DS News - Digital Archives

Where Oh Where Did My REO Go?

DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.

Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/119281

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 97 of 115

Flagstar's paperless processing, Flagstar said in a release. "Flagstar has been a great partner for us," said Sanjeev Malaney, CEO at San Franciscobased Capsilon. "Their vision and leadership in the mortgage industry was key in driving adoption of our technology in the market. Our growth has allowed us now to integrate vertically, taking responsibility for everything from software development to sales and service. DocVelocity customers will benefit from our focus and additional capabilities." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the transaction is not expected to have a material financial impact on Flagstar. Ex-President of DocX Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Months after filing a felony charge against Lorraine Brown, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced the former DocX president has pleaded guilty to racketeering for her alleged role in the company's fraudulent signing practices. According to a release from Schuette's office, Brown pleaded guilty to one count of conducting criminal enterprises—a 20-year felony—before Kent County Circuit Court Judge Mark Trusock. She will return for sentencing on May 2. "Shortcuts like robo-signing are just one part of the mortgage foreclosure crisis," Schuette said. "The message here is clear—if you break the law, there are consequences. We will continue to prosecute criminals who target and exploit Michigan homeowners." The plea brings to a close an investigation into questionable mortgage documentation filed with Michigan's Register of Deeds office during the foreclosure crisis. Schuette opened the investigation in April 2011 after a news broadcast revealed that the name "Linda Green" was signed to thousands of mortgage-related documents nationwide, but with many different variations in handwriting. County officials across Michigan reviewed their files and found similar documents. As part of the investigation, Schuette's office reviewed documents filed in the state and prepared by DocX, a now-defunct processing company that processed assignments and lien releases for lenders and servicers nationwide. The investigation revealed that Brown allegedly established and orchestrated a widespread scheme of fraudulent document signing in order to speed up processing. Schuette 96 alleges this practice continued under Brown's supervision from 2006 through 2009. In addition to the criminal charge brought against Brown, Schuette announced in January a $2.5 million civil settlement with Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), DocX's parent company. The settlement funds will go to the state, and affected customers will have their documents corrected by LPS. Minnesota rank: 45 90+ Day Delinquency Rate 1.51% Unemployment Rate 1.26% 5.6% year ago 1.76% 2.05% 5.7% year-over-year change -14.5% Ally Completes Consumer Relief Obligations Under Settlement Ally Financial has fully satisfied all consumer relief obligations required under the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), according to settlement monitor Joseph Smith Jr. Smith filed his report with the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, certifying that "Residential Capital, LLC, Ally Financial, Inc., and GMAC Mortgage, LLC (collectively, Ally), have satisfied their consumer relief obligations." According to the settlement terms, Detroit-based Ally was required to provide $200 million in relief to customers in the form of loan modifications, short sales, principal forgiveness, and other forms of relief. Smith confirmed the bank provided more than $257 million to that end. Smith also stated Ally has been found to be "in substantial compliance with its mandatory solicitation requirements under NMS," having established loan modification and refinance programs that meet the obligation. "I will continue my work with Ally and its successors to ensure that they are following the servicing standards, fulfilling their mandatory solicitation obligations, and appropriately working with their customers over the next two years," Smith said in a statement. "I hope that the consumer relief and the servicing standards the crafters of this bipartisan, statefederal settlement negotiated will continue to help homeowners across the nation." As NMS monitor, Smith released his third report on servicer progress in February. The report included data on the consumer relief activity of Ally, Bank of America, Citi, Chase, and Wells Fargo—the five banks involved in the $25 billion mortgage settlement reached last year. The banks were given three years to complete consumer relief obligations starting March 2012. Foreclosure Rate January 2013 -38.5% -1.8% Top County FaribaulT CounTy 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate January 2013 2.66% 2.98% year ago 3.01% 4.12% year-over-year change -11.8% -27.6% Top Core-based Statistical area alberT lea, Mn 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate January 2013 2.33% 2.07% year ago 3.03% 3.19% year-over-year change -23.0% -35.1% note: The 90+ Day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are 90plus days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the January 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary January 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of Lender Processing Services. Minnesota www.MinnesotaREO.com Bruce McAlpin Jeff Detloff Long H. Doan Maribel Garcia Garth Johnson Craig Murphy Michael Olsen 612-669-6324 952-829-2938 763-432-7640 612-821-7500 952-844-1511 763-533-9133 651-209-8444 STAT INSIGHT 673 Completed foreclosures in Minnesota in February 2013. Source: RealtyTrac

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

view archives of DS News - Digital Archives - Where Oh Where Did My REO Go?