HUD scorecard finds servicers wanting

The Department of Housing and Urban Development said Monday that while foreclosures are down and home prices remain strong, there’s “room for improvement” in the mortgage industry – particularly among servicers

The Department of Housing and Urban Development said Monday that while foreclosures are down and home prices remain strong, there’s “room for improvement” in the mortgage industry – particularly among servicers.

HUD and the U.S. Treasury on Monday released the November edition of the government’s Housing Scorecard, a report on the housing market. The scorecard tightened servicer performance metrics for the third quarter of 2013, and several mortgage servicers were found wanting.

“While the country as a whole has made significant progress, there is still room for improvement for servicers and the Treasury is committed to applying pressure on the mortgage servicing industry to improve servicer behavior,” said Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary Tim Bowler. “Although the housing market has largely recovered, there are still homeowners struggling and it is key that we continue to help them.”

Three servicers needed minor improvement, while three others were in need of moderate improvement, according to the scorecard. One servicer – Citigroup – was in need of “substantial” improvement, the report stated.

Although the report indicated that several servicers were not meeting the government’s performance benchmarks, average servicer performance has improved since the inception of the government’s servicer assessments, according to the report.