Email this pagePrint Archive - 2009
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EDITORIAL: Hit the Ground Running
January 5, 2009The initial word out of the incoming administration about how to deal with the mortgage industry crisis is substantive, if not precisely to the mortgage industry's liking. (Read More)
One-Fourth of Seniors Rely on Home Equity
January 5, 2009OAKLAND, CA-Losses in home values and the stock market are disproportionately affecting senior citizens, making it harder for them to deal with the financial crisis. (Read More)
NYC Hails its Own Affordable Housing Program
January 5, 2009NEW YORK-City officials here patted each other on the back for running the largest and best affordable housing program in the nation. (Read More)
LOs Can't Select AMCs
January 5, 2009WASHINGTON-Loan officers cannot select an appraiser nor have any contact with the appraiser under a set of reforms that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with their regulator, have agreed to implement as part of a settlement with the New York Attorney General. (Read More)
Paralysis Hits CRE Sector
January 5, 2009WASHINGTON-Senior real estate executives believe that dysfunctional U.S. financial markets and the broad economic downturn have paralyzed the income-producing real estate sector, encompassing office buildings, shopping malls, warehouses, hotels and apartment buildings. (Read More)
AIG Sells MBS Interests
January 5, 2009NEW YORK-American International Group Inc.'s life insurance companies have followed through with a Federal Reserve Bank of New York-assisted plan to sell its interests in a $39 billion pool of residential mortgage-backed securities to a newly formed limited liability company in a move that AIG said will address liquidity issues associated with its U.S. securities lending program. (Read More)
Tarnished Credit Is Up Sharply
January 5, 2009NASHVILLE, TN-Today's recession victims may become the subprime borrowers of tomorrow, if data from a company providing services to consumers with credit problems are to be believed. (Read More)
Fairway Sees Positive '08 Growth
January 5, 2009SUN PRAIRIE, WI-There is good news this holiday season for Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. here, which anticipates having closed $2 billion in loans in 2008 and about $160 million in December. This is a substantial increase compared to the $1.62 billion the company closed in 2007. (Read More)
HUD Kills FHA Secure Effort
January 5, 2009WASHINGTON-The Department of Housing and Urban Development has terminated its FHA Secure program, which was originally designed to help delinquent borrowers refinance into Federal Housing Administration loans. (Read More)
Sales Rise in Sunshine State
January 5, 2009ORLANDO-Distressed sales in Florida during November continued to boost the state's existing home market on a year-to-year basis but Realtors say buyers there, as is the case nationwide, have yet to fully return to the market. (Read More)
Lenders, Swamped by Short Sales, Often Giving Short Shrift
January 5, 2009WASHINGTON-More than a few financially strapped owners have tried to unload their homes via what's known in real-estate parlance as a "short sale," only to end up being stymied by what most believe to be an unsympathetic, uncooperative lender. (Read More)
Genworth Has a Definitive Agreement to Buy InterBank
January 5, 2009NEW YORK-Genworth Financial, Richmond, Va., has issued an update on its proposed purchase of InterBank FSB, Maple Grove, Minn. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: The Challenge for Regulators
January 5, 2009Mr. Kohn's Recent Remarks At The Office Of Thrift Supervision National Housing Forum In Washington Are Presented As Our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
January 5, 2009CALIFORNIA Oakland-Charlie Badgett has been elected to the position of vice president of Old Republic National Commercial Title & Settlement Services in its Dallas office. (Read More)
2009 Will Bring Regulation That Looks Out for Consumers
January 5, 2009PALO ALTO, CA-For 2009, one thing is very clear - there is more regulation coming to the mortgage industry and most of it revolves around the idea of watching out for the consumer's best interests. (Read More)
Stocks Face More Challenges in '09
January 5, 2009NEW YORK-Publicly traded firms in the mortgage industry faced a cataclysmic environment in 2008, and the prospects for 2009 offer only hints of relief. (Read More)
Wintrust Buys Stake in IL Lender
January 5, 2009LAKE FOREST, IL-Wintrust Financial Corp. here has acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of Downers Grove, Ill.-based Professional Mortgage Partners' mortgage banking business and named PMP's president to an executive post within Wintrust's mortgage subsidiary. (Read More)
Outlook: Home Value Depreciation Will Continue This Year
January 5, 2009SEATTLE-Persistent home value depreciation has been documented on new data that show one-third of Americans who sold their home in the past year lost money, and experts say the trend will continue in 2009. (Read More)
Zillow.com Expands Online Real Estate Listings
January 5, 2009SEATTLE-High foreclosure rates and the rapid overall growth of the real estate-owned property market are fueling the expansion of online real estate broker communities such as Zillow.com, a provider of free national housing information to homeowners, buyers, sellers, real estate agents and mortgage professionals. (Read More)
GMAC Gets $5B TARP Funds
January 5, 2009WASHINGTON-In the space of a couple of weeks, GMAC Financial Services has managed to become a bank holding company and get a $5 billion capital infusion from the government to keep its auto and mortgage lending business running. (Read More)
IndyMac May Have Buyer
January 5, 2009WASHINGTON-Dune Capital Management LP is said to be leading an investor team applying for IndyMac Bancorp's assets and deposits - and the team is said to include private-equity adviser J. Christopher Flowers and hedge fund Paulson & Co. Inc. (Read More)
Fixing Foreclosures
January 5, 2009WASHINGTON-NeighborWorks America is shifting gears to provide more support for the development of affordable rental housing and to deal with the problem of vacant and foreclosed properties. (Read More)
Full Recovery Is Uncertain, But Small Improvements Likely
January 5, 2009Full market recovery may be uncertain this year but I think there are likely to be at least some temporary improvements possibly driven by government policy that could be investment opportunities in the short- or medium-term. (Read More)
A New E-Collaboration Player Is Emerging
January 5, 2009SAN DIEGO-Best known for its Funding Suite credit and automated valuation model product, Cogent Road has opted to expand its offerings to enable lenders to go fully paperless with Business Spaces, an electronic collaboration document management system designed to first help lenders eliminate paper and then gradually move to full electronic processes. (Read More)
Perimeter and Techmate Partnering On IT Security
January 5, 2009MILFORD, CT-On-demand security provider Perimeter security has partnered with Techmate, a back-office software solutions company, to provide complete, fully compliant information technology security services. (Read More)
Top LenderSees VolumeGoing Up
January 5, 2009PLANO, TX-Despite recession, one top-ranked originator that closed between 900 and 1,000 mortgages in 2008 doubled his volume in December and foresees an additional 50% higher production this year. In addition, he estimated 70% of his new mortgage loans in December were to borrowers purchasing homes. (Read More)
Technology Boosts FL Wholesaler
January 5, 2009JACKSONVILLE-While many are exiting wholesale, Florida Capital Bank Mortgage here has opted to use Web-based technology to expand its wholesale footprint. (Read More)
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January 12, 2009
Deal Reached on 'Cramdowns'
January 12, 2009WASHINGTON-Key senators have reached a compromise with Citigroup that could speed passage of a bill that allows judges to modify mortgages and reduce, or "cram down" the principal amount of the loan to the fair value of the property. (Read More)
Banks Facing More Housing Woes
January 12, 2009NEW YORK-U.S. banks are continuing to struggle with housing-related credit woes, and the slowing economy has only exacerbated consumer credit problems, according to a report from Canadian-based rating agency DBRS. (Read More)
Analyst Still Bearish on Financials
January 12, 2009WALTHAM, MA-HIS Global Insight, an economic and financial forecasting firm, remains bearish about the prospect for financial stocks this year. (Read More)
Fed Buys First GSE MBS
