Regulators' Mortgage Servicing Standards Would Tackle Second Liens, Require 20 Percent Down

Banking regulators took a critical step forward yesterday to establishing national mortgage servicing standards by cutting a deal to include some new rules as part of a related risk retention proposal, American Banker reported today. Under the agreement, servicers would be required to offer a loan modification when the value of a borrower's home is greater than its value in a foreclosure. Loss mitigation activities would have to be initiated within 90 days after a borrower was delinquent, and such procedures would have to be disclosed to borrowers prior to a mortgage closing. The servicing rules come as part of risk retention standards, which were required by the Dodd-Frank Act enacted last year. As part of the deal, borrowers would have to make at least a 20 percent downpayment to meet criteria that exempts lenders from retaining a portion of the loan when selling it into the secondary market.

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