FEMA has issued a Major Disaster Declaration for the state of California to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in areas affected by wildfires and straight-line winds beginning January 7, 2025 and continuing. The following counties have been approved for assistance:
Powerful winds whip up fires around Pasadena and the Pacific Palisades and Sylmar neighborhoods of Los Angeles, forcing more than 80,000 residents to be evacuated.
What we know about the California wildfires:
Fast-moving fires are engulfing the Los Angeles area, prompting mandatory evacuations of more than 80,000 people.
The Palisades Fire has already burned through almost 3,000 acres, while the Eaton Fire has destroyed 1,000 acres and the Hurst Fire has affected 500 acres.
While the blazes are zero percent contained, no deaths have been reported.
The fires were sparked by a combination of dry conditions and powerful winds, which were expected to strengthen overnight.
The Palisades Fire started Tuesday in the Los Angeles County coastal community of Pacific Palisades.
The fire has been burned hundreds of acres and forced tens of thousands of evacuations in the community of about 23,000 people, which is nestled between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
It is 5 miles northwest of Santa Monica and 10 miles east of Malibu, just off Pacific Coast Highway. Below maps show where the fire is currently burning.
A fast-moving wind-driven wildfire burned more than 100 acres late Tuesday night in Sylmar growing to 500 acres early Wednesday, forcing emergency evacuations in some neighborhoods.
The Hurst fire was reported shortly before 10:30 pm near Diamond Road, according to Cal Fire.
Within 15 minutes the blaze exploded to more than 100 acres, jumped the 210 Freeway and began to spread in the Angeles National Forest along the footprint of the Saddle Ridge Fire that burned 8,799 acres in October 2019, Watch Duty, which tracks firefighting efforts in real time, said on its website.
The Los Angeles Emergency Management Department ordered people in the area north of the 210 Freeway from Roxford Street to the 5 Freeway/14 Freeway split to immediately evacuate.
A wildfire that ignited Tuesday night in the Eaton Canyon area near Altadena is forcing evacuations as a destructive windstorm continues battering Southern California.
The Eaton Fire was fire reported at around 6:30 p.m. near Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive and had grown to over 1,000 acres as of 12:07 a.m. Wednesday.
Evacuations of surrounding areas are underway as crews from the Pasadena Fire Department, the Los Angeles Fire Department and the U.S. Forest Service are responding to the blaze.
Areas under mandatory evacuation:
East of Altadena Drive
Kinneloa Canyon Road
Outpost Lane
Glen Springs
Coolidge
Miranda
Roosevelt
Veranda
Kenclare
Foxridge
Canyon Close
Grand Oak
North of New York Drive
West of Sierra Madre Villa Avenue
North of Sierra Madre
East of Allen
West of Santa Anita Drive
In Arcadia – North of Orange Grove/Rosemead Boulevard; East of Lake Avenue; West of Michillinda Avenue
FEMA has issued a Major Disaster Declaration for the state of Missouri to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in areas affected by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding from November 3-9, 2024. The following counties have been approved for assistance:
FEMA has issued a Major Disaster Declaration for the state of Oregon to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in areas affected by wildfires from July 10 – August 23, 2024. The following counties have been approved for assistance:
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, reports the following “first look” at November 2024 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market.
The national delinquency rate jumped 29 basis points (bps) in November to 3.74%, its highest level in almost three years, marking six consecutive months of year over year increases.
While much of November’s spike was driven by seasonality, post-hurricane distress, and a late-in-the-month Thanksgiving, delinquencies more broadly continue to rise from recent year lows.
Early-, mid- and late-stage defaults all rose in November, with seriously delinquent loans – 90 or more days past due but not in active foreclosure – now at the highest level since February 2023.
Both foreclosure starts and completions dropped in November and remain well below pre-pandemic levels, leaving 31K fewer loans in active foreclosure than at the same time last year.
Prepayment activity fell -25.0% month over month on October’s higher interest rates and remains nearly 30% off last year’s levels.
For full report, please click the source link above.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released the 2025 Scorecard for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises), establishing an array of objectives for them to operate safely and soundly, further develop risk management frameworks, and support market improvements in housing supply and affordability, among other steps.
FHFA releases a Scorecard annually to communicate the Agency’s priorities and expectations for both the Enterprises and Common Securitization Solutions, LLC (CSS) in a transparent manner.
“The 2025 Scorecard establishes objectives for the Enterprises to address affordability challenges in the housing market, facilitate greater supply and resilience of the nation’s housing stock, improve efficiency in mortgage processes, and promote sustainability in housing outcomes,” said FHFA Director Sandra L. Thompson. “These objectives are consistent with FHFA’s responsibility to ensure the Enterprises fulfill their mission of promoting liquidity and access to sustainable mortgage credit in a safe and sound manner.”
The Scorecard also reinforces the importance of strengthening the Enterprises’ resilience to a range of financial and operational risks, including those related to natural disasters. Furthermore, the 2025 Scorecard guides the Enterprises to improve risk management frameworks related to their use of artificial intelligence (AI) and to explore the benefits and risks associated with expanded use of AI and machine learning in the mortgage industry.
For full report, please click the source link above.
Single-family and multi-family serious delinquencies increased in November.
Freddie Mac reported that the Single-Family serious delinquency rate in November was 0.56%, up from 0.55% October. Freddie’s rate is up year-over-year from 0.54% in November 2023, however, this is below the pre-pandemic level of 0.60%.
Freddie’s serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 4.20% following the housing bubble and peaked at 3.17% in August 2020 during the pandemic.
