Reader Survey
Do you like this website? Could we make it better for you? Should our advertisers continue to support it? Help us find the answers by filling out a quick and easy survey.
Thank you!
Daily Mortgage News Briefing
Last updated: May 15, 2008
You can get free mortgage headlines e-mailed to you daily. Click here for more information
Senate Banking Committee leaders were still negotiating late Thursday afternoon on GSE regulatory reform and Federal Housing Administration refinancing bills after furious negotiations Thursday morning had prompted some to predict that an agreement was near.
Click here for more...Beanstalk Networks Acquisition LLC, a unit of Beanstalk Networks (doing business as OpenClose), has acquired LION Inc.
Click here for more...The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 6.05% to 6.01% over the seven-day period ended May 15, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
Click here for more...ISGN Technologies Ltd., a mortgage technology provider based in Bensalem, Pa., has announced a rebranding of MortgageHub and Dynatek as well as all its other subsidiary companies.
Click here for more...Kalish & Associates PC, Newnan, Ga., a law firm that supports a variety of real estate and business transactions, has merged with Atlanta-based Morris|Hardwick|Schneider, one of the largest real estate closing law firms in the country.
Click here for more...Frederick L. Fellows has announced the establishment of Basalt Capital LLC, a Chicago-based investment management company specializing in commercial real estate debt securities.
Click here for more...Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd., a New York-based bond insurer, has reported a $422 million net loss in the first quarter that reflects "unrealized negative fair-value adjustments and provisions" for home equity lines of credit and closed-end second-lien mortgage-backed securities.
Click here for more...Barclays PLC, London, has reported that it generated a profit during the first quarter but that it was "below that of the very strong prior-year period" due to "net losses of £1.0 billion [$1.9 billion] relating to credit market turbulence."
Click here for more...Moody's Wall Street Analytics has announced an expansion of its cash flow analytics platform to offer an extensive library of cash flow waterfalls and loan-level data on U.S. subprime securitizations.
Click here for more...
Carla Gallas has been promoted to senior vice president of claims at Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., the Milwaukee-based primary subsidiary of MGIC Investment Corp.
Click here for more...Jason Gillespie has been named senior vice president and mortgage purchase credit manager in the National Mortgage Purchase Division of Dallas-based Southwest Securities FSB.
Click here for more...
Realty Income Corp., Escondido, Calif., has replaced its $300 million credit facility with a $355 million facility.
Click here for more...
Ten classes from four scratch-and-dent mortgage-backed securities transactions issued by Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.
Click here for more...Fannie Mae has priced $4 billion of 3.375% three-year Benchmark Notes at 99.966.
Click here for more...
Two classes of Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2006-IQ12, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.
Click here for more...Ninety-two classes from 30 scratch-and-dent mortgage-backed securities transactions issued by Bear Stearns Asset Backed Securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.
Click here for more...Three classes of LBUBS 2005-C7 commercial mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.
Click here for more...In a recent item, MortgageWire overstated the mortgage impairment charges for HSBC North America Holdings. According to a spokeswoman for the company, its U.S. subprime division, HSBC Finance Corp., had impairment charges of approximately $2.2 billion in the first quarter, reflecting charges on subprime mortgages, unsecured consumer loans, and automobile notes. The company would not provide a specific impairment figure for subprime mortgages for the quarter. The entire company (HSBC NA) booked total loan impairment charges of $3.2 billion in the quarter, the figure that MortgageWire reported. This figure also includes credit-card-related charges, the spokeswoman said.
Click here for more...Editor's Choice
Push for Foreclosure Prevention Act
Lawmakers are urging Congress to provide comprehensive reform designed to halt the downward spiral in the housing market and stabilize home prices and financial markets, according to this feature in the latest issue of our e-book publication, Managing REO.
Click here to read the details.
Other Voices
This story is from our sister publication, American Banker
Oxford of Mich. Loses on Realty
By Marissa Fajt, American BankerOxford Bank Corp. in Michigan said Wednesday that it lost $1 million in the first quarter on bad loans and does not expect to be profitable this year.
Read more...Blog of the Week
Join the Discussion!
Each week we will feature a mortgage blog from one of our writers on various topics of interest. To add your two cents, click on the link below, scroll down to the bottom of the blog, type into the comments box, and click submit.
This week, Mortgage Technology editor Tony Garritano declares that the days of debating the best-of-breed approach vs. the end-to-end approach are over: lenders want everything in one system. But they don't necessarily endorse the end-to-end philosophy, and a new debate has emerged, he says in his latest Tech Niches blog.

Email this page
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., voicing concern at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing that some servicers are piling fees and bogus expenses on homeowners who file for bankruptcy to recoup the cost of servicing the mortgages.