January 12, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Reserve Board purchased $10.2 billion in GSE mortgage-backed securities last week, kicking off a $500 billion effort to increase liquidity in the mortgage market and reduce loan rates for millions of consumers. (Read More)
ACORN Likes Obama Moratorium
January 12, 2009WASHINGTON-In a conference call to discuss its "ACORN 2009 Agenda," the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said it is committed to making President-elect Barack Obama's 90-day moratorium on foreclosures a reality to give families across the country time to work with banks to modify their mortgages. (Read More)
Mortgages CauseDrop in Ratings
January 12, 2009CHICAGO-In downgrading its ratings on Carmel, Ind.-based insurance company Conseco Inc., Fitch Ratings' office here cites concerns with the company's commercial and residential mortgage investments. (Read More)
PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: JOHN A. COURSON
January 12, 2009Mr. Courson has taken over as president and chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association as of Jan. 1. Most recently, Mr. Courson was MBA's chief operating officer. He succeeds Jonathan L. Kempner, who in July announced that he would leave MBA at the end of last year. Mr. Courson was the president and chief executive of the now-defunct Central Pacific Mortgage Co., and served as MBA's chairman in 2003. In 2004, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Mr. Courson to the board of the California Housing Finance Agency and he later served as its chairman. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Rays of Hope
January 12, 2009Are there any rays of hope to be found in the truly dismal third quarter delinquency report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association? Yes, but you have to look hard for them. (Read More)
Banks, Others Get FASB Impairment Break
January 12, 2009WASHINGTON-The Financial Accounting Standards Board approved changes to its impairment guidance last week that should reduce the amount of charges banks and other holders of mortgage-backed securities have to report for the fourth quarter. (Read More)
SourceMedia's Editors Take a Look at What 2009 May Bring
January 12, 2009The year just passed was one of the most remarkable on record for the financial services industry. Indeed, for many market participants, the changes witnessed over the previous 12 months were once thought inconceivable. Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, two iconic names on Wall Street, are no more. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were seized by the US government, Merrill Lynch was absorbed by Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are now bank holding companies. The housing industry has imploded, politicians and regulators are chomping at the bit to reverse how Wall Street does business, and investors are downright spooked. (Read More)
More than One Reason behind 'Non-Monetary' Foreclosures
January 12, 2009WASHINGTON--The plight of Joe Wurzelbacher, the Toledo, Ohio, plumber who received far more than his 15 minutes of fame during the presidential debates, highlights what few people realize when they take out a mortgage: Just because you make your house payments on time doesn't mean your house can't be taken away from you. (Read More)
Paulson, MBA Weigh in on Future of Fan/Fred
January 12, 2009WASHINGTON -Declaring that the secondary mortgage market is "broken," the Mortgage Bankers Association has formed a working group to explore what lies ahead for the industry in regard to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and related issues. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Stop the Downward Spiral
January 12, 2009Mr. Lockhart's Remarks At A Press Conference In Washington Where He Discussed A New Streamlined Loan Modification Program Are Presented As Our Open Forum. (Read More)
Pending Home Sales Drop Again
January 12, 2009WASHINGTON-The skittish economy is affecting future home sales, declared the National Association of Realtors in connection with its Pending Home Sales Index, which fell 4% between October and November to the lowest point since the trade group started tracking this data in 2001. (Read More)
Are Fed's Initial MBS Buys a Move toward 'Normal' Market?
January 12, 2009The much-touted Federal Reserve plan to buy mortgage-backed securities had done a lot before it even got underway last week and at press time last Thursday - the morning before the Fed's release of information on the program's details - some researchers were talking about the MBS market being on the road to something resembling normality. (Read More)
Wells Drops Wholesale B&C
January 12, 2009DES MOINES, IA-In a move that is probably more symbolic than anything else, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage here has decided to "temporarily suspend" the purchase of nonconforming mortgage loans through its wholesale channel. (Read More)
MortgageGrapevine.com: Are Subprime Loans Coming Back?
January 12, 2009the voice of reason:Now that the government has helped one of the largest securitizers of subprime loans become a bank, are subprime loans going to be making a comeback? Once rates go way up with all this deficit spending and more fat is sucked out of this business along with strict regulation, I'm thinking subprime will be back in 2010. (http://www.cnbc.com/id/28433950) fatmikenino: I hope you're joking ... (Read More)
IndyMac Servicing Shift?
January 12, 2009WASHINGTON-Now that Dune Capital and its partners have agreed to buy IndyMac and its $180 billion servicing portfolio from the government, it is already engaging in talks with 'scratch and dent' subservicers to take over some of the heavy lifting on the thrift's most problematic loans, industry sources told National Mortgage News. (Read More)
U.K. Looks to 'Subdued' 2009
January 12, 2009LONDON-The latest monthly gross United Kingdom mortgage lending figures suggest challenges for the U.K. housing market will continue next year, although government measures may mitigate them somewhat. (Read More)
Reaction Mixed to U.K. Rescue
January 12, 2009LONDON-The United Kingdom government's plan to underwrite certain deferred mortgage interest for up to two years may have negative "liquidity and credit implications for U.K. residential mortgage-backed securities transactions" as well as potential positives, according to a report by analysts in Moody's Investors Service's London office. (Read More)
NAHB Gains RESPA Delay
January 12, 2009WASHINGTON-The National Association of Home Builders has asked a U.S district court to block the government from implementing a RESPA rule that bans builders from offering discounts to homebuyers who use the builder's affiliated mortgage companies, and it has gained a delay of implementation for 90 days. (Read More)
Kurland Back With Deal
January 12, 2009CALABASAS, CA-Two-and-a-half years ago Stanford Kurland was the odd man out at Countrywide Financial Corp. when company founder and chairman Angelo Mozilo forced him out in a power struggle. (Read More)
It's Not Easy to Start Buying Assets
January 12, 2009CALABASAS, CA-It has taken Stanford Kurland a lot longer than he expected to build an operation from scratch to buy and service distressed mortgages. (Read More)
Reorg for ResCap
January 12, 2009HORSHAM, PA-Javid Jaberi, senior vice president of servicing operations for Residential Capital Corp., Horsham, Pa., has left the company as part of a reorganization, according to an internal memo provided to this newspaper. An e-mail written by ResCap chief operating officer Tony Renzi says Mr. Jaberi "has made the decision to leave the company to pursue other interests." (Read More)
New Firm Hopes to Auction Bulk REO Portfolios
January 12, 2009SURPRISE, AZ-The director of operations for a new bulk REO website, which is slated for launch in February, has high hopes the new endeavor will help simplify and expedite real estate auction sales for institutional sellers and buyers. (Read More)
Prominent RE Exec Steven Good Dies
January 12, 2009CHICAGO-Commercial real estate firm Sheldon Good & Co. Auctions International LLC marked last week's passing of its 52-year-old chairman and chief executive officer, Steven L. Good - a globally known author and philanthropist - by closing all its offices for one day before reopening under its president's day-to-day management. (Read More)
REO Vendor Advances Mobile Technology for Contractors
January 12, 2009TAMPA, FL-Mortgage Contracting Services, a provider of property preservation and inspection services to the mortgage industry, has launched updated mobile technology that lets contractors upload information from the field on a real-time basis. (Read More)
Agency Warehouse Lines?
