A recent survey by the New York-based Reputation Institute found that Freddie Mac is the least reputable company to do business with, while fellow GSE Fannie Mae was named the third least reputable company, but an expert advised that it’s not the end of the world for publicity-challenged companies. The private consulting firm conducted...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency last week approved some updates to Fannie Mae’s corporate performance goals which the company will use to determine executive compensation. Fannie’s newly approved 2011 corporate goals will be the barometer by which performance will be measured for the purposes of the first installment of the...

Implementing a broad range of procedural changes and picking through two years’ worth of foreclosure activity are expected to impose a significant expense on mortgage servicers that agreed to consent orders with federal regulators this week, but industry experts say the threat of penalties and remedial costs appears...[Includes one graph]

The current method of paying servicers could stand to be improved, but regulators and secondary market investors need to bear in mind that change would have ripple effects throughout the industry, according to a new analysis by Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp., a consulting firm based in New York. “Changing the servicing fee from its current form may...

Two of the nation’s top mortgage lenders have announced some hefty job cuts as the industry appears headed into a steep drop in new originations in 2011. Bank of America announced late this week that it is adjusting...[Includes one data chart]

The draft servicing settlement proposed by some state attorneys general would prove counterproductive because it would drive up defaults and foreclosure costs and would not likely provide broad or lasting benefits, according to a study released this week. Researchers at Kansas State University, Louisiana State University and the National Bureau of Economic Research said...

Specialists in default mortgage servicing are focusing more on systems that work with the individual borrower’s situation, improve transparency and information for management and increase opportunity for collaboration. Unemployment and negative equity are...

Despite a relatively strong rebound in the fourth quarter, savings institutions reported a sharp decline in residential mortgage lending in 2010 that reduced the industry’s share of the overall home lending market to its lowest level ever. Lenders regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision reported $136.2 billion in single-family mortgage lending last year, a 39.2 percent drop from 2009 levels. It was the lowest annual output for the thrift industry since 1996 and reduced the...[Includes two data charts]

The consent decree which certain mortgage servicers have reportedly agreed to draws heavily from an earlier draft of comprehensive measures developed by federal banking regulators to improve foreclosure policies and practices. The provisions in the draft, which had been ready as early as February, compel servicers to...

Federally regulated banks and credit unions favor Republican-backed legislation that would install a commission, instead of a single director, to call the shots at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The majority of witnesses at a recent hearing called by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit expressed their support for...