REO

Mortgage lenders are preparing for the biggest wave of delinquencies in history. If the plan to buy time works, they may avert an even worse crisis: Mass foreclosures and mortgage market mayhem.

Nationstar’s next securitization of defaulted or inactive home equity conversion mortgages will have a higher-than-average exposure to properties with steep leverage, as well as ties to judicial foreclosure states.

Foreclosure activity fell 21% in July compared to a year ago and rose 6% from June after twelve consecutive months of declines, according to Attom Data Solutions.

Freddie Mac is automating a manual form submission process used to correct post-settlement and real estate owned data, and adding policy changes aimed at accommodating electronic signatures on loss mitigation documents.

Commercial mortgages placed into special servicing grew last year, but default and foreclosure dollar volume fell as legacy loan resolutions outpaced newly distressed loans, according to Fitch Ratings.

Late payments on loans backing commercial mortgage bonds continued falling at the start of the year, due to strong new issuance volume and continued resolutions for precrisis loans by special servicers, according to Fitch Ratings.

Plans to begin rating securitizations backed by fix-and-flip mortgages may help lenders create new capacity and satisfy growing demand for short-term financing of house flipping projects.

Commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rates are likely to continue to decrease for the rest of the year, as new issuances outpace maturing loans and precrisis loans continued to get resolved by special servicers, Fitch Ratings said.

Blame the decline in the oil and gas industry; many 2014 vintage deals have exposure to a number of multifamily and hotel properties in North Dakota and Texas, according to Fitch.

There was a modest decline in hurricane-related delinquent mortgages in February, a sign that there are lingering problems in the affected markets.