New disclosures on risk-sharing transactions from Freddie Mac provide some details on the automated valuation model used by the government-sponsored enterprise to determine home prices and loan-to-value ratios. Freddie’s AVM – Home Value Explorer – provides home price valuations that are a little higher than the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The analysts based their findings on estimates of current LTV ratios that Freddie recently added to monthly loan-level disclosures on Structured Agency Credit Risk transactions. LTV ratios based on Freddie’s AVM were...
New legal requirements enacted in the state of New York in the wake of the financial crisis pose particular compliance challenges for mortgage servicers, according to a new report by analysts at S&P Global Ratings. The S&P team recently reviewed a series of laws the state legislature passed in June that attempts to address several issues related to “zombie” foreclosures, which refers to the phenomenon of a servicer initiating foreclosure on a vacant property but not going so far as to actually take title. Urban community activists complain such properties languish unsold for a prolonged period of time, contributing to neighborhood blight in communities least able to handle it – hence, state lawmakers decided to act.One resulting requirement “imposes conditions ...
RSS