Yourhome1source and Aboutmymortgage.com have created an alliance designed to ensure that borrowers have the information they need to make well-informed mortgage decisions.

On YourHome1Source.com borrowers will now have expedited access to information about their existing mortgage, so they can make an informed decision about a potential refinance, home equity loan or a new mortgage. Your Home Digital LLC developed YourHome1Source.com as an educational resource to consumers.

"Providing homeowners with convenient access to financing options and time-saving processes, only available through their existing loan servicer via aboutMYmortgage.com, puts another powerful tool in their hands, so they will make the best decision about their home financing needs," said Sean Stockell, CEO of Your Home Digital, LLC.

"We are proud to partner with such a progressive homeowner resource portal as YourHome1Source.com and excited to assist homeowners gather objective and critical information about their current mortgage that's only available from their current loan servicer," said Tim Allen, CEO and founder of Aboutmymortgage.com. "Our vision is that one day all borrowers who are considering financing will be provided an opportunity to discuss financing solutions with their current mortgage servicer. And most importantly, this service is free to homeowners."

The alliance makes it easy for borrowers to work with participating servicers. Homeowners gain access to the information necessary to review an existing mortgage loan, educate loan customers about financing options and create mutually beneficial outcomes. Mortgage servicers benefit by retaining valuable customer relationships over the long term.

Earlier in October, Aboutmymortgage.com and Hope Loan Port began working together to assist homeowners with mortgage questions and provide them with help resolving mortgage delinquencies.

Aboutmymortgage.com will refer homeowners who may need a loan modification to Hope LoanPort for assistance. Aboutmymortgage.com provides a direct link from its loan modification landing page to Hope Loan Port's Homeowner Connect website, where a homeowner can get advice from a nonprofit housing counselor and submit a foreclosure alternative package directly to their mortgage servicer. The aim is to ensure consumers understand their options and work with their servicer to get the help they need.

Since 2009, the Hope Loan Port has become a go-to technology platform for national mortgage assistance programs and has been used by the top-six commercial banks, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the nation's largest servicers as well as over 1,100 counseling agencies to help more than 700,000 families achieve and sustain homeownership.

[caption id="attachment_6748" align="alignleft" width="150"] Scott Bristol[/caption]

Flagstar Bank has hired its fourth senior mortgage and banking executive in a little more than a year.

The fourth, and most recent hire, was Scott Bristol as senior vice president and national production manager of its retail mortgage business. He brings to Flagstar more than 20 years of experience in the retail mortgage sector, most notably from New American Funding, where he was national sales manager. Also, he was president and national sales manager at Prime Lending, helping to grow the retail division to $15 billion from $2 billion.

In his new role, Bristol will work with Susan McHan, president of distributed retail for Flagstar, to create a growth strategy for retail, develop and execute a technology roadmap, and optimize its platform to support  loan officers in growing their business.

His experience and track record in retail mortgage sales and significant role he will play in driving the growth of the business were the reasons for his being hired, according to Kristy Fercho, president of Mortgage for Flagstar.

In July, Flagstar hired Jennifer Charters as executive vice president and chief information officer with responsibility for the strategic direction of the bank's IT organization, including the successful delivery of technology initiatives and management of IT operations. Previously, she was CIO of corporate technology at Ally Financial in Detroit, where she was responsible for internal technology solutions across the enterprise.

Also hired that month was Ryan Goldberg, as executive vice president and director of retail banking at Flagstar. His responsibilities include branch banking, consumer finance, national business banking, and investment and insurance Services. Most recently he served as executive vice president and head of priority banking and branch small business at Regions Bank in Birmingham, Ala.

In August 2017, Flagstar hired Kristy Fercho, previously senior vice president and customer delivery executive for Fannie Mae, to lead Flagstar's mortgage business. She was responsible for the customer delivery strategy and business performance of all customers in the western U.S., that delivered single-family home loans to the agency.

The foreclosure inventory rate for July was at the lowest level in more than a decade.

The foreclosure inventory rate for July 2018 hit 0.5 percent, down 0.2 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, and marking a 12-year low in the statistic, according to the Loan Performance Insights Report from CoreLogic.

The July 2018 foreclosure inventory rate, which measures the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process, remained unchanged from April, May and June of this year.

[caption id="attachment_6706" align="alignleft" width="150"] The news on foreclosures was good.[/caption]

The report shows that, nationally, 4.1 percent of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure) in July 2018, representing a 0.6 percentage point decline in the overall delinquency rate compared with July 2017, when it was 4.7 percent.

Measuring early-stage delinquency rates is important for analyzing the health of the mortgage market. To monitor mortgage performance, CoreLogic examines the stages of delinquency and transition rates, which indicate the percentage of mortgages moving from one stage of delinquency to the next. The stages include the following:

• The rate for early-stage delinquencies, or 30 to 59 days past due, was 1.9 percent in July 2018, a decline from 2.1 percent in July 2017.
• The percentage of mortgages that were 60 to 89 days past due in July 2018 was 0.6 percent, down from 0.7 percent in July 2017.
• The serious delinquency rate, or 90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure, was 1.6 percent in July 2018, down from 1.9 percent in July 2017. It’s the lowest for July since 2006 when it was 1.4 percent and the lowest for any month since June 2007, when it was also 1.6 percent.

Since early-stage delinquencies can be volatile, CoreLogic also analyzes transition rates. The share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due was 0.8 percent in July 2018, down from 0.9 percent in July 2017. By comparison, in January 2007, just before the start of the financial crisis, the current-to-30-day transition rate was 1.2 percent, while it peaked in November 2008 at 2 percent.

“With the national unemployment rate remaining below 4 percent since July, further declines in U.S. delinquency rates are likely in coming months,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “The exception will be in local areas impacted by natural hazards or a rise in unemployment. The destruction of homes and disruption to local commerce caused by natural disasters lead to a subsequent spike in local delinquency rates, even for homes that were untouched.”

While no state posted year-over-year increases in their 30-plus-day delinquency in July 2018, several metropolitan areas in Florida and Texas recorded month-over-month increases. This indicates properties in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia that recently experienced damage from Hurricane Florence may be at risk for early-stage delinquency. CoreLogic identified thousands of homes in these states that were affected by wind and water damage from the storm.

“We expect higher delinquency rates in the mid-Atlantic region later this year due to Hurricane Florence, which impacted almost 500,000 homes in North Carolina alone. We also see increases in serious delinquency rates in Florida and Texas reflecting the damage of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “In addition, Hawaii will likely experience an increase in delinquency rates as a result of Hurricane Lane and the eruption of Kilauea.”