The high cost of servicing delinquent mortgages for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is one of the factors that prompt lenders to implement underwriting overlays, according to Laurie Goodman, director of the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. However, recent changes to the GSEs’ standards for servicing delinquent mortgages along with a potential adjustment to repurchase requirements are promising, she said. “In order to broaden access to credit, servicing issues ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is fighting state-level court actions that threaten the first-lien status of loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including a recent ruling in Nevada granting a homeowners association priority in collecting unpaid HOA fees ahead of the mortgage lender in a foreclosure. The regulator has filed separate actions in federal court in Nevada seeking to overturn recent state court rulings allowing HOAs to jump to the front of the creditor list with ...

Bulletin 2014-23. Dec. 8. Freddie Mac announced servicing updates, including the requirement that servicers file and settle any property insurance claims with the applicable property insurer before submitting a recommendation to Freddie to charge off a mortgage. In addition, the bulletin requires servicers to send Freddie a copy of the fully executed modification agreement of home mortgages and second mortgages when the modification ... [Includes seven briefs]

Of that amount, $9.9 trillion is mortgaged, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, which means consumers have untapped equity of $17.6 trillion.

The market heated up significantly in 2013 with $152.22 billion of Ginnie MSRs being transferred.

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase increased their first-lien holdings compared to 3Q 2013 while Bank of America and Citigroup experienced a decline.

Meanwhile, stock analysts who were once bullish on Ocwen are now taking out their knives, downgrading or slamming the once high-flying company.

PHH Mortgage was the top-ranked IO lender, with $9.51 billion in such originations through three quarters in 2014.

At First Tennessee Bank, for example, its commitments were flat from the second to the third quarter, but average outstandings increased by 13 percent to $861 million.

A federal bankruptcy judge last week ruled against increasing Lehman Brothers’ reserves for residential MBS claims. The ruling by Judge Shelley Chapman of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York was a setback for investors and trustees who asked the court in August to increase Lehman’s current reserves of $5 billion to $12.1 billion in a bid to force the defunct investment bank to repurchase legacy MBS., according to a Barclay’s Research report. The lawsuit against Lehman alleges...