Foreclosure

Low interest rates have pushed more Americans to refinance their mortgages, and the Federal Housing Administration has announced enhanced refinance guidelines to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. As a result, banks and lenders are faced with an increasing volume of loan modification and refinancing requests.

Even with improvements beginning to peek through the debris of the housing crisis, mortgage defaults continue to rise at an incredible rate, and the story is no different for the federal government's mortgage insurance agency. The latest numbers from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) show that loans at least 90 days past due hit 9.12 percent at the end of 2009. That figure is up from 6.82 percent one year earlier. Foreclosures also soared 41 percent, but short sales as a means of avoiding foreclosures outpaced even that figure, increasing 140 percent.

With foreclosures still rising and potential homebuyers still reluctant to get into the market, homeownership in the United States has hit a 10-year low. According to the Census Bureau, the homeownership rate fell to 67.2 percent at the end of last year. Homeownership has been on a steady downward slope since 2006, when housing woes began to eat away at the government's long-time push to make the American Dream a reality for anyone that wanted it.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has launched an official investigation into the federal government's foreclosure prevention program. According to a statement from the head of the committee, the probe was triggered by complaints that servicers have been slow and inconsistent in modifying loans under the Making Home Affordable (MHA) program, and are not communicating clearly with eligible homeowners.

In an effort to help the industry cope with the aftermath of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTAFA), Austin, Texas-based TenantAccess offers a comprehensive, end-to-end solution called the Tenant Protection Response Program (TPRP) and is now providing tier 1 banks, servicers, and asset managers relief from the property and tenant management responsibilities they have acquired as a result of this legislature.

The comprehensive Home Affordability and Stability Plan, introduced by the Obama administration in March 2009, was created in hopes of providing refinance and modification options for millions of homeowners. So far, though, that hasn't been the case. However, Fifth Third Mortgage Company, a financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bank, says it has done its part to help homeowners stay in their homes.

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a new rule that would prohibit third parties, including loan modification specialists and loss mitigation attorneys, from collecting payment for foreclosure prevention services until after they obtain a documented offer from a lender or servicer for a modification or other form of mortgage relief.

As foreclosures continue to plague the nation, many at-risk homeowners are seeking help through home preservation events sponsored by the HOPE NOW alliance, the Obama administration's Making Home Affordable Program, and NeighborWorks America.

The four week streak of falling mortgage rates ended this week, according to surveys released Thursday by Freddie Mac and Bankrate. However, despite this slight increase, mortgage rates remain relatively stable and are notably lower than rates this time last year.

Home loan delinquency rates in the United States have now surpassed 10 percent, Lender Processing Services (LPS) reported this week. When you factor in homes already in the foreclosure process, the total rate of noncurrent mortgages sits at 13.3 percent, according to the company's national loan-level database. This rate indicates that more than 7.2 million mortgage loans are now behind on payments, LPS explained, with another one million properties already taken back by banks and in REO status.