Fannie Mae earlier this month released additional results of its new servicer evaluation program for the first half of 2011, noting that 11 out of 13 servicers in this peer group are considered on track to meet at least median performance levels.In February, Fannie rolled out its Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards (STAR) program, designed to encourage customer service improvements and better foreclosure prevention outcomes for homeowners by rating servicers on their performance in those areas. Fannie categorizes servicers into three peer groups based on the number of loans they service, with each servicer scored using the Servicer Performance Scorecard. STAR ratings are based on a five-star scale.

The chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the GSEs unveiled a bill late this week that seeks to drastically overhaul the secondary mortgage market – without the need for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.The Private Mortgage Market Act would create a heavily regulated mortgage-backed securities market consisting strictly of private entities functioning without a federal guarantee, according to Rep. Scott Garrett, R-NJ.Garrett, who chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, said the goal of his legislation is to facilitate continued standardization and uniformity, ensure rule of law and provide MBS investors with the necessary transparency and standardization to ensure “that a deep and liquid market develops” without Fannie and Freddie.

The 12 member “super committee” of House and Senate members tasked with tackling debt reduction should seriously consider raising the guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as one way to reduce government expenditures, according to the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. In a letter to the members of the Joint Select Committee to Reduce the Deficit, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-AL, said the committee should consider raising the premiums the GSEs charge lenders to insure against the risk that borrowers will fail to repay their loans to something even higher than the White House and regulators have proposed.

Under fire by its official watchdog, as well as by a senior House Democrat, the Federal Housing Finance Agency last week announced it has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to transition away from the GSEs’ current foreclosure attorney network programs. FHFA’s directive – which it says is in synch with the Finance Agency’s Servicing Alignment Initiative to produce uniform foreclosure processing standards – will move toward a system where mortgage servicers select qualified law firms that meet certain minimum, uniform criteria. Under current practice in certain states, each GSE designates law firms eligible to undertake foreclosure work, and mortgage servicers then select and work with these firms, according to the FHFA.

In a move that could potentially prolong already protracted litigation, a U.S. District Court judge in New York ruled last week that a proposed $8.5 billion settlement over Bank of America’s non-agency mortgage-backed securities belongs in federal and not state court.Judge William Pauley denied a motion by the Bank of New York Mellon to move the lawsuit filed by BofA Countrywide non-agency MBS investors back to New York State Supreme Court. Eleven entities sharing the name Walnut Place petitioned for the federal court venue, claiming the case’s size and complexity qualified it for a “mass action.” Judge Pauley agreed.

Mortgage banking profits rebounded in the third quarter of 2011 as loan production levels began to climb, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Trends. A representative sample of 15 major mortgage lenders revealed aggregate net income from mortgage banking activities rebounded back into positive territory after thudding to a whopping loss in the previous quarter. The group posted aggregate mortgage banking income of $4.72 billion in the third quarter, compared to a combined $11.40 billion loss in the previous three-month period. The group’s massive second-quarter loss was largely...(Includes one data chart)

It has been four years since fault lines in the subprime market sent tremors through the rest of the mortgage industry and three years since the global collapse of financial markets, but lender behavior today remains driven by fear. Originators ask themselves three questions in the current market, said William Rayburn, CEO at mortgage technology provider FNC, during a panel session at the ABS East conference sponsored last week by Information Management Network. Lenders want to know whether the application will close – it costs them money if it can’t – and whether they can sell the loan if it closes, he said. Just as important...

Consumers who shop for their mortgages online are increasingly of a higher overall credit quality, and their approach to shopping online is growing more sophisticated, according to a new benchmarking study by Mortgagebot LLC. And that raises the ante for mortgage lenders that want to compete in cyberspace, said officials at the Mequon, WI-based information technology provider. The three most significant take-aways for lenders from the new survey have to do with growing borrower sophistication (and the resultant increase in customer expectation), the lender rate of online technology adoption and what online mortgage lending experts call...

Overwhelmed by the tidal wave of foreclosures and under intense scrutiny by lawmakers and regulators, the mortgage industry and default servicers in particular are being challenged like never before to keep up with complex, ever-changing compliance rules and they are in dire need of a technology solution to keep up with the changes. Compliance technology vendors such as Irvine, CA-based DecisionReady are striving to keep up with the demands of their clients, who may not exactly know what they want but know they need a solution that keeps them connected and on top of the latest legal and procedural changes, according to...

Wells Fargo accounted for a whopping 26.1 percent of home mortgages originated during the third quarter, and when you throw in the production numbers for other kingpins in the industry it’s hard to see how small lenders survive. But beneath the gaudy market shares of the Wells Fargos and JPMorgan Chases of the world stand hundreds of small originators – mortgage brokers, community banks, credit unions and old-school independent mortgage bankers – that feed them a significant amount of business. The key to finding success under the shadow of the industry giants is developing a speciality, usually coupled with an obsession for...