January 12, 2009WASHINGTON-Two years ago - when the mortgage market was still reasonably healthy - the idea of allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide warehouse credit to primary lenders would've been slapped down by industry lobbyists, yelling "charter creep." (Read More)
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January 19, 2009
Body Blow for Wholesale
January 19, 2009WASHINGTON-The future of wholesale lending took yet another turn for the worse last week with the announcement by JPMorgan Chase - the nation's largest table funder - that it will no longer originate broker-sourced residential loans. (Read More)
NEWS ANALYSIS: Citi Deal a Stretch
January 19, 2009NEW YORK-Will Citigroup have any chance whatsoever of separating out its subprime mortgage division and unloading it as a consumer finance company? (Read More)
Industry Hates Cramdown
January 19, 2009WASHINGTON-Citigroup says it negotiated a good legislative deal that allows bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages, but most industry groups are not signing on. (Read More)
New Internet Auctions Might Help Sell REO
January 19, 2009LOS ANGELES-A new concept for auctioning residential real estate is being tried here at a downtown condominium. If it proves successful, the Internet-based system could be a boon for lenders everywhere who need to dispose of foreclosed properties. (Read More)
Bernanke Sees More Options
January 19, 2009LONDON-If the Treasury supplements injections of capital by removing troubled assets such as mortgages from institutions' balance sheets, as was originally proposed for the U.S. financial rescue plan, Treasury may consider public purchases, as originally proposed, or two other options involving asset guarantees or "bad banks," Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke suggested in a speech at the London School of Economics. (Read More)
Earthquake Would Accelerate CA Meltdown
January 19, 2009CHICAGO-As a result of not having mandatory earthquake insurance in California, a new report from an advisor says high levels of mortgage defaults would take place in the state if a major earthquake occurred there. (Read More)
MBA Is Now in Favor of Federal Regulator
January 19, 2009NEW YORK-The Mortgage Bankers Association is now supporting the creation of a national mortgage regulator, the group's chief executive, John Courson, said in a meeting with the SourceMedia Mortgage Group editorial staff. (Read More)
'Bold Effort' On Foreclosures
January 19, 2009WASHINGTON-The incoming administration of Barack Obama wants to make the FHA Hope for Homeowners program and the FDIC loan modification program key elements of its "bold" foreclosure prevention plan, according to Shaun Donovan, the nominee to be the new Housing and Urban Development secretary. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: An Immediate Danger
January 19, 2009President-elect Barack Obama is entitled to savor the pomp and circumstance of his historic installation as president tomorrow, as well as the support of millions of expected citizens wishing him well and the elegance of the many inaugural balls. Let's hope he doesn't stay out too late tomorrow night, though, because starting Wednesday immediate leadership is necessary to rescue the seized-up mortgage industry. (Read More)
Fed: Time to Buy Bad Loans
January 19, 2009WASHINGTON-It looks as though the government might be using taxpayer money to buy troubled mortgages after all. (Read More)
Congress to Spruce Up FHA
January 19, 2009WASHINGTON-With the Federal Housing Administration approaching a 30% share of the mortgage market and more lenders seeking approval to make FHA single-family loans, Congress is finally taking an interest in making sure the agency has adequate resources to properly run the mortgage insurance program. (Read More)
Notices of CA Defaults Double
January 19, 2009DISOVERY BAY, CA-Notices of default in California have rebounded from the stall caused by California State Senate Bill 1137, according to the latest California foreclosure report and year-end summary from ForeclosureRadar here, which says the bill temporarily slowed foreclosures by imposing new requirements on lenders. (Read More)
Reverse Mortgage Volume Is Holding Up Well
January 19, 2009WASHINGTON-Originations of the reverse mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration are holding up well in this turbulent market, according to fourth-quarter data. (Read More)
AMCs Get Ready for New Code of Conduct
January 19, 2009NEW YORK-Appraisal management companies are beginning to gear up for when the government-sponsored enterprises will begin to comply with the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. (Read More)
LandAm CEODeparts Post
January 19, 2009RICHMOND, VA-Now that bankrupt LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. here has disposed of its title underwriting units, its chairman and chief executive, Theodore L. Chandler Jr., was expected to leave the company on Jan. 15. (Read More)
NovaStar Settles Shareholder Suit
January 19, 2009KANSAS CITY, MO-NovaStar Financial here has entered into a $7.25 million cash settlement of a shareholder lawsuit filed in 2004. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Behind the GSE Takeover
January 19, 2009Mr. Paulson's remarks on the role of the GSEs in supporting the housing recovery before the Economic Club of Washington are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
January 19, 2009GEORGIA Atlanta-Beazer Homes USA Inc. appointed Kenneth F. Khoury as executive vice president and general counsel. (Read More)
FHLB to Report Cap Deficiency
January 19, 2009WASHINGTON-Dragged down by losses related to private-label mortgage-backed securities, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle said last Monday that it expects to fall below regulatory capital minimums as of Dec. 31. (Read More)
Restoring the Integrity of Mortgage-Backed Security Data
January 19, 2009While groups like the American Securitization Forum and the Mortgage Bankers Association have been working on "what" to do to restore liquidity to the mortgage-backed security market through the distribution of more accurate and accessible data, the nonprofit XBRL's U.S. board has been working on the question of "how," according to board member Philip D. Moyer. (Read More)
A Ginnie Expansion? Top Residential Wholesalers in 3Q 08
January 19, 2009WASHINGTON-The president of the Government National Mortgage Association, says his agency could fill a gap left by federal programs designed to resolve the housing crisis. All the agency needs is a little help from Congress. (Read More)
Lenders Use Lock-in Fees
January 19, 2009WASHINGTON-Selected lenders are beginning to charge "rate lock" fees to both consumers and loan brokers, according to industry participants. (Read More)
Foreclosures Up 81%
January 19, 2009IRVINE, CA-The 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac here shows a total of 3,157,806 foreclosure filings were reported on 2,330,483 U.S. properties during the year, an 81% increase from 2007 and a 225% increase from 2006. (Read More)
Mortgage Trades Hurt JPM
January 19, 2009NEW YORK-Continued writedowns on mortgage trading positions and leveraged loans totaling $2.9 billion pretax contributed "largely" to "disappointing" fourth-quarter results at JPMorgan Chase, but the company also noted that there were some positive mortgage-related developments during the period. (Read More)
Fixed Rate Drops Below 5%
January 19, 2009MCLEAN, VA-For the first time ever, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has averaged under 5%, standing at 4.96% last week, according to Freddie Mac. The rate decrease has some optimistic about overall industry recovery starting in late 2009. (Read More)
Phoenix Capital Using Compass Analytic
January 19, 2009DENVER-Phoenix Capital here, a provider of servicing analytics, will begin using Compass's CompassPoint technology in determining the value of mortgage servicing rights. (Read More)
PMI: Price Drop Risk Broadens
January 19, 2009WALNUT CREEK, CA-A quarterly index that attempts to quantify the risk that housing prices will deteriorate over the next two years shows that the likelihood of further home value declines has broadened. (Read More)
FirstAm Does E-Post-Closing
January 19, 2009SANTA ANA, CA-Realizing the demand for more meticulous post-closing practices, First American Document Solutions here has launched ePostClosing.com, its new online portal designed to help lenders and servicers reduce their post-closing document management costs and improve investor compliance. (Read More)
IT Spending Likely to Suffer
January 19, 2009ATLANTA-The William Mills Agency here released its sixth annual Bankers as Buyers Survey, confirming as research done by MORTECH and others has that lenders will be spending less on technology this year as compared to 2008. (Read More)
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January 26, 2009
New Administration Inspires Hope for DPA
January 26, 2009WASHINGTON-Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, has introduced H.R. 600, a new bill that would reinstate the controversial seller-funded downpayment assistance banned on last Oct. 1, despite data its proponents said showed it had helped over one million families become homeowners. (Read More)
Deutsche Bank Facing More Writedowns
January 26, 2009FRANKFURT, Germany-Deutsche Bank reduced its exposure to problematic commercial real estate loans to less than half its previous size in the fourth quarter of last year, but the bank still estimates it will take a 4.8 billion euro ($6.3 billion) after-tax loss for the period from other writedowns. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Cause for Optimism?
