The performance of mortgages originated in recent years remains strong, pushing down delinquency rates across loan types. However, liquidation timelines for certain loans have hit new highs recently as servicers continue to work on foreclosing mortgages that went into default years ago. As of the end of March, the overall delinquency rate on mortgages declined to 4.08 percent, according to Black Knight Financial Services. The delinquency rate declined by 12.4 percent compared with March 2015 and is at its lowest point since March 2007. The foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate was...

The New York State Supreme Court recently reversed a ruling in a foreclosure case, providing a favorable decision for lenders and servicers. New York Community Bank v. Daphne McClendon involved a foreclosure that was initiated in 2012. The mortgage in question was originated in 2008 by AmTrust Bank for $544,000. The note accompanying the mortgage was signed by electronic signature. The borrower challenged...

The Senate Appropriations Committee last week approved funding for several housing provisions in the government’s Transportation and Housing and Urban Development fiscal year 2017 budget proposal, including FHA technological improvements, while the full Senate passed an amendment to include energy costs in FHA underwriting and appraisals. Approved by a unanimous vote of 30 to 0, the T-HUD budget bill, among other things, would provide federal funding for FHA technological upgrades rather than charge lenders an administrative fee as HUD had proposed. The committee appropriated $13 million in specific funds to improve FHA’s information technology. The proposed per-loan fee charged to lenders was projected...

Underserved markets will suffer by not allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to retain capital, according to Rep. Mike Capuano, D-MA, who urged the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Treasury Department to re-examine the terms of their conservatorship. Under the current plan, the government-sponsored enterprises are not allowed to build capital and by January 2018 their reserves are expected to be wound down to zero. Capuano said...

Will President Trump (if elected) tax mortgage servicers that use offshore workers?

Consumers said they received conflicting and confusing foreclosure notifications during the loss mitigation review process...

While S&P will rate new non-agency MBS without formal guidance from the CFPB, the rating service noted that the market’s handling of TRID issues is fluid...

Blackstone continues to expand its presence in the mortgage industry on several fronts. In late January, it bought Interactive Mortgage Advisors, a Denver-based servicing advisory firm.

State regulators have been particularly concerned about growth in recent years by nonbank servicers such as Ocwen Financial, the largest subprime servicer. Ocwen, of course, is now shrinking.

On the subject of delayed closings, one agent had this to say: “All of my closings are taking two to four weeks longer to close, and there has been a lot of confusion…”