leaked 2013 memo from the California Attorney General’s Office.

A Fidelity National Financial Inc. subsidiary is in final talks to pay as much as $65 million to resolve U.S. government accusations that it contributed to improper and fraudulent foreclosures after the 2008 credit crisis, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Foreclosure starts increased nearly 7% in November from the previous month, but when compared to the previous year, they were down by over 9%, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin is facing growing pressure from Senate Democrats to account for his leadership of a bank accused of shoddy foreclosure practices.

Although Steven Mnuchin has close ties to Wall Street and was involved in some contentious deals, Democrats face an uphill battle making the case that those connections disqualify him to serve as Treasury secretary.

The largest month-over-month decrease in foreclosure filings since November 2010 occurred last month, according to Attom Data Solutions.

A regulatory 2017 scorecard for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac calls on the firms to transfer a significant portion of credit risk to third-party private investors on at least 90% of unpaid principal balance of newly acquired single-family mortgages.

Fewer delinquencies are expected to accompany higher debt levels in 2017, TransUnion predicted.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will replace the expiring Home Affordable Mortgage Program with a new loss mitigation option called the Flex Modification.