Foreclosures

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to a $50.4 million settlement with the Justice Department for robo-signing documents sent to homeowners in bankruptcy and for related abuses.

The great American refinancing boom of 2015 is turning out to be greatly exaggerated.

From new compliance scorecards to rethinking how to deal with consumer complaints, there's plenty to debate about the future of servicing. Here's a look at the most insightful and noteworthy discussions from this year's Mortgage Bankers Association servicing conference.

Ocwen Financial Corp., the mortgage servicer under attack for its handling of home loans, slumped the most in more than a month after receiving notices that it was being fired from overseeing debt backing two bond deals.

Fresh questions are being asked about the role of investors in the rental market and how their eventual exit may impact mortgage lending, property values and the economic recovery.

Ocwen Financial Corp., the mortgage servicer under attack for its handling of home loans, is being fired from overseeing debt backing two bond deals, according to notices sent to bondholders.

It can be difficult to have enough staff to handle an exchange of mortgage servicing rights, though companies are exploring different solutions

Working as a team with all stakeholders is the only way to successfully maintain a foreclosed property and see it through conveyance to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Some nonbanks feel capital requirements discourage diversification among market participants and their participation in the market because they put more constraints on their financial options and bar smaller players.

Since one out of every five households belongs to an HOA, lenders and servicers must understand the necessary rules and regulations and exercise extreme caution when processing these delinquent properties.

CIT's John Thain and OneWest's James Otting, scheduled to speak today at a public hearing on their $3.4 billion M&A deal, will face complaints from community activists that they owe the public more after receiving substantial government help during the financial crisis.

One in three struggling homeowners who received a loan modification through the Home Affordable Modification Program ultimately redefaulted on those loan.Meanwhile, the program that was supposed to help some 4 million families avoid foreclosure has helped only a fraction of that amount, according to a report presented to Congress.

Genesis Capital, which lends to investors in distressed single-family properties, will soon have a fresh source of leads for new business.

Panelists at the MBA's mortgage servicing conference said that the best way for servicers to keep federal regulators off their backs is to be responsive consumer complaints. And if a state attorney general or regulator come knocking, it’s best to be responsive and cooperative.

Walter Investment Management Corp. has emerged as the favorite of investors following a year of investigations of the top three nonbank mortgage servicers.

The mortgage delinquency rate fell to the lowest in more than seven years in the fourth quarter as the improving job market and stricter lending standards kept more borrowers current.

Foreclosure starts in January rose to their highest level in 13 months, even as the national mortgage delinquency continued to fall, according to data from Black Knight Financial Services.

Mortgage technology firm ISGN has released its latest loan servicing system, LoanDynamix, which boasts a strong focus on compliance.

It's not quite too big to fail, but Ocwen is the country's largest servicer of subprime mortgages. So if it were forced to sell itself, or even failed, the transfer of some $410 billion in servicing rights could create havoc in the mortgage market, industry experts said.

Although the new rules address many of the issues presented by non-borrowing spouses, one of the rules' principal shortcomings is that they do not sufficiently outline the rebalancing of principal that is often required to substitute these new borrowers.