Palm Beach County skyrocketed up the ranks of U.S. counties with suspicious mortgage activity, according to a recent report from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and now owns the sixth spot on the list after coming in 31st during the first quarter. The Sun-Sentinel reported that Broward and Miami-Dade counties also placed in the top 10 this quarter, at eighth and ninth, respectively.

Lenders help the agency compile the list, by noting them when they encounter dubious mortgages. [more]

A government evaluation of the Home Affordable Modification Program found it once again to be lacking, according to CNN. HAMP has undergone tweaks since it was introduced in April, but in a recent report, the Congressional Oversight Panel found little improvement in its performance. Instead of helping close to 4 million struggling mortgage borrowers keep their homes, HAMP will prevent only about 700,000 to 800,000 foreclosures. “I think the program has turned out to be a lot smaller and have a lot less impact than we thought it would,” said Ted Kaufman, the former U.S. senator from Delaware who is now chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel. Since the Treasury Department lost the authority to further restructure the program at the end of October, banks are now offering more modifications through their own process rather than through the government’s. Among the reasons cited in the report for the program’s failure were that servicers were preventing or delaying modifications, and that many loans in trouble often came burdened with second mortgages, causing many banks to refuse to sign off unless they were paid. [CNN]

Commercial building owners — in their haste to get in on the Treasury Department’s solar panel installation grants before the year-end deadline — have depleted some energy factories of their inventory, the New York Times reported. The federal program, instituted in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, covers 30 percent of the project’s cost and, according to a study by the U.S. Partnership for Renewal Energy Finance, has doubled nationwide investment in solar energy systems. More than 1,000 solar projects have been completed through the program, with investment expected to hit $6.7 billion by the end of this year, up from $3.4 billion in 2008. After Dec. 31, though, the 30 percent grant incentive will turn into a tax credit if it’s not renewed by Congress, and industry experts say that would likely mean a decline in solar investment. [NYT]

The number of successful mortgage modifications among defaulting borrowers under the federal government’s foreclosure avoidance program has dropped to its lowest monthly level since the initiative was rolled out last fall. Just 28,000 borrowers received modifications under the Making Home Affordable Program in September, the Treasury Department reported. Roughly 4.4 million households nationwide are reported to be in severe default. [NYT]

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The number of successful mortgage modifications among defaulting borrowers under the federal government’s foreclosure avoidance program has dropped to its lowest monthly level since the initiative was rolled out last fall. Just 28,000 borrowers received modifications under the Making Home Affordable Program in September, the Treasury Department reported. Roughly 4.4 million households nationwide are reported to be in severe default. [NYT]

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The nationwide housing market is showing modest improvement, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Treasury, spurring tepid optimism that the market may be headed toward stabilization in the near future. Housing prices remained level in July, according to the departments’ jointly released housing scorecard, after declining for 30 consecutive months. Aiding the future recovery is the continuation of historically low interest rates on 30-year mortgages — Freddie Mac reported today that mortgage rates have reached a new record low for the ninth consecutive week. Still, there is reason to be cautious, according to Raphael Bostic, assistant secretary of HUD. “It remains clear that we have more work ahead,” Bostic said. “We know that we must continue to provide support to underwater borrowers, unemployed homeowners and to the nation’s hardest hit neighborhoods.” TRD

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — the government-owned mortgage giants — may see new owners soon, according to the New York Post, if a co-op transition plan is approved at today’s housing finance summit in Washington, D.C. Under the plan, the entities would become co-ops owned by lenders Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. Proponents of the plan say that it would relieve taxpayers of a $150 billion burden, which has caused pains in the post-boom era. This plan is part of a larger lending reform proposal package to be pitched today during a conference that includes Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. [Post]

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Florida officials say it may be late December before most of Florida’s
struggling homeowners start to receive portions of the $418 million in federal
foreclosure aid given to the state at the beginning of the year.
Florida’s plan to use the money was not approved until late June, and
the Treasury Department is requiring Florida to begin with a 90-day
trial program that won’t start until the end of this month. Only Lee
County residents will be eligible for the trial program. The money is
coming from the federal “hardest hit” program, which initially targeted
states hit hardest by the housing crash, including Florida. [Palm
Beach Post]

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The 10-year Treasury note’s yield has fallen just below 3 percent, and it’s dragging mortgage rates down along with it. If the yield dips further — particularly, if it crosses the 2.8 percent mark that market analysts say is critical — mortgage rates could drop so far as to spur homeowners to refinance the 5 and 6 percent loans they took out over the last year-and-a-half. That’s bad news for investors in mortgage-backed securities, on which prices are near record highs. Following yesterday’s drop in Treasury yields, the price of the 5 percent mortgage securities coupon — which is reflective of mortgage rates — fell to 104.75 from 106.0625. [Fox Business] 

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The Obama administration is planning to refinance millions of underwater mortgages into new, government-backed mortgages while reducing payments for unemployed borrowers, officials announced today. The new initiatives are part of a ramped up effort by the Treasury Department to help stem on the tide of foreclosures amid pressure from Congress, and, officials stressed, will not draw upon any additional taxpayer funds. Financing for the new programs will instead come from the $50 billion in housing aid from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The government expects three to four million homeowners to benefit from the government’s new and existing programs, and said it is planning to “balance the need to help responsible homeowners struggling to stay in their homes, with the recognition that we cannot and should not help everyone.” [NYT]