Mortgages

Collateral Intelligence has signed on with FICO to provide valuation and support for the credit risk provider’s analytic solution that predicts borrowers who are at risk of strategically defaulting on their mortgages.

Rent increases reported across the country and outlooks predicting the same for the near future also indicate the window of opportunity in rental-housing investments is about to open up in some local markets and may start to close soon in others.

There has been a lot of talk about how good mortgage credit quality has been post-downturn, but to get a better sense of how good, investors may want to consider some of the steps being taken to mitigate loan performance risk.

Despite a $25 billion national mortgage servicing settlement being filed that provides assistance for homeowners to compensate for faulty foreclosure practices that occurred following the housing market crash, scammers were still prepared to capitalize on the vulnerability of desperate homeowners.

Fannie Mae this week reported "significant improvements" in the performance of several of its largest seller/servicers, even though only half received satisfactory reviews.

The rate-indicative 10-year Treasury yield as of Friday just before noon had continued its upward movement to a point notably higher than the range it had been in previously, but hedged players in the industry so far appear to be weathering the move relatively well.

Despite the government's promise to crack down on violators of the new LO comp rules, nearly one year after they went into effect regulators have failed to deliver on their stern warnings and promises. Not surprisingly, some companies have elected to largely ignore the law, instituting compensation policies that are an obvious and blatant effort at circumventing the new compensation rules.

The Dodd-Frank legislation set new boundaries on the appraisal industry, especially in the areas of valuator independence and fees paid to those who perform work through appraisal management companies.

As cities and towns across the country struggle to pay bills and prevent troubled properties from giving rise to blighted neighborhoods, they're turning by the hundreds to a new tactic.

Farmer Mac earned $13.3 million for the fourth quarter and $13.8 million for the full year 2011, as the company saw increased net interest income and it was able to release funds from its allowances for loan losses.

It's known as the 'Oops' loan market - where Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac lenders get jammed on a buyback request not because the loan is delinquent, but because one of the GSEs finds an underwriting flaw and demands a repurchase or damages. The seller/servicer then takes that loan and resells it to another buyer.

Just wanted to give you a few more observations from Barry Habib from his presentation at the Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations in Atlantic City.

The $25 billion national mortgage settlement essentially allows the five largest servicers to police themselves - which has made many consumer advocates surprisingly happy.

With the overseers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac digging in their heels against the use of principal write-downs for troubled homeowners, Senate Democrats pressed their case for a course change on Thursday.

Regulators likely will increase enforcement of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, with an idea toward sham 'affiliated business arrangements,' according to former FHA commissioner Brian Montgomery.

Mortgage bankers funded roughly $41 billion of jumbo loans in the fourth quarter, a 28% increase from the same period a year earlier, according to exclusive survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

First Mariner Bancorp Inc. in Baltimore is looking to grow its mortgage business even as it continues to deal with elevated levels of loan losses and a shrinking balance sheet.

Auctioneer Steve Rawlings said this property would be a “lovely” family home or an “excellent” investment opportunity. Rawlings said the home is going to be sold for at least $50,000.

The loan portfolio is secured by 11 properties based in Manhattan and 14 located in Brooklyn. It is comprised of 245 residential units and 12 commercial spaces.

It's undeniable that small business is the growth engine of the economy that also helps stimulate the housing market recovery. Many of the third-party service providers, such as special servicers and foreclosure counseling agencies are small size business companies.