Fannie Mae reported that the Single-Family serious delinquency rate in November was 0.53%, up from 0.52% in October. The serious delinquency rate is down year-over-year from 0.54% in November 2023. This is also below the pre-pandemic lows of 0.65%.
The Fannie Mae serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 5.59% following the housing bubble and peaked at 3.32% in August 2020 during the pandemic.
These are mortgage loans that are “three monthly payments or more past due or in foreclosure”. Mortgages in forbearance are being counted as delinquent in this monthly report but are not reported to the credit bureaus.
For Fannie, by vintage, for loans made in 2004 or earlier (1% of portfolio), 1.44% are seriously delinquent (unchanged from 1.44% the previous month).
For loans made in 2005 through 2008 (1% of portfolio), 2.09% are seriously delinquent (down from 2.11%).
For recent loans, originated in 2009 through 2023 (98% of portfolio), 0.48% are seriously delinquent (up from 0.46%). So, Fannie is still working through a handful of poor performing loans from the bubble years.
For full report, please click the source link above.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) monthly Loan Monitoring Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance increased to 0.50% as of November 30, 2024. According to MBA’s estimate, 250,000 homeowners are in forbearance plans. Mortgage servicers have provided forbearance to approximately 8.5 million borrowers since March 2020.
The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance increased 1 basis point to 0.21% in November 2024. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance increased by 5 basis points to 1.11%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased 1 basis point to 0.42%.
“The overall mortgage forbearance rate increased three basis points in November and has now risen for six consecutive months,” said Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis. “By investor type, Ginnie Mae loans are showing the greatest variance, with an increase of 72 basis points over the six-month period. That is compared to 11 basis points for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Loans, and portfolio and PLS loans, respectively.”
Added Walsh, “There is some weakening in performance of servicing portfolios and loan workouts compared to one year ago. In the wake of natural disasters and slowing in the labor market, borrowers with government loans tend to be impacted more than conventional borrowers.”
For full report, please click the source link above.
FEMA has issued a Major Disaster Declaration for the Native Village of Kipnuk in Alaska to supplement tribal and local recovery efforts in areas affected by a severe storm and flooding from August 16-18, 2024. The following areas have been approved for assistance:
Public Assistance:
Kipnuk
***Please note: only properties located within the Native Village of Kipnuk are eligible for assistance.***
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Alan Jaffa is the Chief Executive Officer for Safeguard Properties, steering the company as the mortgage field services industry leader. He also serves on the board of advisors for SCG Partners, a middle-market private equity fund focused on diversifying and expanding Safeguard Properties’ business model into complimentary markets.
Alan joined Safeguard in 1995, learning the business from the ground up. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2002, and was named CEO in May 2010. His hands-on experience has given him unique insights as a leader to innovate, improve and strengthen Safeguard’s processes to assure that the company adheres to the highest standards of quality and customer service.
Under Alan’s leadership, Safeguard has grown significantly with strategies that have included new and expanded services, technology investments that deliver higher quality and greater efficiency to clients, and strategic acquisitions. He takes a team approach to process improvement, involving staff at all levels of the organization to address issues, brainstorm solutions, and identify new and better ways to serve clients.
In 2008, Alan was recognized by Crain’s Cleveland Business in its annual “40-Under-40” profile of young leaders. He also was named a NEO Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award finalist in 2013.
Linda Erkkila is the General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Safeguard Properties, with oversight of legal, human resources, training, and compliance. Linda’s broad scope of oversight covers regulatory issues that impact Safeguard’s operations, risk mitigation, strategic planning, human resources and training initiatives, compliance, insurance, litigation and claims management, and counsel related to mergers, acquisition and joint ventures.
Linda assures that Safeguard’s strategic initiatives align with its resources, leverage opportunities across the company, and contemplate compliance mandates. She has practiced law for 25 years and her experience, both as outside and in-house counsel, covers a wide range of corporate matters, including regulatory disclosure, corporate governance compliance, risk assessment, compensation and benefits, litigation management, and mergers and acquisitions.
Linda earned her JD at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. She holds a degree in economics from Miami University and an MBA. Linda was previously named as both a “Woman of Influence” by HousingWire and as a “Leading Lady” by MReport.
Michael Greenbaum is the Chief Operating Officer of Safeguard Properties, where he has played a pivotal role since joining the company in July 2010. Initially brought on as Vice President of REO, Mike’s exceptional leadership and strategic vision quickly propelled him to Vice President of Operations in 2013, and ultimately to COO in 2015. Over his 14-year tenure at Safeguard, Mike has been instrumental in driving change and fostering innovation within the Property Preservation sector, consistently delivering excellence and becoming a trusted partner to clients and investors.
A distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Mike earned a degree in Quantitative Economics. Following his graduation, he served in the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Branch, where he specialized in supply chain management. Before his tenure at Safeguard, Mike honed his expertise by managing global supply chains for 13 years, leveraging his military and civilian experience to lead with precision and efficacy.
Joe Iafigliola is the Chief Financial Officer for Safeguard Properties. Joe is responsible for the Control, Quality Assurance, Business Development, Marketing, Accounting, and Information Security departments. At the core of his responsibilities is the drive to ensure that Safeguard’s focus remains rooted in Customer Service = Resolution. Through his executive leadership role, he actively supports SGPNOW.com, an on-demand service geared towards real estate and property management professionals as well as individual home owners in need of inspection and property preservation services. Joe is also an integral force behind Compliance Connections, a branch of Safeguard Properties that allows code enforcement professionals to report violations at properties that can then be addressed by the Safeguard vendor network. Compliance Connections also researches and shares vacant property ordinance information with Safeguard clients.
Joe has an MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), and holds a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University’s Honors Accounting program.
