Servicing

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s acting director has said he could rethink the pending Fair Debt Collection Practices Act rules, but a report released Monday indicated they’re moving ahead for the time being.

New assistance for renters may help but past efforts, while necessary, failed to get relief to renters in an expedient way, said David Brickman, who is now the head of a new agency lending platform backed by Barings and Meridian Capital.

As an improving job market aided financial stability for borrowers, 2020 ended with drops in delinquent home loans, a CoreLogic report found.

Servicers struggled to bring back their borrowers as the overall retention rate crept down to a nadir in the fourth quarter, according to Black Knight.

The agency will allow an additional three months of forbearance for multifamily property loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as long as tenant protections are offered.

While foreclosure moratoria keep the overall numbers down, zombie foreclosure rates jumped in the majority of states, according to Attom Data Solutions.

The agency will allow an additional three months of forbearance for loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, giving homeowners up to 18 months to suspend payments due to the pandemic.

The decision provides more clarity to noteholders in the state about when the six-year statute of limitations to bring a foreclosure action begins.

Both in terms of interest expense and the sheer cost of dealing with consumers, the mortgage industry is out hundreds of millions of dollars due to this unfunded mandate from Congress, analyst Chris Whalen says.

Gains in consumer financial stability helped to decrease the rates of distressed home loans, but job creation is needed to make recovery sustainable, a CoreLogic report found.

Meanwhile at Essent, more loans exited the inventory in January than in December.

Deals, trends and research in structured finance and asset-backed securities for the week of Jan.29-Feb. 4

However, the share of new impairments increased, likely as a result of the high concentration of these loans given to self-employed borrowers.

The CARES Act-related forbearances could be “lulling us into a false sense of security” as 12-month expirations approach, according to Black Knight.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council could determine that a broad range of mortgage companies should be subject to “heightened prudential standards,” said Andrew Olmem, a partner at Mayer Brown and a former senior economic adviser to the White House.

The government-sponsored enterprises’ moratoria will now continue well past inauguration day, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

While the annual total marks a 16-year low, the numbers are likely to change dramatically once government moratoria expire, according to Attom Data Solutions.

The regulator's demands for ending the action were excessive, Ocwen claimed.

Industry watchers make their wildest guesses (more or less) about developments in real estate finance that could rock the industry in the upcoming months.

Recipients can’t charge penalties for, or engage in, evictions solely for nonpayment, must provide a written notice of tenant rights, flexibility in repayment and, where applicable, 30-day vacate notices.