January 26, 2009At least one trade group is showing some optimism about the mortgage industry's prospects for 2009. (Read More)
Another FHLBIs Hurt by MBS
January 26, 2009PITTSBURGH-The Federal Home Loan Bank here expects to take additional writedowns on its $2.73 billion portfolio of private-label mortgage-backed securities in the fourth quarter, a move that could make the GSE undercapitalized and endanger its shareholders - banks and thrifts primarily. (Read More)
FL Firm Eyes 'Illegal' Foreclosures
January 26, 2009WEST PALM BEACH, FL-MFI-Miami here, a mortgage fraud investigation and forensic auditing firm, said it is launching an investigation against several banks, including Deutsche Bank and LaSalle Bank, for what it alleges to be illegal foreclosures in six states. (Read More)
Obama Looks At Bad Banks
January 26, 2009WASHINGTON-President Barack Obama and his economic team have signaled their intention to move quickly on the nation's housing crisis, including the use of mortgage "cramdowns." (Read More)
Merrill Settles Ohio B&C Case
January 26, 2009WASHINGTON-Merrill Lynch & Co. - now the property of Bank of America - has agreed to pay $450 million to settle a subprime collateralized debt obligation lawsuit brought by lead plaintiff, the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System. (Read More)
Supreme Court Takes on OCC Versus 50 AGs
January 26, 2009WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court has decided to review an appeals court decision that essentially frees national banks from all state scrutiny and pits 50 state attorneys general against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Efforts to Reduce Foreclosures
January 26, 2009Excerpts Of Mr. Bovenzi's Recent Testimony Before The House Financial Services Committee Are Presented As Our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
January 26, 2009CALIFORNIA Agoura Hills-James R. Park has joined Interthinx as vice president and chief valuation officer. (Read More)
Rates Head North But Could Go Lower Again
January 26, 2009NEW YORK-The average weekly primary market rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage tracked by Freddie Mac has risen above 5% after 11 consecutive weeks of declines in a move driven by rising bond yields, but the relatively wide spread between those secondary market yields and primary market rates suggests rates could be lowered further if originators are able to address capacity issues. (Read More)
December Housing Starts Plummet
January 26, 2009WASHINGTON-Single-family housing starts plummeted 13.5% in December from November as a dismal year for builders came to a close in which construction dropped off by nearly 50% from a year ago. (Read More)
XBRL, EDGAR Online Tackle MBS, ABS Information Gap
January 26, 2009As I noted in the first half of this column last week (see the Jan. 19 issue), the XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) board has been moving forward with a means of electronically handling the standardization and improvement of "cradle-to-grave" mortgage information that industry groups have been working on as a potential means of restoring market liquidity. (Read More)
Mortgage Demand Stable in U.K.
January 26, 2009LONDON-Demand for purchase and refinance mortgages in the United Kingdom was relatively stable in the fourth quarter, but lenders surveyed by the Bank of England think it might weaken. "Over the next three months, lenders expect demand for credit for house purchase, remortgaging and other purposes to fall," the BoE said. (Read More)
UK Will Guarantee AAA Assets
January 26, 2009LONDON-The United Kingdom's government has promised to conditionally "offer protection on those assets most affected by current economic conditions" including portfolios of commercial and residential property loans, structured credit assets and certain types of asset-backed securities. (Read More)
Building Slump Claims 3 Million Jobs
January 26, 2009LAS VEGAS-The homebuilding slump has resulted in a loss of more than three million jobs, according to an analysis by economists at the National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)
Bottom Is Near, Builders Told
January 26, 2009LAS VEGAS-Builders meeting at their annual convention here last week heard more than their share of bad news. But three key housing economists were more optimistic than most that the bottom is in sight. (Read More)
Pain Spreading to Multifamily
January 26, 2009LAS VEGAS-Turmoil in the capital markets is leaving no segment of the housing business unscathed. (Read More)
Housing Market Turning 'Worse'
January 26, 2009LAS VEGAS-A poll earlier this month of builders across the land shows the market for new homes is continuing to deteriorate. (Read More)
BoA ContractsFor Loan Mods?
January 26, 2009WASHINGTON-Urban Settlement Services of Pittsburgh, a loan modification specialist, is talking to Bank of America and Fannie Mae about possible contracts, according to one executive close to the vendor. (Read More)
Best Will Rate CDFIs
January 26, 2009OLDWICK, NJ-The financial performance of Community Development Financial Institutions, whose community development designation places them in the front line of the foreclosure battle, is being rated for the first time. (Read More)
'Adder' Fees Irk Lenders
January 26, 2009WASHINGTON-Come April 1, Fannie Mae will once again increase delivery fees on certain mortgages, making it more expensive for consumers with certain risk characteristics to obtain a loan. (Read More)
Outlook for MIs Is Still Negative
January 26, 2009NEW YORK-The outlook for private mortgage insurers for 2009 remains negative as they will have to deal with loans they underwrote in 2007, a report from Fitch Ratings here declares. The 2007 vintage, "a low point in mortgage underwriting discipline," the rating agency said, represents 30% of the industry's risk-in-force. (Read More)
GNMA Strains Capacity
January 26, 2009WASHINGTON-With demand for its product red hot, the Government National Mortgage Association issued $24 billion of mortgage-backed securities in December, and is asking the Obama administration for a 50% increase in staff. (Read More)
Builders Near Standstill
January 26, 2009LAS VEGAS-Contrary to popular belief, the country's residential construction business is not at a complete standstill. But it's close. (Read More)
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February 2, 2009
Is Low-Mod Recession Proof?
