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Foreclosure Contractors Face New Scrutiny From States

davidguide — Thu, 26 May 2011 22:53:28 +0000

ProPublica Staff

United States (ProPublica) – by Marian Wang

While federal and state officials investigating flawed foreclosures have largely focused on holding the banks accountable and bringing relief to wronged homeowners, officials in a few states have begun targeting the more obscure middlemen of the foreclosure scandal.

Prosecutors in California and Illinois have sent subpoenas to Lender Processing Services, one of the largest firms that processed mortgage documents for the banks. (Read more about LPS in our guide to who’s who of the foreclosure scandal.)

As we’ve noted, the firm—which helps handle more than half of all U.S. mortgages—has been accused of using the same “robo-signing” practices as the major banks, such as signing and notarizing documents that appeared inaccurate or invalid. Bank employees have testified under oath that they relied on LPS to vet the information in foreclosure documents.

LPS has had its share of legal troubles over its mortgage processing. Michigan’s attorney general announced an investigation last month into potentially fraudulent mortgage documents processed by an LPS subsidiary. (LPS has said that it discontinued the practices used by the subsidiary.) Along with the big banks, the firm recently received an order from federal regulators to correct problems with its processing of mortgage documents. (Read that consent order.)

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan also sent a subpoena to Nationwide Title Clearing, another firm contracted to provide mortgage services to banks. As we’ve noted, Nationwide Title Clearing employees have testified to robo-signing thousands of mortgage documents—known as assignments—that establish the ownership of a mortgage loan and are key to establishing who has the right to foreclose on a homeowner.

Nationwide Title Clearing said in a statement that its procedures have been “thoroughly audited and examined for accuracy” and that it would cooperate with any investigation. LPS declined to comment.

The latest actions on foreclosure problems as an attempted comprehensive settlement by all 50 state attorneys general has hit a few roadblocks. As we noted in our cheat sheet on bank investigations, the negotiations have been hampered by disagreement with the banks over the size of penalties as well as some disagreement among the attorneys general—at least eight of whom have opposed any settlement that would require banks to cut borrowers’ mortgage debt.

Bloomberg reports today that Bank of America has also received independent scrutiny from the attorneys general of Utah and Connecticut accusing the firm of invalid foreclosures and insufficient loan modifications. Utah warned that it would sue.

– Provided by ProPublica.org

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Loan Servicing Software.

davidguide — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:53:13 +0000

In today’s highly competitive environment, loan servicing software is an absolute essential for mortgage companies, banks, loan websites, and any other money lending company. This software is designed to automate most of the tasks involved in loan management. It is a great solution for keeping a track of the amount of loans paid off by borrowers, and the amount remaining. It provides a one point resolution to most of the issues faced by finance personnel. The software eliminates the possibility of human error by administering most of the tasks involved in loan management.
Loan servicing software is capable of making adjustments in processed transactions, deleting transactions, settling accounts, issuing checks, cancelling issued checks, and many more. This software can also identify and rectify any discrepancies that may have occurred dues to any reason. It gives a clear view of the number of checks issued and received, along with other details such as bank, issuer, date of issue/receipt, amount of the check, etc. It make the life of financial personnel a lot easier as they are saved from rather complex calculations involved in the payment process of a loan.
This software can be extremely useful for loan websites and payday agencies. Since start-ups and small financial firms do not have large workforce, this software can improve the productivity of the website as well as increase overall revenue generated. It can be of great help in recovering P&I (profit and interest) and T&I (taxes and insurance), ledger reporting, investor dispatch, register checking, and cash book balancing. Further adding to the utility of the software, it is compatible with most of the commonly used data management and reporting applications including the complete Microsoft Office suite.
If you own or are a part of a loan company, it is highly advisable that you get loan servicing software implemented without further ado. It will not only improve the quality of services your company provides, it will also enable you to save considerable time as well as money. You can simply use any search engine to search for potential IT services providers offering this software.

