The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle is making progress in light of its ongoing struggles in the mortgage market but significant challenges remain, according to a recent ratings announcement by Fitch Ratings. Last week, Fitch announced it has assigned long-term and short-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to the...

Implementing a broad range of procedural changes and picking through two years’ worth of foreclosure activity are expected to impose a significant expense on mortgage servicers that agreed to consent orders with federal regulators this week, but industry experts say the threat of penalties and remedial costs appears...[Includes one graph]

The current method of paying servicers could stand to be improved, but regulators and secondary market investors need to bear in mind that change would have ripple effects throughout the industry, according to a new analysis by Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp., a consulting firm based in New York. “Changing the servicing fee from its current form may...

Two of the nation’s top mortgage lenders have announced some hefty job cuts as the industry appears headed into a steep drop in new originations in 2011. Bank of America announced late this week that it is adjusting...[Includes one data chart]

Generation “Y” has a huge mortgage appetite, and despite the housing market crash in 2008 and the difficulty of getting a home loan, many of its members think they will become homeowners – and sooner rather than later, according to a recent study conducted by Lachman Associates. “These are happy optimists – which is...

A number of the top mortgage lending financial institutions are finding increasing success in reaching potential homebuyers via their Internet websites, but they’re not satisfied there. Some are stepping up...

The draft servicing settlement proposed by some state attorneys general would prove counterproductive because it would drive up defaults and foreclosure costs and would not likely provide broad or lasting benefits, according to a study released this week. Researchers at Kansas State University, Louisiana State University and the National Bureau of Economic Research said...

Specialists in default mortgage servicing are focusing more on systems that work with the individual borrower’s situation, improve transparency and information for management and increase opportunity for collaboration. Unemployment and negative equity are...

Despite a relatively strong rebound in the fourth quarter, savings institutions reported a sharp decline in residential mortgage lending in 2010 that reduced the industry’s share of the overall home lending market to its lowest level ever. Lenders regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision reported $136.2 billion in single-family mortgage lending last year, a 39.2 percent drop from 2009 levels. It was the lowest annual output for the thrift industry since 1996 and reduced the...[Includes two data charts]

Mortgage lenders and compliance experts are deeply concerned about the recently published risk-retention proposal and its impact on the availability of credit for eligible borrowers as well as the potential fair lending issues it may raise. Industry trade groups are especially worried about...