Banking regulators acknowledged problems with the foreclosure reviews conducted by the nation's megabanks and have agreed to evaluate the use of independent consultants in regulatory actions.
Democrats in Congress have raised concerns about how five banks have responded to new servicing standards included in the $25 billion national servicing settlement.
Rep. Maxine Waters, the ranking minority member of the House Financial Services Committee, believes that now is "precisely the time to think about how we can reshape the secondary mortgage market."
This past fall the Mortgage Bankers Association was pushing for a housing policy coordinator in the White House to ensure that federal regulations complement one another rather than conflict.
Two-thirds of the nearly 2,000 real estate agents that responded to a Campbell Communications and Inside Mortgage Finance survey want mortgage closings in 30 days or less.
Just how hot is the jumbo MBS market? Consider this: Some $3.95 billion in non-agency jumbo MBS was issued in the first quarter, compared with $3.46 billion in issuance in all of last year.
The independent foreclosure review process established by federal regulators for 14 servicers was “deeply flawed,” Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, said on Thursday in response to a report on the reviews by the Government Accountability Office. Waters said she will introduce legislation next week to address problems relating to use of outside contractors for enforcement actions.
Nationstar Mortgage clarified that the non-agency MBS it plans to issue in the second quarter of 2013 is an asset-backed security with servicing advances from non-agency mortgages. Genworth U.S. Mortgage Insurance, a unit of Genworth Financial, Inc., announced on Friday that it will offer 24 training classes in April to help mortgage lenders and servicers improve their efficiency and build their business. Fannie Mae President and CEO Tim Mayopoulos said this week that it would be a “mistake” for official Washington to allow the prospect of the newly profitable GSEs to continue to slow walk efforts on housing finance reform.