February 2, 2009BETHESDA, MD-Often seen as the least attractive incentive-based financing segment in the mortgage business, affordable housing financing is emerging as a flourishing market amidst the crisis. (Read More)
PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: JUDITH CALOGERO
February 2, 2009Ms. Calogero, former New York State commissioner of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, was appointed CEO of the New York Housing Conference. She fills the leadership vacancy left in 2007 with the passing of Clara Fox, who had led the institution since its formation in 1973. (Read More)
Fitch Lowers Bank of America's Default Rating
February 2, 2009CHARLOTTE, NC-In the wake of the poor earnings report and disclosures about additional government assistance at Bank of America Corp. here, Fitch Ratings, Chicago, has cut the long-term issuer default rating on the company's bank subsidiaries from AA- to A+. (Read More)
CLARIFICATION
February 2, 2009In the Jan. 5 issue, Rodney Anderson, executive director and senior managing partner of Rodney Anderson Lending Services, Plano, Texas, says he originated 331 pre-approvals in December 2007 and 683 in December 2008. In January alone, he predicts that he will close 170 loans. (Read More)
Bill May Spur Bankruptcies
February 2, 2009WASHINGTON-Cramdown legislation pending in Congress could cause a "substantial" surge in bankruptcy filings by consumers, including mortgagors who are currently paying their loans, according to a new report by Friedman Billings Ramsey. (Read More)
Cramdown Compromise a Tough Pill to Swallow
February 2, 2009NEW YORK-Top officials from the Mortgage Bankers Association appear ready to compromise on the issue of "cramdowns" if Congress proceeds with legislation that allows bankruptcy judges alter the terms of a mortgage. (Read More)
Credit Costs, Impairment Weigh on Regionals
February 2, 2009NEW YORK-Rising credit costs and asset writedowns continued to pressure regional banks that are big players in the mortgage industry late last year. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Alive and Thriving
February 2, 2009Who says there isn't a hot market in the mortgage business right now? Servicing, especially default servicing, is ascendant in a business where originations have lost their way in a muddle of tight credit, lost confidence and lost home equity. (Read More)
FFB Exits Wholesale
February 2, 2009LOS ANGELES-Another lender with problems with adjustable-rate mortgage loans, First Federal Bank of California FSB here, has shut its wholesale lending operations, effective last Monday. Meanwhile, the company has received an order from its regulator, which could result in it being taken over or sold. (Read More)
New Secretary Gets Right to Work
February 2, 2009WASHINGTON-New Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner doesn't have very much time to put together a comprehensive plan to stabilize the banks, increase the flow of credit and curb rising foreclosures. (Read More)
GSE Fees Have Louisiana Executive Up in Arms
February 2, 2009WASHINGTON-A Louisiana mortgage broker is waging a campaign to get lenders and his fellow brokers to disclose to consumers the high loan fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are charging. They have hiked their delivery fees several times over the past year and Fannie recently announced another increase that goes into effect April 1. (Read More)
ING Segregates Illiquid Alt-A Assets
February 2, 2009WILMINGTON, DE-ING and the Dutch government have made plans to establish an illiquid assets back-up facility for ING's $36.4 billion portfolio of alternative-A credit mortgage securities from its ING Direct USA subsidiary here and its ING Insurance Americas unit. (Read More)
Letter: FTC Responds
February 2, 2009To the editor: "Firm Settles with FTC" (Dec. 29, 2008 issue) reports on an agreement between the Federal Trade Commission and Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services LP to settle allegations that Gateway violated federal law by charging African-American and Hispanic consumers higher prices for mortgage loans than non-Hispanic white consumers. The article quotes Gateway executive Bruno Pasceri extensively, denying the discriminatory pricing had occurred and suggesting that FTC attorneys did not understand the company's loan pricing practices. (Read More)
Global Consultancy Headstrong Buys Lydian
February 2, 2009BOCA RATON, FL-Continuing the slew of recent mortgage technology vendor mergers and acquisitions, Headstrong, a global financial services consulting firm, has acquired business process outsourcing vendor Lydian Data Services here. (Read More)
Portfolio ComesOff the Market
February 2, 2009WASHINGTON-In late December, National City Corp. pulled a $2.1 billion portfolio of troubled mortgages off the market after several investors had spent thousands of dollars conducting due diligence and then proffered bids, investment banking sources said last week. (Read More)
Nutter Leaving Wholesale Biz
February 2, 2009KANSAS CITY, MO-The top executive at James B. Nutter and Co. here is citing a lack of warehouse capacity for the company's decision to end wholesale production of traditional forward mortgages, as well as put a moratorium on its wholesale reverse operations. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Confronting the Crisis
February 2, 2009Remarks by Rep. Bachus before women in Housing and Finance in Washington are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Some Large Lenders Seen Offering Loan Rates Below 5%
February 2, 2009Freddie Mac's average primary market rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.1% remained above the 5% mark during the week ended Jan. 29, but one Wall Street research report indicates that some large originators had offered rates below 5% during that time. (Read More)
Groups Want to Extend Buyer Credit
February 2, 2009WASHINGTON-With Congress set to eliminate the recapture feature that goes along with the $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, four key housing and finance groups are urging lawmakers to extend the credit for the remainder of 2009. (Read More)
KB Home's Loss Shrinks to $307MM
February 2, 2009LOS ANGELES-For the fourth quarter ended Nov. 30, KB Home reported a net loss of $307.3 million, compared to a net loss of $772.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, which included non-cash charges for inventory and joint-venture impairments and land option contract abandonments. (Read More)
NAHB Weighs in on Future of the Secondary Market
February 2, 2009LAS VEGAS-Adding its considerable voice to the forthcoming debate on the future of housing finance, the politically powerful National Association of Home Builders has adopted a five-part policy statement that calls for continued federal support of both the primary and secondary mortgage markets. (Read More)
NEWS ANALYSIS: Layoffs HitFannie Mae Layoffs HitFannie Mae
February 2, 2009WASHINGTON-Last week the story du jour in Washington was the Obama administration's "maybe" plans to create a bad bank to buy billions worth of toxic mortgages (and other assets) to unclog the balance sheets of depositories everywhere. (Read More)
Fed Starting Loan Mods
February 2, 2009WASHINGTON-The New York Federal Reserve Bank is holding billions of dollars of residential mortgage assets from Bear Stearns and American International Group and the Federal Reserve Board has finally decided to start workouts and modifications for those delinquent borrowers. (Read More)
Are Roll Rates Steadying?
