State and federal regulators appear to be close to getting more servicers to agree to a settlement similar to the $25 billion deal agreed to by five big banks.
Mortgage real estate investment trusts can draw some guidance from a recent private-letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service on whether excess spread on mortgage servicing rights can be deemed as real-estate assets for REIT purposes. According to a recently released IRS private-letter ruling dated April 12, certain excess servicing rights would constitute a real-estate asset, and income from the spread would be treated as interest on obligations secured by mortgages on real property, for purposes of tax rules governing REITs. MSRs generally represent...
The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program is pressing the Treasury Department to focus on servicer actions as part of efforts to reduce re-default rates in the Home Affordable Modification Program. The Treasury has pushed back against the suggestions, stating that it is “always looking to improve the program.” In a report published last week, the SIGTARP said HAMP mods have re-defaulted at an “alarming” rate. As of the end of April, the re-default rate on HAMP mods completed in 2009 was 46 percent and the re-default rate for HAMP mods completed in 2010 was 38 percent. “While HAMP has helped...
Freddie Mac's CFO said the "true value" provided by the government-sponsored enterprises isn't billions of dollars in profits. Meanwhile, firms continue to pursue mortgage servicing rights.
The House Financial Services Committee recently voted 30‐27 to approve H.R. 2767, the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (PATH) Act, the housing reform bill introduced by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R‐TX, the committee chairman. Among the bill’s Title IV provisions are a handful of “regulatory relief” overrides to various CFPB mortgage-related rulemakings. For example, Section 403 includes changes to the points-and-fees definitions for the “qualified mortgage”/ability-to-repay rule that also were included in H.R 1077...
The New York State Department of Financial Services is concerned that the CFPB’s proposed amendments to its mortgage loan servicing rulemaking would interfere with the state’s early-intervention efforts on behalf of delinquent homeowners. Here’s the problem, as NY DFS sees it: Under the CFPB’s proposed amendments to the mortgage rules per the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act/ Regulation X, mortgage servicers are prohibited from making “the first notice or filing required by applicable law for any judicial or non-judicial...
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