Fidelity National Financial Inc. (FNF), a provider of title insurance, mortgage services, specialty insurance and information services, has announced the acquisition of Commerce Velocity. Commerce Velocity provides technology solutions to mortgage lenders, loan servicing organizations and investment banks that enable users to mitigate risk and optimize outcomes for their mortgage loan portfolios.Read more

HOPE NOW, the private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors estimates the industry has completed 1.13 million permanent loan modifications for at-risk homeowners so far in 2010. For the month of July, the data shows the industry completed more than 120,000 proprietary loan modifications for homeowners, which closely matched the number from the previous month. As reported by U.S. Treasury Department, mortgage servicers also completed 36,695 Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modifications in July.Read more

Walter Investment Management Corporation has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Marathon Asset Management LP to purchase Marix Servicing LLC, a high-touch specialty mortgage servicer. Marix, based in Phoenix, Ariz., is focused on default management, borrower outreach, loss mitigation, liquidation strategies, component servicing and specialty servicing. Marix is an S&P Select Servicer and brings relationships with each of the GSEs, as well as a management team which averages over 22 years of industry experience.Read more

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has charged Coppell, Texas-based American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. (AHMS) with using illegal debt collection tactics and improperly misleading struggling homeowners. According to state investigators, AHMS collections agents used aggressive and unlawful tactics to collect payments from Texas homeowners who had difficulty meeting their payment obligations. The defendant also failed to credit homeowners who properly submitted their payments on time.Read more

First American Financial Corporation, a provider of title insurance and settlement services for real estate transactions, has announced the appointments of Max O. Valdes as chief financial officer and Mark E. Seaton as senior vice president, finance. "Max and Mark have been key contributors to our successful initiatives to improve financial performance," said Dennis J. Gilmore, chief executive officer for First American Financial Corporation.Read more

The office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has obtained consent judgments against five defendants that perpetrated an unlawful foreclosure rescue scheme against multiple homeowners facing foreclosure that stripped and retained hundreds of thousands of dollars of the victims' home equity. The judgments, entered against Primary Mortgage Resource, Leo Desire Sr., Robert Marks, Pierre Joseph and Daphne Mompoint, provide for payments of restitution to victims and civil penalties to the Commonwealth and prohibit the defendants from engaging in certain activities that facilitRead more

Mortgage servicers more often miss on delivering key service practices during the loan modification process than during the loan origination process, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study. The 2010 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 4,516 homeowners regarding their experiences with their primary mortgage servicer and was fielded May through June 2010.Read more

Chase has announced that it has offered more than 900,000 mortgage modifications to struggling homeowners since the beginning of 2009 through a wide range of government and Chase initiatives to address the housing crisis. "We have worked directly with homeowners as the economy has hit them far deeper and for far longer than they expected," said Charlie Scharf, head of retail financial services at Chase. "We continue to look for creative and effective ways to help them stay in their homes, whenever possible."Read more

SMART Servicing LLC has announced that DHM Mortgage Servicing LLC (DHM), a mortgage service provider that works with borrowers who are delinquent on their mortgage payments or are facing financial hardship, has purchased a perpetual license of its Servicing Management Asset Recovery & Tracking (SMART) software. The SMART application is an asset management tool that works seamlessly in conjunction with a client’s existing servicing system.Read more

According to a report issued today by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group, increased use of loan modifications resulting in significant payment reduction has succeeded in creating more sustainable loan modifications. The number of foreclosures continues to outpace the number of loan modifications being made, but there are reasons to be optimistic about the improvement in loan modification performance. The State Working Group’s data indicate that some recent modifications are performing better than loan modifications made earlier in the mortgage crisis.Read more