February 2, 2009NEW YORK-Since the 1970s, the share of loans that are 30 days late during one quarter that roll into foreclosure during the following quarter has risen steadily - until recently, when roll rates began to skyrocket. But now they may be steadying. (Read More)
NEWS ANALYSIS: Delinquent Seconds Are Still Sellable
February 2, 2009WASHINGTON-Given the decimated housing market, chances are it would be near impossible to sell a delinquent second lien, but investors are still bidding on pools for one key reason: possible profit on "release fees." (Read More)
Wells Mortgage Share Is Up
February 2, 2009SAN FRANCISCO-Wells Fargo lost $2.6 billion in the fourth quarter, but the company found a silver lining in the recession-battered economy. Wells posted surprisingly strong mortgage results, boosted by strong refinancing volume amid historically low interest rates. (Read More)
Stimulus Raises Loan Limits
February 2, 2009WASHINGTON-The House has passed the $820 billion economic stimulus bill that restores the $729,750 loan limit in high-cost areas for the rest of this calendar year. (Read More)
Illinois Reverse Mortgage Lender Opens E-Retail Production Center
February 2, 2009WESTMONT, IL-As part of its ongoing expansion efforts in the reverse mortgage market, 1st Reverse Financial Services, a national reverse mortgage wholesale lender and subsidiary of Wilmington Savings Fund Society, has launched an e-retail reverse mortgage center to leverage its field retail, call center and Internet-based loan origination activities. (Read More)
Seniors Can Buy Homes Using FHA Reverse Mortgages
February 2, 2009The Federal Housing Administration recently opened up its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage product to be used for home purchases. For Generation Mortgage, a three-year-old reverse mortgage lender based in Atlanta, that change has created an opportunity in its marketplace to serve more senior citizens. (Read More)
State Regulators Issue Examination Guidelines For Originators of Reverse Mortgage Loans
February 2, 2009WASHINGTON-As a result of aggressive marketing campaigns that put homeowners and the financial institutions making reverse loans at risk, the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors have released a comprehensive set of examination guidelines for reviewing the business practices and operations of lenders and brokers selling reverse mortgage loans to seniors. (Read More)
Lead Generator Now in Reverses
February 2, 2009CHARLOTTE, NC-The company that promises consumers four competing quotes for their forward mortgages is now getting into the reverse mortgage lead generation business. (Read More)
HECM Industry Fighting for Higher, More 'Fair,' Loan Limit
February 2, 2009Market insiders fighting in Congress for a better deal believe the newly increased $417,000 home-equity reverse mortgage limit is not consistent with the differences in home prices and values at the county and state level. (Read More)
Reverse Mortgages: Giving Seniors Cash
February 2, 2009The reverse mortgage loan has gone from the product no one had ever heard about to the hot product of the moment, especially because originators are looking for a new niche as their old business models fade away. (Read More)
Optimal Blue: Going Green Does Help the Bottom Line
February 2, 2009PLANO, TX-While there's no arguing that going green saves the environment, some lenders still don't think saving the environment will impact their bottom line, but pricing vendor Optimal Blue here is demonstrating that they're wrong. (Read More)
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February 9, 2009
Fidelity Opens 1031 Exchange Offices
February 9, 2009JACKSONVILLE, FL-Fidelity National Financial has expanded its FNF 1031 exchange company with the opening of offices in Chicago, New York and Boston. (Read More)
Hotels to Continue Decline in '09
February 9, 2009CHICAGO-Following an 80% drop in global hotel transaction volume last year, 2009 will exhibit a further decline, to levels last seen between 2001 and 2003, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels' Hotel Investment Outlook 2009 report. (Read More)
Ventas Sells Senior Centers
February 9, 2009CHICAGO-Health care real estate investment trust Ventas here has closed on the sale of four seniors housing units to affiliates of Benchmark Assisted Living for an aggregate sale price of $58.7 million. The assets are located in Massachusetts and contain 403 units. (Read More)
ARM Popularity Falls as Premiums Increase
February 9, 2009MCLEAN, VA-Adjustable-rate mortgage lending fell sharply last year as the initial payment savings disappeared, according to a survey by Freddie Mac. (Read More)
Purchase of NetUpdate Called Off
February 9, 2009MISHAWAKA, IN-Point-of-sale vendor Data-Vision Inc. here was unable to come to final terms with Most Home Corp. to close on the proposed acquisition of their subsidiary NetUpdate, and the initial letter of intent has now expired. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Intransigence
February 9, 2009President Obama has suffered the first defeat of his young presidency. Despite elaborate outreach to Republicans in Congress on the economic stimulus, and watering down the stimulus package with their ineffective and outmoded ideas, the opposition voted unanimously against the bill. (Read More)
Fannie Move May Help Refis
February 9, 2009WASHINGTON-Fannie Mae said it would no longer require an appraisal or property inspection for some borrowers trying to refinance an existing Fannie mortgage. Analysts said the change would have a marginal impact. (Read More)
Bear Portfolio Is Down 14%
February 9, 2009NEW YORK-The Federal Reserve recently released information on how the fair value of a mortgage-dominated portfolio securing financing it provided for Bear Stearns' acquisition was faring as of year-end 2008. (Read More)
Lender Exits Wholesale - for Now
February 9, 2009NEW YORK-First Interstate Mortgage of New Jersey is pulling the plug on its wholesale division, at least for now, according to an e-mail memo sent out to some of its approved brokers. The memo - issued last week - notes that "effective immediately" the N.J.-based non-depository will no longer accept applications from brokers but will honor mortgages that have been submitted and/or locked. (Read More)
Flagstar UpsHome Lending
February 9, 2009TROY, MI-Financially, 2008 wasn't a great year for Flagstar Bancorp Inc. here, but in terms of mortgage loan production the company saw a 6% increase in volume for the year. (Read More)
Freddie Outsources Mods to Ocwen
February 9, 2009WASHINGTON-Freddie Mac's decision to hire specialist firms such as Ocwen Financial Corp. to work out seriously delinquent mortgages is another sign that servicers are being overwhelmed by the volume of defaults. (Read More)
Title, MI Firms Starting to Recover?
February 9, 2009NEW YORK-Of the early reporting for title and mortgage insurance companies, both MGIC Investment Corp., Milwaukee, and Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., showed marked improvement in their fourth-quarter results over the same period in 2007. (Read More)
FHA Lender Expects 80% Jump in '09 Fundings
February 9, 2009MELVILLE, NY-Lend America, a non-depository FHA lender based on Long Island here, expects its origination volume to increase by almost 80% this year to $2.5 billion. (Read More)
MBS Issuers to Face First-Loss Rule?
February 9, 2009WASHINGTON-To prevent future meltdowns in the mortgage market, some congressional leaders are considering safeguards to deter private-label issuers from securitizing risky loans. (Read More)
MBA Outsources MISMO Program
February 9, 2009WASHINGTON-In a sign of the times, the Mortgage Bankers Association here has decided that it does not have the resources to dedicate to managing the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization and has entered into an agreement with MERSCORP Inc. to take over day-to-day oversight of the data standardization body. In addition, the MBA has laid off all six members of its industry technology group. (Read More)
Attorneys Want Government to Pressure Lenders on Forbearance
February 9, 2009NEW YORK-Rates of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures are increasing rapidly, imposing large costs on borrowers, their communities and the national economy. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Restoring Vitality to Housing
February 9, 2009Mr. Donovan's Opening Statement Before The Senate Banking Committee At His Confirmation Hearing To Become The New Hud Secretary Is Presented As Our Open Forum. (Read More)
Penn. AG, CFC Settle Lawsuit
February 9, 2009HARRISBURG, PA-The Pennsylvania attorney general's office said it has reached a $150 million settlement with Countrywide Financial Corp. to obtain mortgage relief and cash assistance for thousands of Pennsylvania residents with subprime loans sold through Countrywide. (Read More)
PEOPLE
February 9, 2009CALIFORNIA Escondido-Realty Income Corp. said that its non-executive chairman, William E. Clark, will retire from the board of directors effective after the board's regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 10. (Read More)
Stimulus Could Bring 4% FRM Rate
February 9, 2009WASHINGTON-In an effort to revive the nation's depressed housing market, the Senate last week approved a $15,000 homebuyer tax credit and was debating a "buy-down" measure that would create a 4% mortgage for both purchasers and those seeking to refinance. (Read More)
MBS May Not Be Improving, But Predictive Data Might Be
February 9, 2009The performance of securitized mortgage assets may not be getting any better and new primary market issuance has remained largely a thing of the past in the non-agency market. But at least the secondary market has been somewhat active, albeit volatile and subject to change, and the business of finding data and analytics conducive to more accurate valuations appears to be gaining traction. (Read More)
U.S. BancorpGrows Business Fidelity Opens Exchange Offices
February 9, 2009MINNEAPOLIS-U.S. Bancorp's residential and commercial mortgage portfolios grew at a strong clip in 2008, as the company expanded its presence in the mortgage space through acquisitions of troubled banks. (Read More)
Wintrust Sees Modest Profit
February 9, 2009LAKE FOREST, IL-Wintrust Financial Corp. here expects declining market values and loan performance concerns to continue to challenge it going forward, but for the time being the company remains relatively profitable and able to meet demand. (Read More)
Survey Finds International Interest in U.S. Lending Opportunities
February 9, 2009WASHINGTON-Foreign real estate lenders may grow lending by 58% in the United States this year and interest for cross-border real estate investing in general may be stronger in 2009 than 2008, according to the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate. (Read More)
UK Has Foreclosure Relief Plan
February 9, 2009LONDON-The United Kingdom has rolled out its £200 million ($298 million) plan to help low-income borrowers who are elderly, disabled or caring for children avoid foreclosure, according to the U.K. government. (Read More)
Lenders Jump Gun on Fees
February 9, 2009WASHINGTON-Some residential lenders - in response to pending delivery fee hikes coming from the GSEs - are implementing price increases even sooner, especially on condominiums, loan brokers told National Mortgage News. (Read More)
Will GSEs Do Warehouse Lending?
