Mortgage defaults

Bank of America's expenses still far exceed those of JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, so analysts were clearly disappointed Thursday when CEO Brian Moynihan failed to outline any specific plans for further lowering overhead.

Foreclosure filings on U.S. properties fell 18% in 2014 compared to a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac.

While put-backs and litigation risk are widely recognized as factors that have contributed to tight credit conditions, another factor — high servicing costs for nonperforming loans — is being overlooked.

Invitation Homes is sticking to the same large loan model of past single-family rental securitizations in its first deal of 2015.

Blackstone Group is offering the first securities of 2015 tied to rental homes, the start of what Morgan Stanley analysts predict may be a more than doubling of issuance this year in the nascent market for such debt.

The number of homes in some stage of foreclosure dropped 36% in November compared to the previous year, according to a report Wednesday from CoreLogic.

The unpaid principal balance of delinquent commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquencies fell by 23% as of Dec. 31 compared with the same day one year prior in 2013, according to Fitch Ratings.

The U.S. Supreme Court gave homeowners more ability to cancel their mortgages if lenders don't provide the required disclosures, in a setback for the banking industry.

Industrywide standards of best practices are a topic that deserves consideration by everyone involved. We should prove that common sense still can prevail.

There remains a clear difference in the housing recovery among home price tiers, according to the November Mortgage Monitor from Black Knight Financial Services.

MGIC Investment Corp. said on Friday that its delinquent inventory dropped slightly in December compared to a month earlier.

Home values have risen fastest in markets where institutional buyers bought up scores of foreclosed homes and then rented them out. But these investor have largely curtailed their buying, and may even be ready to start selling off more properties to profit from the run-up in home prices. That could be good news for first-time buyers.

The number of homes in negative equity continued to lessen through the end of the third quarter, according to CoreLogic.

Late payments on home equity loans fell in the third quarter while delinquencies on home equity lines of credit rose slightly, the American Bankers Association said in a report issued Thursday.

SecurityNational Mortgage has made its final payment on a $4.3 million financial crisis-era settlement with Wells Fargo.

American Homes 4 Rent, the largest publicly traded investor in single-family rental homes, has acquired a pool of properties from a subsidiary of Ellington Management Group, in what could be a sign of further consolidation in the industry.

Golden First Mortgage Corp. agreed to a $36 million settlement of claims that the company — which allegedly saw 60% of its government underwritten loans go into default since 2002 — defrauded a federal mortgage program.

Social media broadly distributes information to users of financial services, yet also creates a new sphere for potential compliance risks, especially for servicers.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Ocwen Financial Corporation's bond rating from B to B- with a negative outlook after the sudden departure of the company's chairman following a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services.

The nation's largest banks have attacked their delinquent loan portfolios with gusto, but they may hit some barriers in 2015. The market for nonperforming loans is still robust with about $60 billion estimated to change hands in 2014.