Loss mitigation

Abandoning recent improvements in federal mortgage loss-mitigation programs would be a mistake, writes the president of the Center for Responsible Lending.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has seen excessive property-inspection charges, fees that loan mods should eliminate and improper line-item labels.

Deferrals are up but still haven't outpaced loan modifications in conservatorship-era foreclosure prevention, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

HPC and the MBA called on John Bell, executive director at the agency, to disclose a blueprint of the VASP program and allow for a 30-day commentary period.

The payment supplement partial claim the Federal Housing Administration proposed could be effective but not as is, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association and two other groups.

This summer, the Department of Veterans Affairs will introduce a new kind of a "last-ditch effort" to keep veterans in homes, by making servicers whole and putting the delinquent borrowers on an exclusive interest rate.

The agency developed measures taking effect Aug. 31 that, among other things, will allow lenders to prioritize foreclosures of the most impaired loans and then focus on modifying salvageable ones.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a temporary final rule that allows mortgage servicers to initiate foreclosures on abandoned properties and certain delinquent borrowers, but it also outlined additional measures that shield distressed homeowners.

The FHFA’s forbearance extension to September is forcing nonbank servicers to buy out more delinquent loans. It's also upended loss estimates for investors and made racial and income disparities in the mortgage market worse.

The agency will allow an additional three months of forbearance for loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, giving homeowners up to 18 months to suspend payments due to the pandemic.