The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.47 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, down 17 basis points from the third quarter of 2009, and up 159 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate increased 50 basis points from 9.94 percent in the third quarter of 2009 to 10.44 percent this quarter.Read more

The United States Senate has confirmed Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Senate voted 70-30 to reappoint Bernanke amid criticism of his judgment ahead of the financial crisis and his support for massive Wall Street bailouts. His supporters credited him for engineering a financial industry rescue in time to prevent a catastrophic collapse.Read more

A team of mortgage finance and investment management veterans have announced the formal launch of a new company, BlackBox Logic LLC, providing a comprehensive database of loan-level collateral underlying non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities for investors, broker/dealers and researchers. BlackBox Logic also announced the availability of its loan-level data aggregation service, called BBx Data, which covers the jumbo A, sub-prime and Alt-A mortgage markets.Read more

John Walsh is the president of Total Mortgage Services LLC, an expanding mortgage banker based in Milford, Conn. Through its centralized business model, Total Mortgage Services is able to create significant efficiencies to both its origination and operational infrastructure, and pass the cost and time savings on to borrowers in the form of lower rates and better service. The company recently announced that it is entering the wholesale residential mortgage lending business.Read more

For good reasons, it is open season on Wall Street, bankers and their sidekicks in the mortgage-lending food chain, but Americans still value balance and fairness in their public discourse. That is why I believe “Sub-Prime Revisited,” the ‘report’ released on Oct. 6 by the National Consumer Law Center, is a one-sided editorial with a regulatory policy agenda built on generalizations and extrapolations.Read more

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray has announced a lawsuit filed against Barclays Capital Real Estate d/b/a HomEq Servicing, headquartered in New York, for issuing unfair loan modification agreements and providing inadequate, incompetent customer service to Ohioans who were at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. HomEq is a participant in the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).Read more

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged three former top officers of New Century Financial Corporation with securities fraud for misleading investors as New Century's sub-prime mortgage business was collapsing in 2006.Read more

Many exotic adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) will recast in 2010, leading to a mortgage crisis as large as sub-prime in the New Year, according to the Consumer Mortgage Audit Center. “We’ve spoken to Florida attorneys who sit at the forefront of the U.S. foreclosure crisis and have learned that 53 percent expect recasting ARMs to present a mortgage crisis as large as sub-prime and 61 percent expect to work on more loan modifications in 2010 than they did in 2009,” said Sylvia Alayon, vice president of operations for the Consumer Mortgage Audit Center.Read more

Ocwen Financial Corporation, a servicer of sub-prime mortgages, has adopted new technology that enables homeowners in financial distress to connect directly, via the Ocwen Web site, with nearby community services and government agencies. Ocwen customers can log on to www.OcwenCustomers.com, enter their zip code and then choose from service categories, including job training, food assistance and utility payment assistance in all 50 states. They receive a list of local, well-qualified non-profits and government agencies that may be able to help them with personal and financial issues.Read more

The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one- to four-unit residential properties rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.64 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the third quarter of 2009, up 40 basis points from the second quarter of 2009, and up 265 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate increased 108 basis points from 8.86 percent in the second quarter of 2009 to 9.94 percent this quarter. The delinquency rate breaks the record set last quarter.Read more