Collection Fundamentals Resurface Amid Exceptional Times
REQUIRED READING: Many servicers' default units, expectant of future servicing standards and additional best practices from the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and state attorneys...
Today’s Secondary Market Investors Demand Stricter Quality Control
REQUIRED READING: Sophisticated investors no longer take anything for granted when buying mortgage loans from originators and other sources. Over the last three...
Servicers Find Themselves Hampered By Litigation
REQUIRED READING: An increasing number of borrowers assert a servicer's failure to offer a loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)...
Operational Improvement: There Is No Time Like The Present
REQUIRED READING: A family friend recently shared her experiences with grocery store 'couponing.' She sparked my interest when she told me she bought...
Compiling A Strategic Checklist For The ‘New’ Mortgage Industry
REQUIRED READING: Once upon a time - actually, circa 2005 - the 'future' of the mortgage transaction seemed perfectly clear. A consumer would...
Smaller Banks Find Their Niche In Rural Communities
REQUIRED READING: Last year, the influential agricultural research blog Farmland Forecast peeked into the cross-section of capital markets and rural economies and declared...
Single Point Of Contact Becomes The New Standard
REQUIRED READING: The federal consent orders signed by 14 of the nation's biggest servicers included a slew of new servicing standards, but at...
Cuts Cause Counselors To Diversify
REQUIRED READING: Eighty-eight million dollars earmarked for housing counseling has been slashed from the fiscal year 2011 budget, leaving nonprofits and the industry...
The Wider World Comes Calling: The Factors Shaping The Industry
REQUIRED READING: The 17th century English poet John Donne famously wrote, 'No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a...
Making A Bad Situation Worse: The GSEs’ Continued Risks
REQUIRED READING: Given the central role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the financial crisis, the need for reform should be beyond...
Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place
REQUIRED READING: Even though homeowners hold more than 40 million mortgages in the U.S., it seems that relatively few of us are aware...
What’s Next For The FHA?
REQUIRED READING: In the period prior to the September 2008 collapse of the U.S. economy, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) had been marginalized...
Potential And Potholes Emerge Within Correspondent Lending
REQUIRED READING:Â Within correspondent lending, there is good news and not-so-good news. The positive aspect is that the liquidity tap continues to flow....
Supreme Court OKs BK Document Changes
REQUIRED READING: On April 26, the U.S. Supreme Court adopted bankruptcy rule changes that are designed to prevent the presentation of claims for...
GSEs Shuffle Attorney Lineups
REQUIRED READING: On Feb. 10, Fannie Mae announced to servicers that it was terminating its relationship with Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Ben-Ezra & Katz...
Today’s Automated Underwriting Systems Require A Significant Tune-Up
REQUIRED READING: There are many technologies on the market today that purport to be automated underwriting systems. These systems may be very good...
Will The Mortgage Banking Industry Be Hiring Again?
REQUIRED READING: On Jan. 31, the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry began accepting federal registrations from residential mortgage loan originators employed by...
Old-School Answers To New-School Problems
REQUIRED READING: For the default servicing industry, the ups and downs of the current mortgage crisis have prompted a great deal of introspection...
Shades Of Gray In Fair-Lending Examinations
REQUIRED READING: Federal regulators and law enforcement agencies have begun reviewing fair-lending practices in the context of mortgage servicing - a fairly recent...
Can Servicing Upgrades Restore Investors’ Confidence?
REQUIRED READING: The recent foreclosure mess has exposed the overdue need for changes and improvements in the U.S. residential mortgage servicing industry, to...