Foreclosure filings up or down? Whose report is right?
Feb. 21, 2012 Miami, FL - Mortgage Lending News: If you were paying attention on Thursday, you saw two different stories about the housing market: The Mortgage Bankers Association said delinquencies and foreclosures fell in the fourth quarter of 2011 while RealtyTrac said foreclosure filings rose in January.
One simple way to account for the difference: They’re looking at different points in time. But it’s also worth noting that the reports are generated using two different methodologies.
Reverse mortgages on the rise.
Feb. 21, 2012 Miami, FL - Mortgage Lending NewsConverting home equity into cash has been a challenge for homeowners since the real-estate downturn, but a growing number of lenders are quietly reviving a loan for seniors that does just that: the reverse mortgage.
Reverse mortgages allow homeowners who are at least 62 years old to draw down on their home's equity in exchange for cash in several ways, including one lump sum, a line of credit or monthly payments.
Mortgage foreclosures and delinquencies hit three-year low
Feb. 16, 2012 Miami, FL - Mortgage Lending News: The percentage of mortgages at least one payment past due fell in the fourth quarter of 2011 and fewer loans entered the foreclosure process, reflecting improvement seen in the economy, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported on Thursday.
The current housing crisis may determined this year's election.
Feb. 17, 2012 Miami, FL - Mortgage Lending News:The housing market has never been a major factor in a presidential election. Sometimes, the topic has hardly garnered more than a passing mention by either political party.
Right now, housing is not yet a front-and-center issue for President Obama or any of the Republican presidential hopefuls. But no less than five national surveys indicate that the issue is a top-of-mind topic among voters. Granted, the polls were undertaken by real-estate-centric organizations — Realtor.com, the National Association of Home Builders, HouseLogic, Yahoo Real Estate and Trulia. But the unanimity of their findings underscores just how worried current and future owners are about their homes.
JP Morgan Chase, and UBS are threaten to be downgraded two levels by Moody's.
Feb. 16, 2012 Miami, FL - Mortgage Lending News: UBS AG, Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) and Morgan Stanley’s credit ratings may be cut by as many as three levels by Moody’s Investors Service, which is reviewing 17 banks and securities firms with global capital markets operations.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C) are among companies that may be downgraded by two levels, Moody’s said in a statement, adding that the “guidance is indicative only.” Moody’s today cut some European insurers’ ratings based on risks stemming from the region’s sovereign debt crisis.
Federal Housing Administration will exhaust its reserves next year.
Feb. 16, 2012 Miami, FL - Mortgage Lending News: The Federal Housing Administration will exhaust its reserves over the coming year, according to budget projections released Monday, which would require a Treasury infusion for the first time in its 78-year history.
But Obama administration officials said more recent developments, including fines that will go to the FHA from last week's $25 billion mortgage settlement with five major banks, could cover any shortfall and obviate the need for taxpayer funding.
San Francisco officials finds foreclosures riddled with errors
An audit by San Francisco county officials of about 400 recent foreclosures there determined that almost all involved either legal violations or suspicious documentation, according to a report released Wednesday.
Anecdotal evidence indicating foreclosure abuse has been plentiful since the mortgage boom turned to bust in 2008. But the detailed and comprehensive nature of the San Francisco findings suggest how pervasive foreclosure irregularities may be across the nation.
The improprieties range from the basic — a failure to warn borrowers that they were in default on their loans as required by law — to the arcane. For example, transfers of many loans in the foreclosure files were made by entities that had no right to assign them and institutions took back properties in auctions even though they had not proved ownership.
| Goldman, Two Firms Agree on Foreclosure-Signing Practice |
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| Friday, 02 September 2011 07:11 | |||
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A chief focus of the superintendent's agreement, which was announced Thursday, was putting an end to a practice known as "robosigning," in which bank employees signed foreclosure documents without reviewing case files as required by law. Goldman, Litton and Ocwen agreed to stop the practice, make new staffing and training requirements for employees handling foreclosures and withdraw pending foreclosure actions that are based on faulty paperwork. They also agreed to compensate borrowers for wrongful foreclosures and strengthen protections for homeowners in relation to late payment fees and insurance costs. Ocwen is in the process of buying Litton, a Houston-based mortgage loan servicing business, for $264 million. The agreement will allow that deal to proceed, the superintendent's office said. As a result of the robosigning pact, Lawsky agreed to issue a "no objection" letter to the deal. The Ocwen-Litton combination will create the 12th largest mortgage servicer in the country, according to Lawsky's office. Goldman said in a recent regulatory filing that it expects the deal to close by the end of the year. Goldman bought Litton in 2007 for $430 million, hoping to glean more information about the subprime mortgage market to help its trading business. In recent years, it has become a money-losing thorn in Goldman's side. The bank began considering a sale of Litton late last year, as the mortgage market continued to suffer losses and state and federal regulators began investigating industry-wide foreclosure problems. Goldman wrote down the value of the business by $220 million in the first quarter. In a quarterly filing on Aug. 9, Goldman said Litton was facing probes by state attorneys general and banking regulators. A group of the nation's largest banks are said to be working toward a settlement that could resolve some of those investigations and cost the industry billions of dollars. Goldman Sachs spokesman Michael DuVally declined to comment on the agreement. An Ocwen representative did not respond to a request for comment.
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 02 February 2012 19:16 |
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