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Fixed mortgage rates hit new lows, but sales stay weak

davidguide — Mon, 23 May 2011 07:53:59 +0000

New York- Fixed mortgage rates fell last week to the lowest point of the year, offering incentive for homeowners to save money by refinancing their loans.

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Shorter-term loans becoming popular refinancing option

davidguide — Sat, 21 May 2011 10:53:31 +0000

By Kenneth R. Harney, Special to the Times Friday, May 20, 2011

Shorter-term loans gaining popularity

WASHINGTON — Could I refinance you into a seven-year fixed-rate mortgage at 2.99 percent? Or how about 10 or 15 years fixed in the mid 3s?

These may sound suspiciously like teaser quotes with tricks in the fine print, but they are in fact signs of an important shift under way among American homeowners: Not only have they been refinancing at a robust pace in recent weeks, but they’re ratcheting down on the remaining number of years they plan to pay on their mortgages.

Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft calls the shift to shorter terms “a very strong trend.” In his company’s latest quarterly survey of refinancers, more than one out of three borrowers who ditched their 30-year fixed-rate loans opted to replace them with 15-year or 20-year mortgages at near-record …

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Federal grand jury in San Jose indicts six in mortgage fraud scheme

davidguide — Fri, 20 May 2011 04:55:02 +0000

An indictment unsealed this week in San Jose alleges the defendants orchestrated a multimillion-dollar plot to scam banks into extending loans to unqualified low-income homebuyers.

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Citigroup Hedge-Fund Returns Jump as Ban on Prop Trading Looms

davidguide — Wed, 18 May 2011 07:53:32 +0000

Citigroup Inc., which took a $45 billion U.S. bailout after losses on subprime home loans, is boosting profits from a hedge fund that bets the bank’s money on mortgage debt — a practice regulators plan to restrict.

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Property ruling worries Myrtle Beach area Realtors

davidguide — Tue, 10 May 2011 04:53:01 +0000

Homeowners facing foreclosure will have more time and less of a burden as they try to modify their loans and keep their houses as a result of a S.C. Supreme Court order, but some local Realtors are concerned that the changes will just draw out the negative impact of distressed properties.

Last week, S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal issued an order adjusting the foreclosure proceedings and requiring all lenders, through their attorneys, to give homeowners of owner-occupied properties the opportunity to modify a mortgage before the case can make it to a hearing. The order is added to two Toal issued in 2009 that didn’t apply to many homeowners because it only affected foreclosures that qualified for the U.S. Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or loans where the lender agreed to participate in the program.

The number of new foreclosures is not as high as it was in the past two years but homeowners continue to default on loans – almost 13 percent of all mortgages nationwide reported to the Mortgage Bankers Association are at least 30 days past due.

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Fannie Mae seeks $8.5 billion from taxpayers

davidguide — Sat, 07 May 2011 01:52:56 +0000

Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae on Friday said it would ask for an additional $8.5 billion from taxpayers as it continues to suffer losses on loans made prior to 2009.

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Poll: Borrowers are mixed up about mortgages

davidguide — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:00:14 +0000

Half of prospective home buyers don’t understand mortgage basics, a new national poll by hometracker Zillow shows, indicating that many borrowers taking out loans could be making costly mistakes..Highlights: Homebuyers answered basic questions…

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DeMint Urges No Increase in Debt Limit

davidguide — Mon, 02 May 2011 18:55:39 +0000

Sen. James DeMint (R-SC) writing in the Greenville News : “Debt increase advocates are misleading the public when they say fiscal catastrophe will result from a failure to increase the debt ceiling. They are using scare tactics to keep up their big-borrowing and spending sprees, just like they did to justify their Wall Street and mortgage bailouts. The Chicken Little claims that a debt ceiling lapse would mean the nation’s creditors will not be paid are simply not true.” He concludes: “If we choose to surrender to the debt, instead of fighting it, it will surely lead to our demise.”

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