Loan modifications with principal reduction have significantly increased in the past year, with servicers seeing improved performance compared with other types of mods. The mods remain concentrated on securitized non-agency mortgages as well as portfolio loans, but performance varies considerably. After falling to a 2.7 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2010, principal reduction mods have accounted for a growing share of bank and thrift mod activity, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Principal reduction was used in 7.8 percent of the mods completed by nine major bank and thrift servicers in the third quarter of 2011. ...

Bank and thrift holdings of home-equity loans declined by 1.8 percent from the second quarter of 2011 to the third, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Database. HELs continue to demonstrate strong performance as the serious delinquency rate on the $1.20 trillion in holdings was 2.05 percent in the third quarter of 2011. Closed-end second liens accounted for 10.6 percent of bank and thrift total HEL business – which includes unused home-equity loan-of-credit commitments. The $127.2 billion in outstanding CES was down by 4.2 percent from the previous quarter. ... [Includes one data chart]

Wells Fargo this week agreed to a $940,056 settlement with Maryland’s attorney general regarding option ARMs. According to the AG, Wachovia and Golden West – the lenders that offered the loans, which Wells purchased – did not fully explain the loans’ negative amortization option to borrowers. Wells agreed to modify Maryland borrowers with the loans via the Home Affordable Modification Program if possible or via the servicer’s proprietary mod program. ... [Includes three briefs]

Bank of America reached a landmark $335 million agreement with the Department of Justice to settle allegations that Countrywide systematically discriminated against African-American and Hispanic borrowers during the housing boom, manipulating them into taking subprime loans when they were qualified for prime financing. It’s the largest settlement ever for a residential fair lending claim. The case also marks the first time the Justice Department has alleged and obtained relief for borrowers who were steered into mortgages on the basis of their race or national origin, a practice that placed...

The one category of distressed loan that the federal government has the most control over – mortgages insured by the FHA and VA – continues to show the worst success rates for loan modifications. After 12 months of post-modification seasoning, over half (51 percent) of government-insured loans were 60 days or more past due, according to a report issued this week by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. That compared to an overall 60+ re-default rate of 39 percent. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages, along with loans held in the servicer’s portfolio, showed the best...

The timing and method of disposing of real estate owned properties will have significant implications for home prices, according to Fitch Ratings analysts. The supply of REO homes is unprecedented, with the large overhang of distressed properties in the housing market and weak demand, analysts said. The REO industry estimates that more than 2 million properties nationwide are in foreclosure and that 25 percent to 35 percent of all home sales are related to properties whose mortgages have defaulted. In a recent home-price projection report, which uses the rating agency’s Sustainable Home...

The outcome of the securities fraud case leveled against six former top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could hinge on what exactly is considered a subprime loan. At least one defendant is prepared to argue that there is no standard definition.In fact, the GSEs appear to still be reporting their subprime and Alt A exposure in much the same way they did in the period covered by the Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuits.Late last week, the SEC pulled the trigger on its three-year investigation of claims that the two GSEs failed to disclose to investors the companies’ exposure to subprime mortgages prior to the 2008 housing market crash.

The FHA will continue to play a critical role in the nation’s housing markets in 2012 even as it tries to balance the need to extend credit while reducing its market share to open the way for private capital to return to the mortgage market, according to industry observers. That means walking a tightrope in trying to keep the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund actuarially sound while trying to avoid piling on more fees and additional restrictions, which could hamper housing recovery, observers said. “We can’t have an economic recovery without a housing recovery,” said Brian Chappelle, a mortgage industry consultant. “The philosophical debate about the role of government in housing should be ...

The supply of outstanding single-family MBS in the market fell 0.6 percent during the third quarter of 2011, according to a new analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. There was a total of $6.544 trillion of single-family MBS outstanding at the end of September, the lowest level since the third quarter of 2007. Although MBS supplies have been declining steadily over the past four years, securitized loans actually represent a historically high 63.3 percent of total home loan debt outstanding as of the end of the third quarter. The steepest decline is in non-agency MBS, a...(Includes one data chart)

Reform of the government-sponsored enterprises is seen as an essential step toward the widespread resumption of non-agency securitization. However, industry analysts suggest that significant action on GSE reform will not begin until after the November 2012 elections. “We are still nowhere close to any legislation that has a realistic possibility of even being enacted,” said Lawrence White, a professor of economics at New York University, at a seminar this week hosted by the American Securitization Forum. “The can will continue to get kicked down the road until after November 2012.” ...