Mortgage defaults

Foreclosure starts fell 22% from the previous month, according to a Black Knight Financial month-end mortgage performance statistics report.

There were foreclosure filings on a reported 125,875 properties in April — 3% more from the previous month and 9% more from a year ago.

Foreclosure starts increased slightly while non-foreclosure resolutions for homeowners remained level from the same time last year, according to industry advocacy group Hope Now.

Radian Guaranty has added two national account managers and an inside sales account management team to work strictly with its credit union customers, their members and their trade associations.

The total number of new home equity lines of credit increased 36% in the first quarter according to Equifax.

The national foreclosure law firm Butler & Hosch has shuttered its operations after rapid growth through acquisitions tapped out its cash reserves.

Calling his state's foreclosure process "badly broken and in need of change," New York banking regulator Benjamin Lawsky wants new policies enacted to fast-track vacant property foreclosures and reform the state's mandatory foreclosure mediation requirements.

Banks and mortgage firms representing 70% of the New York market will adopt a set of best practices to combat the "zombie properties" afflicting communities throughout the state, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday.

Long before regulators put the spotlight on servicing-rights transfers, there were signs that many deals weren't going smoothly, leaving both borrowers and investors at risk.

There continues to be improvement in the number of distressed homes nationwide, according to a report from CoreLogic.

More lenient capital requirements than expected from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were good news for two legacy private mortgage insurers, but another is facing a bigger deficit than initially thought.

Genworth Financial Inc., the insurer divesting units after posting record losses, has sold 14% of its Australian mortgage-guaranty unit, the company announced on May 11.

The administration's signature loan modification and refinancing programs will be extended for one year to help borrowers "who continue to face challenges," the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency said.

The U.S. commercial-mortgage backed security delinquency rate fell again in April, fueled by strong new issuance, according to Fitch's latest index.

MGIC Investment Corp. ended April with 2,606 fewer delinquent loans on its books as the number of new notices declined from the prior month.

The commercial mortgage-backed security loan delinquency rate dropped slightly in April, according to analytics and technology firm Trepp.

Real estate investors are shifting their purchases to multifamily properties as the number of available distressed single-family homes for sale has been depleted over the past two years.

Ocwen Financial failed a test to determine whether it had notified borrowers of missing or incomplete documents for loan modifications in a timely manner, according to the national mortgage settlement monitor.

Quarterly delinquency rates hit their second lowest rate since 2007-2008's real estate meltdown, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A pioneer in the U.S. home-rental boom that grew out of the housing bust is becoming a takeover target.