Loss mitigation

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday finalized new requirements for mortgage servicers that provide more help to struggling borrowers and add consumer protections when loans are transferred.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau added its voice Tuesday to a chorus of other regulators in calling for sustainable foreclosure relief when the Home Affordable Modification Program expires at yearend.

Mortgage servicing has a reputation for being cold and impersonal, but companies have the opportunity to put more of a personal touch on their interactions with borrowers by analyzing the wealth of data available to them.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a plan Thursday to overhaul the debt collection industry that would limit collection attempts to six per week and require confirmation of a debt before contacting consumers. The plan, however, is not yet directed at banks and credit card companies.

Walter Investment Management Corp. subsidiary Ditech Financial plans to lay off more than 100 employees in North Carolina and Texas following declines in defaults across the country.

As if high default costs haven't been challenging enough for mortgage servicers, a growing number of seriously delinquent loans are Federal Housing Administration products, which require significant upfront investment to resolve.

Federal regulators warned mortgage servicers Monday that they will still expect them to offer loan modifications to distressed homeowners even after the Home Affordable Modification Program expires at yearend.

Ocwen Financial Corp. has converted more than 4,100 trial plans into permanent modifications through the Treasury Department's streamlined modification program.

The Dec. 31 expiration of the Home Affordable Modification Program will have a limited negative effect on residential mortgage-backed securities from 2008 or earlier, according to Moody's Investors Service.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s first report on the sales of nonperforming loans owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may seem discouraging at first.