Closer scrutiny of portfolio loan quality and growing repurchase demands have pushed mortgage software providers MasterServ Financial and The Prieston Group to develop products to help lenders manage their portfolio risks and reduce buyback risks. MasterServ Financial, a technology solution provider to the mortgage banking industry, is expanding its portfolio monitoring product from distressed real estate loans and REO management to new portfolios of performing mortgage loans. With the shift in real estate values, a weak economy and high unemployment rate, it is very difficult to determine whether the loans in a lender’s portfolio today are...

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems has been at the center of two significant developments recently that bring more legal clarity to the mortgage industry’s foreclosure practices – and could portend a quicker resolution of an enormous number of cases currently tied up in foreclosure. Early this week, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Gomes v. Countrywide, declining to reconsider lower court rulings in the case, essentially affirming MERS’ authority to foreclose in California in the process. “The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied,” the high court said in its certiorari summary dispositions. “The chief justice [John Roberts] took...

The concept of the paperless mortgage is on the fast track to becoming the norm rather than the exception as technology advances improve productivity and influence thinking throughout the lending chain, according to a survey by Xerox Mortgage Services. Xerox’s seventh annual Path to Paperless survey found that most mortgage professionals now think online collaboration across multiple platforms is a key component to paperless mortgage adoption. Ninety-six percent of survey respondents indicated that working together through an electronic folder is crucial to achieving a more...

States are moving quickly to implement laws and regulations facilitating “eExamination” of mortgage lenders, leveraging technological innovation to bring the industry closer towards the goal of self-examination and self-regulation. “We are close to 30 states that are doing eExaminations, and we’re trying to bring on additional states as we move forward,” said Michael Chan, vice president of technology vendor Compliance Ease. “One of the reasons why I would say we’re reaching a tipping point is that state regulators are conducting limited-scope electronic exams,” he added. The idea behind that is...

Now may be a good time for ABS investors to broaden their horizons and look into exotic asset classes, such as solar panel financing. “Over the past few decades, most of the sheer volume of securitizations has come from the cash flows of consumer asset receivables, such as mortgages, credit cards and auto loans,” said Chris DiAngelo, a partner with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in New York City, who moderated an industry discussion on nontraditional securitizations sponsored by the American Securitization Forum this week. “Although the auto market has returned to relatively normal issuance volumes, mortgage and...

With the mortgage finance industry in turbulence and a fast-changing regulatory landscape, banks have been forced to reevaluate how they optimize processes and become more cost-efficient, making “operational certainty the need of the hour,” according to an expert at a webinar held this week by NelsonHall. The market is seeing an increase in defaults but a decrease in mortgage originations, noted Sandip Sahni, practice head of business process services at Tata Consultancy Services. This has led to mortgage providers having to deal with fluctuations in volume and costs, and in response, service providers are creating more...

The roiling mortgage lending marketplace continues to present some lenders with even more challenges that force the adoption of coping strategies to cut their losses, while opening up fresh opportunities for others to deploy the next phase in their long-term strategic plans. loanDepot.com, based in Foothill Ranch, CA, the latest start-up by the founders of E*TRADE Mortgage and LendingTree Loans, falls into the latter category, recently launching its new national expansion plan with the opening of a new origination center in Franklin, TN, just outside of Nashville. Company President Tomo Yebisu said Franklin was chosen because of...

Default technology provider Commerce Velocity, based in Irvine, CA, recently upgraded its Optimizer solution to help servicer clients achieve the new requirements for Fannie Mae’s Quality Right Party Contact initiative. The original version of Optimizer enabled servicers to maximize cash flows from delinquencies, and enforce workout consistency throughout the default management process. By applying net present value calculations, cash flow projections, valuation models, and comprehensive workout guidelines, the technology provides “the most intelligent outcomes possible,” the company said. The Optimal Outcome module monitors...

Some federally regulated depository institutions are scrambling to meet a July 29 deadline to register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry to avoid possible sanctions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Although the covered institutions have begun registering their mortgage loan originators as required by the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, there is some confusion about other employees whose mortgage-related responsibilities are not as clear cut as those of MLOs, said compliance experts. Such employees include those who ...

It’s been one year since the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act has been enacted, and industry representatives remain anxious about the negative effects they expect the legislation will have on the mortgage market and the cost and availability of mortgage credit. Coming up with any new mortgage products at all will be one of the numerous challenges posed by Dodd-Frank, thanks in particular to the burdensome, 5 percent risk-retention requirement, according to Larry Platt, a partner with law firm K&L Gates in Washington, DC. “Under the Dodd-Frank risk-retention requirement, there’s ...