Foreclosures

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.

Ocwen Financial has tentatively agreed to sell a mortgage-servicing portfolio on $9.8 billion of loans to Nationstar Mortgage Holdings, and Ocwen hinted that more deals may be in the offing.

A new program in California aims to help low- and moderate-income seniors with reverse mortgages on their homes to avoid foreclosure.

California has delivered less than half of $2 billion in federal aid to help victims of the housing crash.

Prospects have improved for homebuyers who were frozen out of the American dream by investors who plunked down cash to buy houses in distressed markets.

Sellers across Washington and California have a lot to smile about, as cities in these two states ranked among the strongest housing markets in January, according to Pro Teck Valuation Services.

Home prices rebounded in December after three months of declines, according to mortgage technology company FNC.

A new service allows mortgage servicers and investors to identify the risk of homeowners association "super liens."

So far, HomeSafe Georgia has distributed $130 million in 129 Georgia counties.

A federal relief effort that set aside nearly $2 billion in housing aid for troubled Californians is being expanded to help older homeowners avert foreclosures on their reverse mortgages.

Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp. agreed to buy about 2,460 single-family rental homes in one of the nascent industry's largest bulk purchases.