Mortgages

The biggest short- and long-term challenges facing commercial real estate going forward are the large amount of debt maturing between now and 2015, said an executive with Deloitte LLP.

Fannie Mae continues to ratchet up its requests for seller/servicers to repurchase delinquent loans, while its smaller rival, Freddie Mac, has actually reduced its buyback claims over the past four quarters.In its second-quarter financial report, Fannie said its outstanding repurchase requests totaled $9.6 billion at June 30, up $1 billion from the end of the first quarter.

Over the next two years JP Morgan Chase will grant $1 million in downpayment assistance as an incentive to police officers and city employees in Detroit who agree to purchase vacant homes and return to the city.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has rejected an appeal from Fair Isaac Corp., Minneapolis, letting stand a judge's ruling dismissing some of its claims before trial against VantageScore Solutions, Stamford, Conn., and Experian, Costa Mesa, Calif.

In the title business, agents serve an important function, operating in areas where underwriters do not have their own production offices.A number of recent developments regarding agencies show that even in a tough mortgage origination environment this business model remains attractive.

Last week I was walking through the town of Huntsville, Ont., with my family and noticed a brilliant marketing idea by a local shop owner. He owned a bike store and obviously wanted to not only attract customers for his bikes, but also his other products.

A new coalition of faith-based and community organizing groups is calling on the state attorneys general to "stand firm" in their negotiations with the major banks and require principal reductions on underwater mortgages as part of any settlement.

National home values experienced the smallest decline from the first quarter to the second quarter in more than four years, decreasing only 0.4%, according to a Zillow Inc. real estate market report.

GMAC Mortgage and the state of Maryland are working on a web portal that will exchange foreclosure mediation documents electronically.

To attract private capital into neighborhoods that are recovering from foreclosure, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has launched a Web-based tool that displays the location of all foreclosed properties owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.

A.M Best Co., Oldwick, N.J., has cut its financial strength ratings to "A" from "A+" and issuer credit ratings to "a-" from "aa+" of the property/casualty units of Old Republic International Corp., Chicago, in large part because of the problems the parent company is having with Republic Mortgage Insurance Co.

West Coast foreclosure activity continued to fall in July compared to the previous month, according to the latest report from ForeclosureRadar.

Tom Millon and Capital Markets Cooperative, a secondary marketing specialist based in North Florida, are in an enviable position: they have $100 million of Wilbur Ross' money and aim to spend it—though they are in no rush to do so.

GCC Servicing Systems, a provider of mortgage servicing technology and solutions for banks, mortgage companies and credit unions, has launched its customer service resolution module through its G/Serv platform to assist lenders with the management and tracking of customer disputes.

DJM Realty has been retained to manage the disposition of all the remaining Borders Group and Waldenbooks real estate throughout the country.

Investors Bancorp Inc., Short Hills, N.J., has agreed to acquire Brooklyn (N.Y.) Federal Bancorp Inc., for $10 million total. All shareholders of Brooklyn Federal, except for BFS Bancorp MHC, will receive cash (approximate total $3 million) for their stock. The BFS shares will be converted into shares of Investors.

Veros Real Estate Solutions said it's connected a “large lender” to its custom interface with the Uniform Collateral Data Portal.

Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks Inc., said C.T. Hill, its corporate executive vice president and head of consumer banking and mortgage, would now have his primary focus on the company's mortgage business.

Flagstar Bancorp, Troy, Mich., is selling 22 retail banking branches in Indiana to First Financial Bancorp, Cincinnati, for a 7% premium on $328 million in deposits. The deal should result in a one-time gain of $23 million.

The national delinquency rate for loans 30 or more days past their payment date but not in foreclosure is at 8.34% through July 2011.