Borrowers falling more than 60 days behind on their mortgages continued to rise when compared to year-ago levels in February, rising 38 percent to 60,911 for the month, according to statistics released Monday by the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America. Related links: MICA statistics February’s default activity did drop 11 percent compared to January’s recorded 68,950, however, a [...]

Fannie Mae, looking to both limit its own losses and help troubled borrowers stay in their homes, said Monday that it had bumped up the maximum forbearance term to 6 months for loans within Fannie-backed MBS pools. The previous limit had been 4 months, it said. Forbearances involve a lender/servicer voluntarily agreeing to postpone a borrower’s [...]

A federal judge in Los Angeles has halted some class-action claims seeking to prevent a merger between Countrywide Financial Corp. and Bank of America, until other similar claims are litigated in the Delaware court system, Reuters reported Monday morning. Courts in Delaware and Los Angeles have served to consolidate many outstanding shareholder lawsuits tied to [...]

As borrower defaults mount, many are considering creative ways to blame the mortgage industry for their predicament. While some such cases have more merit than others, we can at least safely say that judges are now having to sift through a huge spike in caseload as borrowers increasingly hope to leverage a wave of anti-lender [...]

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson said Monday that he will be stepping down as the nation’s chief housing officer, amid calls from Congressional Democrats for his resignation and questions of favoritism and improper consideration in awarding HUD contracts. His resignation will be effective April 18, according to a press statement. “During my time [...]

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unloaded a doozy on the financial and mortgage markets Monday morning, suggesting sweeping reform to the broader financial system — and, in particular, suggesting massive changes to the regulatory framework for mortgage banking. The recommendations come on the heels of an unprecedented bailout of Bear Stearns, and historic market liquidity measures [...]

If you work in default management, it’s time to cozy up to the idea that you may be answering to new boss sooner rather than later — as we’ve reported in the past, hedge funds are lining up on both sides of the mortgage market to snap up distressed mortgages or the securities backed by [...]

Radian Guaranty Inc. said late Thursday that mortgages originated under so-called “stated income” and “stated asset” programs will no longer be eligible for mortgage insurance — for all borrowers, including those that are self-employed. In a message sent to clients this week, Radian said that “while certain forms of alternative documentation used to verify assets and [...]

Freddie Mac’s top economist said Thursday that he doesn’t expect to see housing rebound from its current downtrend until 2010, according to a report published by McClatchy newspapers. Speaking at the National Economists Club, Frank Nothaft, chief economist at the GSE, offered a bearish take on the current state of housing in most markets nationwide. From [...]

First American CoreLogic released its latest housing price index values for January on Friday, which found that housing prices continued to drop steeply in key areas throughout the United States. “Twenty-eight states now show year-over-year real estate declines according to this latest LoanPerformance HPI release,” said Damien Weldon, vice president, collateral and prepayment analytics for [...]