Loan modifications

Mortgage foreclosure filings decreased 16.5% in Luzerne County, Pa., last year, and year-to-date figures indicate the decline may continue in 2018.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a 9% increase in total foreclosure prevention actions taken during 2017 as a result of three September hurricanes, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

From insights about borrower payment preferences to new automation assisting with natural disaster recovery efforts, here's a roundup of news coming out of the Mortgage Bankers Association Servicing Conference.

Laurie Maggiano, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's program manager for servicing and secondary markets, died on Sunday.

Wells Fargo has agreed to "good faith class settlement negotiations" to resolve a lawsuit that alleges the bank was making "stealth" mortgage modifications that could vastly increase homeowners’ borrowing costs, according to a filing Monday in federal bankruptcy court in Charlotte.

The average home value backing the loans is $117,000, well below the average $150,000 of other recent RPL securitizations, according to Fitch Ratings.

Test your knowledge of these key terms from the servicing sector of the mortgage industry.

HSBC has fulfilled its obligation under the National Mortgage Settlement and will no longer be monitored for compliance.

Regulators have unfairly targeted Ocwen Financial Corp. with the goal of forcing it to sell its mortgage servicing portfolio to investors that would foreclose on troubled borrowers, claims a prominent mortgage finance analyst.

A Newport Beach, Calif., man was arraigned on charges of impersonating an attorney and defrauding clients through debt consolidation and mortgage modification schemes, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office.

The National Association of Realtors sent a letter to the Senate backing the temporary resumption of a tax break for homeowners with mortgage forgiveness.

A woman was arrested Thursday during a protest against the eviction of the owner of a townhouse in Worcester, Mass.

With its mortgage in default and no refinancing on the horizon, The Plaza at PPL Center in Allentown, Pa.,appears headed for foreclosure.

Amid tenant departures, ownership shifts, unpaid bills and litigation, the University Square shopping center in University Heights, Ohio, has been in limbo for more than three years.

Modification activity increased slightly in January over December as servicers worked their way through the remaining Home Affordable Mortgage Program applications.

Bank of America has completed its legal settlement obligation with the Department of Justice to provide $7 billion in consumer relief nearly two years ahead of schedule.

HSBC has met the consumer relief requirements set out under the National Mortgage Settlement, according to the latest report from the settlement's monitor.

Mill City Holdings is returning to market with its fourth securitization of reperforming residential mortgages, this time with a sliver of home equity lines of credit added to the mix of collateral.

A Long Island, N.Y., man was sentenced to prison time and ordered to pay $2.5 million after pleading guilty in June to ripping off distressed homeowners, said Christy Romero, the Tarp special inspector general.