Mortgages

We keep hearing the same chorus week after week from politicians and regulators: we want private capital to return to the mortgage business. In a nutshell, they want private investors to play the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - that of buying and guaranteeing loans.

Fannie Mae continued its money losing ways in the fourth quarter, posting a net loss of $2.4 billion for the period and $16.9 billion for the year. In 2010 it lost $14 billion.

Federal Housing Finance Agency acting director Edward DeMarco continued to play defense Tuesday as senators grilled him over his unwillingness to let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac forgive struggling homeowners' debt.

Mortgage bankers funded roughly $404 billion of home mortgages in the fourth quarter, a 13% sequential gain, but a 25% decline from the same period in 2010, according to final survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

Mortgage statistics such as the national delinquency rate indicate that the housing market still has a long road to any recovery. With delinquencies continuing to be at a high number throughout the country, many investment firms are taking advantage of opportunities to purchase these nonperforming loans of residential and commercial land from financial institutions.

The great Charlie "Tremendous Jones is very well known for this quote: "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read."

The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry is ending its reinstatement for streamlined renewals Wednesday at midnight EST.

Commercial real estate property owners might not have enough equity to refinance their properties as loans originated in 2007 become due throughout this year, warns one expert.

The recently unveiled HARP 2.0 initiative should be “fully” operational in 30 days and is already exceeding expectations, according to Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan.

During a pair of appearances Tuesday on Capitol Hill, top housing officials from the Obama administration sought to reassure members of Congress about the financial condition of the Federal Housing Administration.

Technology is building new bridges between traditional appraisals, automated valuations, sensitive property data and housing market analytics. Federal regulation adds to the mix the development of regulatory-compliant appraisal solutions for banks and third-party service providers.

While investing in domestic real estate is simple in theory, it is rarely easy in its execution. There is much involved—from banks’ stringent requirements and the glut of paperwork to overriding labor, market and macroeconomic conditions.

Beech Street Capital, a mortgage banking company engaged in originating, underwriting, closing and servicing multifamily loans for apartment buildings and manufactured home communities, has provided a $9.5 million Fannie Mae conventional loan to acquire Oak Grove Apartments, a 369-unit apartment complex located in Miami.

SunTrust Banks Inc., which has already lost hundreds of millions after repurchasing bad mortgages, could lose up to $150 million as it deals with the cost of mortgage-servicing problems.

HUD is increasing its enforcement efforts to recoup millions of dollars in losses on improperly underwritten FHA-insured loans, holding lenders accountable for their actions, Housing secretary Shaun Donovan told a Senate panel Tuesday morning.

Boston-based Highfields Capital Management, which owns a 7.7% stake in CoreLogic, accused CoreLogic's board of directors' "desire to maintain control rather than doing what is in the best interest of shareholders."

Lack of awareness and education reign supreme topping the list of reasons why historic low mortgage rates, government-supported programs and large inventories of affordable foreclosures are not increasing refinancings and modifications. Given the complexity of the mortgage process homeowners are not taking full advantage of the wisdom gained during the foreclosure crisis.

Single-family originations by commercial banks and savings institutions jumped 23% in the fourth quarter as refinancing activity accelerated from the prior period, according to new figures released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act was introduced in 2003 as a way to protect active military personnel from certain civil actions. To comply with SCRA, servicers rely on field service companies to provide additional assistance through borrower outreach.

The general media – TV especially – sometimes avoids letting the facts get in the way of a good story. Indeed, crimes of greed and stupidity were committed on Wall Street and by dozens of nonprime retail loan officers and brokers who upstreamed billions of dollars in questionable loans to Wall Street for securitization.