Foreclosures

A flood of ex-homeowners may be ready to re-enter the mortgage market over the next five years, according to a TransUnion report.

RealtyTrac reported 126,868 foreclosure filings last month, the highest level of activity in 19 months, driven mainly by bank repossessions and a 5% year-over-year increase in scheduled foreclosure auctions.

A new analysis from CoreLogic found that 254,000 homes regained equity in the first quarter, meaning there are now 44.9 million mortgaged properties (representing 90% of the total) that are above water as of March 31.

A Virginia man on Monday pleaded guilty to federal charges tied to bogus real estate transactions conducted between 2006 and 2007.

The decline in foreclosures and short sales is contributing to the dearth of housing inventory, complicating the prospects for home buyers feeling the pinch of tight credit and lenders that need purchase mortgages to supplant refinancing once interest rates rise.

California Gov. Jerry Brown violated state law by diverting more than $331 million in mortgage settlement funds for uses unrelated to housing, a Superior Court judge ruled.

A new Department of Housing and Urban Development policy will make it easier for servicers to transfer certain reverse mortgages back to HUD instead of foreclosing on widowed nonborrower spouses.

The number of vacant and abandoned properties that are in foreclosure decreased in the second quarter, according to a RealtyTrac report.

The California Reinvestment Coalition has called for a federal investigation into the foreclosure policies of OneWest Bank in minority neighborhoods.

The number of homes in foreclosure continues to decrease, although the number of homeowners in default or in foreclosure proceedings remains higher than pre-financial-crisis levels, according to CoreLogic.

Foreclosures might seem like yesterday's news, but banks are still busy with the cleanup phase of the housing crisis. The situation is producing some herky-jerky housing statistics, and prompting calls for more reforms in states like New York still suffering from stalled dockets and blight.

Three states — Florida, New York and New Jersey — held almost 30% of all seriously delinquent and active foreclosure homes nationwide in April, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Ocwen Financial's shares had fallen nearly 7% Friday afternoon, to under $10 apiece, a day after Standard & Poor's Ratings Services put the company's servicer ratings on CreditWatch negative.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. won a round in a long- running dispute with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., avoiding some of the liabilities tied to its 2008 takeover of Washington Mutual Inc.'s banking operations.

Constraints on GSE loan volume and an overall dearth of liquidity were among the biggest issues at hand during the Mortgage Bankers Association's Secondary Market Conference in New York. Here's a recap of the event.

A Florida court on Friday sided with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the state over claims that a law firm charged illegal fees to consumers seeking foreclosure relief.

A Virginia short sale specialist was convicted Wednesday by a federal jury on charges including mortgage and tax fraud.

Eight years after the bottom fell out of the housing market, investment giants including BlackRock are facing off against small hedge funds over the detritus of the subprime era.

In the wake of recent court rulings upholding homeowners associations' "super lien" status in foreclosures, mortgage vendors have flooded the market with products to help servicers and investors manage this long-standing threat.

Foreclosure starts fell 22% from the previous month, according to a Black Knight Financial month-end mortgage performance statistics report.