Mortgages

A rare public rebuke of a rogue attorney general by his colleagues has highlighted the dysfunction among the state AGs and raised doubts about their ability to strike a settlement deal with the nation's largest mortgage servicers.

WASHINGTON - Carrington Mortgage Services is currently building a platform to serve the mortgage broker community, according to Steve Patton, the company's executive vice president for mortgage lending.

In recent weeks Bank of America has been telling analysts and shareholders that it is actively selling mortgage servicing rights while offering little, or no, details on what exactly it unloaded – and at what price.

Pro-active housing policies may be needed to spur a recovery in the housing sector, according to Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke.

It will take less time than previously expected for the housing market to clear the supply of distressed homes on the market, but that so-called shadow inventory will still be around for nearly four years, Standard & Poor's Rating Services said last week.

The largest state organization of real estate professionals in the country has urged the mortgage community to improve the short-sale process, suggesting, among other things, that they set realistic time frames in which to make their decisions and then stick to them.

Despite my years of involvement within the mortgage and financial services industries, perhaps the most profound lesson about mortgage banking that I ever learned occurred when I signed a mortgage of my own several years ago. It was about 15 pages long. Right before I signed it, the closing agent looked at me and said, "Do you know what this document means, Rob?"

Federally insured problem loans may soon turn into the new delinquency superstars to replace the mortgages originated at the peak of the home price bubble which, according to insiders, are slowly passing through the system despite procedural and litigation stumbling blocks.

A U.S. District Court judge in Oregon issued a pair of rulings in favor of Merscorp subsidiary Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., but it remains unclear how those rulings will impact MERS' appeal of a third case where a second federal judge vacated an Oregon borrower's nonjudicial foreclosure.

Fewer U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities loans are slated to come due in 2012 than this year, according to a Fitch report Friday.

What does it say for the state of the upended mortgage industry that Standard & Poor's can report the positive news that there is now only 47 months of shadow inventory on hand? Remember, shadow inventory is seriously delinquent or foreclosed real estate that has not yet even been listed for sale—mostly because of the glut of foreclosed properties already in the market.

Freddie Mac said Friday it would delay its regularly scheduled Reference Bills auction announcement until Monday due to anticipation that Hurricane Irene could have an effect on capital market participants in New York and other parts of the East Coast.

After five straight months where home sales plunged in Massachusetts compared to 2010, there are signs of a possible recovery in July 2011.

If you work with other people (and who doesn't?) reflect on the last week and notice how much time you wasted in drama: the energy-draining behaviors or exchanges that keep you from what you really want to be doing. Think about all the infighting, water-cooler talk, meaningless meetings, turf wars, pouting, rants, and other behaviors that blocked positive, productive interactions in your organization.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke criticized policymakers Friday for the political wrangling over raising the country's debt limit, and warned that more such events could do even greater harm to the economy.

Although residential origination volumes swooned in the second quarter, commercial mortgage production picked up nicely at many firms.

3Point Asset Management, Irvine, Calif., has hired Ron Millar as AVP in charge of sales and training.

Warren Buffett's $5 billion public vote of confidence in Bank of America, happily for him, does not require actual confidence. The terms of the legendary investor's deal, which grants Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. $5 billion in perpetual preferred stock and warrants to buy B of A stock at just over $7 a share, include no lockup period.

Not only are residential loan applications booming, but nonbanks increasingly are tapping their warehouse providers for additional credit.

Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is pressing the GSE regulator to adopt several changes to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program, allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance more underwater borrowers.