A report by RealtyTrac shows that foreclosure activity decreased on a year-over-year basis in 178 of the nation’s 211 metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more. The report found a decrease in foreclosure activity in the top 10 metropolitan areas in the first half of 2011 compared to the first half of 2010. Seattle was the only exception with a nearly 10 percent increase in foreclosure activity from the first half of 2010. Seattle’s foreclosure rating is now 57th among all metro areas, up from a 97th ranking in the first half of 2010. California, Nevada and Arizona cities represented the top 10 metro foreclosure rates and 15 of the top...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have each suspended Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. and its affiliate RMIC of North Carolina effective immediately as approved mortgage insurers after the GSEs concluded the mortgage insurer will no longer be able to meet mandatory capital requirements.According to Fannie’s July 29 announcement, RMIC breached its regulatory risk-to-capital limits required by North Carolina, the mortgage insurer’s state of domicile, as of Sept. 30, 2010.

Look for the tug of war between proponents and opponents of extending high-cost loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA to go down the wire and even heat up when Congress returns from its summer break in September, Hill watchers predict.Unless Congress intervenes, the “emergency” high-cost market conforming loan limits that were enacted in 2008 will expire on Oct. 1. That would drop the top Fannie, Freddie and FHA loan limit from the current maximum $729,750 to $625,500.

A new evaluation program rolled out by Freddie Mac last week will soon provide each of the GSE’s servicers with a monthly ranking based on earned performance points allowing it to see how a servicer ranks relative to its competitors.Freddie’s Servicer Success Program, which took effect Aug. 1, replaces the GSE’s traditional performance-tiered ranking by evaluating servicer performance in investor reporting and remitting and default management.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency said last week to expect further litigation in its ongoing efforts to recover losses suffered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in connection to the two GSEs’ investments in non-agency securities.Last week, the Finance Agency filed suit against UBS Americas Inc. and various related entities alleging misstatements and omissions of non-agency MBS purchased by Fannie and Freddie.

The House Financial Services Committee’s second highest ranking Democrat is again facing ethics charges stemming from actions she allegedly took to aid a minority bank connected to her husband to recover losses it suffered when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preferred stock plummeted after the GSEs were put into conservatorship.The House Ethics Committee announced two weeks ago it will restart its investigation of ethics charges against Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, with the hiring of Washington, DC, attorney Billy Martin as an outside counsel to the committee to “review, revise and assist the committee in completing the matter.”

The private mortgage insurance industry is trying to preserve its viability in the mortgage world that has thrashed its financial health, urging regulators to expand the definition of a qualified residential mortgage to include loans that are privately insured. According to an analysis done by Milliman, Inc., an actuarial and insurance consulting firm, on behalf of the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, private MI is a controlling factor that mitigates the risk of default, particularly in ...

Four of the top five mortgage servicers continued to gradually pare down their portfolios during the second quarter of 2011, while Wells Fargo inched further toward the top of the industry, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. Absent any blockbuster mergers or servicing acquisitions over the past few years, the major trend in the servicing business has been the winding down of distressed subprime and Alt A portfolios. Bank of America, still the largest servicer in the industry, has seen its portfolio shrink steadily since ... [includes one data chart]

Community bankers are lobbying for an exemption from national mortgage servicing standards that are evolving from federal rule-makers and secondary-market investors, arguing that they could drive smaller companies out of the servicing business. Jack Hopkins, CEO of CorTrust Bank in Sioux Falls, SD, urged the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee this week to exempt small banks from new guidelines being drafted by banking and consumer protection regulators. Representing the Independent Community Bankers of America, Hopkins said the increased attention on mortgage servicing is raising ...