February 9, 2009It's come to this: non-depository mortgage bankers are so starved for credit that they are willing to consider allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to become warehouse liquidity providers. What's next? Allowing the GSEs to originate loans directly to the consumer? (Read More)
No Takers for Aurora
February 9, 2009NEW YORK-Lehman Brothers Holdings - which filed for bankruptcy protection back in the fall - has been shopping around its alt-A servicing division in recent months but with no takers. (Read More)
Wilbur Ross Adds Citi Servicing
February 9, 2009NEW YORK-American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc., the servicing platform of a failed subprime lender that was acquired by turnaround specialist WL Ross in 2007, is buying servicing rights on 185,000 loans from Citi Residential Lending. (Read More)
ResCap Still Bleeding
February 9, 2009NEW YORK-Mortgage banker Residential Capital Corp. - whose parent recently completed a huge debt swap with bond holders - continued to bleed red ink in the fourth quarter, posting a loss of nearly $1 billion as both its home loan fundings and servicing rights suffered. (Read More)
Warehouse Illiquidity a Challenge
February 9, 2009DENVER-There is another factor that is holding back mortgage lending, some experts say, and it has nothing to do with credit or equity. It is a lack of warehouse capacity for mortgage bankers. (Read More)
Humorist to Keynote Conference
February 9, 2009Humorist Dave Barry, who for many years wrote a weekly column for The Miami Herald and has published numerous novels and nonfiction books, will keynote the opening general session of the 2009 MBA Mortgage Servicing Conference on Wednesday, February 18. (Read More)
FirstAm Helps to Manage ARMs
February 9, 2009First American Outsourcing and Technology Solutions, Santa Ana, Calif., has developed a new auditing solution designed to reduce the cost and risk of servicing, acquiring and selling adjustable-rate mortgage loan portfolios. (Read More)
Hope Now Sees Loan Mod Trend Continuing in 2009
February 9, 2009Hope Now's most recent data show both the volume of foreclosure prevention activity growing and a trend that suggests homeowners may be getting more relief. (Read More)
Challenges Loom Large
February 9, 2009When the industry's top servicing executives gather in Tampa next week, the housing crisis will dominate the agenda even more so than it did a year earlier in New Orleans. (Read More)
Tampa Is Big Sports Destination
February 9, 2009It might not have the excitement of Super Bowl XLIII, and Bruce Springsteen will not be performing live between periods, but there is still plenty for sports fans to do while at the MBA Mortgage Servicing Conference. (Read More)
Tampa Ready for Mortgage Show
February 9, 2009Tampa Bay shouldn't have any trouble accommodating a couple of thousand mortgage executives. After all, more than 100,000 people were in town a few weeks before the MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference for Super Bowl weekend. In fact, the Super Bowl attracted about four times more members of the media than there were attendees at last year's mortgage servicing show. (Read More)
Auction Firm Plans Big Presence at Servicing Show
February 9, 2009Default servicers have an opportunity to change the current real estate marketplace that is seeing a rise in REO and blighted homes as a result of foreclosures. (Read More)
Automated Decisioning to Get Mods Right
February 9, 2009BETHESDA, MD-Late last year it was reported that loan modifications done earlier that same year were again in default. Overture Technologies here has launched a new tool dubbed Mozart for Special Servicing to help servicers use analytics and decisioning to get troubled borrowers into the right loan modification the first time around. (Read More)
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February 16, 2009
Study Emphasizes DPAs' Positive Impact
February 16, 2009SACRAMENTO, CA-The resilient story of downpayment assistance providers' fight to legalize DPA shows how market demand for affordable products keeps the lid open on an issue some in the industry prefer to ignore. (Read More)
CRE Originations Fall Sharply
February 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations dropped in the fourth quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's quarterly survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations. Fourth-quarter originations were 80% lower than during the same period last year. The year-over-year decrease was seen across all property types and investor groups. (Read More)
Medical REITs Price Stock Offerings
February 16, 2009BIRMINGHAM, AL-Two REITs focused on the health care property sector have decided to issue stock in order to raise funds to pay down debt. (Read More)
Non-Bank Realty Loans Maturing this Year
February 16, 2009SAN DIEGO-Approximately $171 billion of commercial/multifamily mortgages held by non-bank lenders and investors will mature in 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's new commercial real estate/multifamily survey of loan maturity volumes. In the survey, the volume of loans maturing varies considerably by the type of investor holding the loan. (Read More)
Redwood OfferRaises $283MM
February 16, 2009MILL VALLEY, CA-Redwood Property Trust has raised $282.7 million net of underwriting discounts and commissions through the sale of 26.45 million common shares at $11.25 per share. (Read More)
PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: Ben Cowen
February 16, 2009Dallas-based Mortgage Search & Acquisition said that BOK Financial, Tulsa, Okla., has named Mr. Cowen as the president of its mortgage arm, BOK Mortgage. He brings over 25 years of mortgage banking experience to BOK Financial. Mr. Cowen's most recent role was with LendingTree as national sales director and he previously served as senior vice president at Wachovia, which last year was acquired by Wells Fargo Bank. Mr. Cowen reports to BOK Financial senior EVP Steve Bradshaw. BOK Financial is a $21 billion financial holding company that operates seven bank subsidiaries in eight states with a total of 189 branches. (Read More)
AHMSI Fights Carrington Suit
February 16, 2009NEW YORK-In another sign of growing tension between investors in mortgage securities and servicers of subprime loans, Carrington Capital Management has prepared a lawsuit against American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc., alleging that the firm exacerbated losses on the sale of foreclosed homes. (Read More)
Why Some Say Cramdowns Are Actually Good for Lenders
February 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Much of the banking industry continues to resist mortgage bankruptcy reform, but some observers are arguing that bankers would actually see a benefit if the legislation passed. (Read More)
Commercial MBs Merge with Credit Suisse Unit
February 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Commercial mortgage banker Walker & Dunlop of Bethesda, Md., and a sister company that specializes in Freddie Mac multifamily loans, have agreed to merge with Column Guaranteed LCC, a unit controlled by investment banker Credit Suisse. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Even More Challenging
February 16, 2009Attendees at this week's Mortgage Bankers Association's National Servicing Conference in Tampa will find a much-changed environment from last year's. Yet the challenges they face will be familiar from last year - only way more challenging. (Read More)
Loan Officers Need Extensive FHA Training
February 16, 2009WEST DES MOINES, IA-Lenders across the country are making FHA a product of choice. But a high percentage of loan originators in the mortgage industry have only been in the business for a handful of years, and they don't have experience with the product, according to Dennis Hedlund, president of iEmergent, a company here that provides intelligence to the mortgage banking industry. (Read More)
Analytical Tool Aims to Foresee and Minimize Default Risk
February 16, 2009BROOKFIELD, WI-Fiserv executives find that processing capacity and a thorough loan screening process that allows lenders and servicers to evaluate risk in different levels are concerns the industry will continue to face this year when dealing with loan modifications. (Read More)
Congress Considers Repairs to H4H
February 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Congress is considering several changes to the FHA Hope for Homeowners program to make the stillborn refinancing program attractive to homeowners and servicers. (Read More)
MBA Looking at Layoffs
February 16, 2009WASHINGTON-The Mortgage Bankers Association - whose membership has been decimated by the credit crisis and rising residential delinquencies - is making contingency plans to cut staff and re-engineer its organization for leaner times. (Read More)
Housing Drop Pegged at 36%
February 16, 2009NEW YORK-The value of homes nationwide will be more than a third lower when prices bottom out late this year, predicts Moody's Economy.com. (Read More)
NMLS: 22 States and Counting
February 16, 2009WASHINGTON-The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System marked its first full year of operation early last month with 22 states on board. Eleven more jurisdictions are expected to join by this summer. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Pulling Back the TARP
February 16, 2009In creating TARP as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act last October, Congress granted the Treasury extraordinary powers and a staggering sum of money to address the economic crisis - some $700 billion of taxpayer dollars. (Read More)
PEOPLE
February 16, 2009CALIFORNIA Irvine-Thompson National Properties said that Candace Rice joined the company as senior vice president, accounting. (Read More)
BlackRock Adds to its Equity Stake in Top Ten Servicer PHH
February 16, 2009NEW YORK-Subsidiaries controlled by investment banker BlackRock Financial have increased their stake in PHH Corp., Mount Laurel, N.J. - a top 10 ranked residential servicer - to 9.67%, according to a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Read More)
Servicing Writedowns, Impairment Create Red Ink for PNC
February 16, 2009PITTSBURGH-Writedowns to commercial mortgage servicing rights and investment securities contributed to PNC Financial Services Group's fourth-quarter loss. (Read More)
Home Equity Pioneer Sues other Lenders for Alleged Patent Infringement
February 16, 2009NEW YORK-The growing number of believers in using home equity to overcome hardship has brought along appraisal disagreements and in worst-case scenarios, lawsuits. (Read More)
Illiquidity Stymies Valuations
February 16, 2009SCOTTSDALE, AZ-Multifunctional tools that help determine the net present value of a distressed mortgage portfolio are highly attractive in a market where liquidity is scarce. (Read More)
Warehouse, Maturity Issues Exemplify Short-Term Priorities
February 16, 2009Ongoing warehouse capacity issues and concentrations of maturity risk in certain short-term commercial mortgage sectors serve as examples of what should be priorities in getting the credit market back on track. (Read More)
Union Bank Saw Fundings Rise 70%
February 16, 2009SAN DIEGO-Union Bank of California originated $4.5 billion in mortgages in 2008, a 70% increase from the prior year. (Read More)
Virgin Money Targets TPO
February 16, 2009WALTHAM, MA-While others continue to drop out of wholesale mortgage lending, the U.S. outsourcing business that made an innovative move into that space when British mogul Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group acquired it last year has been expanding and last week it renewed its commitment to the channel, saying it plans to continue to grow it with an "elite" group of brokers. (Read More)
Canadian Housing Starts Down
February 16, 2009OTTAWA-The seasonally adjusted annual rate of Canadian housing starts has fallen to 153,500 units in January from 172,200 in December, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. here. (Read More)
UK Regulating Loan Structure
February 16, 2009LONDON-The United Kingdom's Treasury has made plans to start regulating companies that handle a growing number of "sale and rent back" arrangements, which have come under more scrutiny due to the increase in mortgage borrowers facing foreclosure. (Read More)
Fannie Eases Investor Rules
February 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Fannie Mae is loosening a restriction to encourage lending to property investors, a group that has been widely blamed for contributing to the housing meltdown but is also seen by many as critical to a recovery. (Read More)
TARP Mulls Buydowns
February 16, 2009WASHINGTON-The Treasury Department is considering a loan modification plan that will use taxpayer funds to reduce the monthly payments for potentially millions of struggling homeowners. (Read More)
Time Up for Mortgage Brokers?
February 16, 2009There's two ways to view the recent news that mortgage insurance giant PMI is tossing all broker-sourced loans overboard: this is a great opportunity for the other MIs to pick up market share - or that brokers are toast. (Read More)
Foreclosures Down in Jan.
February 16, 2009IRVINE, CA-Foreclosure activity across the nation decreased at least 10% in January as a result of extensive foreclosure forebearance efforts on the part of lenders and government agencies, according to the latest reports from two companies that track foreclosure data. (Read More)
Stimulus Boost Goes Bust
February 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Lenders looking for the massive economic stimulus bill to give the housing market a major boost will be sorely disappointed by the final product. (Read More)
Top Servicers Control 66%
February 16, 2009WASHINGTON-The nation's top five residential servicing firms, as a group, now control almost 67% of all housing debt in the U.S., another sign that consolidation in the struggling industry is rampant and that these institutions might be considered "too big to fail." (Read More)
S&P Downgrades Thousands of MBS Deals to Default Level
February 16, 2009NEW YORK-Reflecting continuing loan performance woes, Standard & Poor's has downgraded to default level thousands of often already speculative-grade ratings on U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities in moves that were the most numerous in the alternative-A credit sector. (Read More)
Minton Is CSOFor Motivity
February 16, 2009DENVER-Former Mortgage Bankers Association vice president of industry technology and COO at LOS vendor Mortgage Cadence, Gabe Minton is now chief strategy officer at Motivity Solutions here. (Read More)
Automating the Point-of-Sale Tech Has Some Hidden Advantages
February 16, 2009MEQUON, WI-As borrowers become more self-service oriented and lenders look to both reach out and cut costs, those lenders will be keenly focused on automating the point-of-sale by relying more on the Web, but there are other advantages to this technology approach as well. (Read More)
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February 23, 2009
Archstone Offers Service
February 23, 2009DENVER-Apartment investment and operations firm Archstone has launched a new advisory service for real estate professionals. (Read More)
BioMed Realty Trust Completes Refinancing for JV with PREI
February 23, 2009SAN DIEGO-BioMed Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust focused on the life science industry, has completed refinancing of the secured acquisition and interim loan facility originally entered into in April 2007 by its joint venture with a fund managed by Prudential Real Estate Investors. That venture was created to acquire, among other properties, approximately 600,000 square feet of life science space in Cambridge, Mass. (Read More)
Post Properties Posts Net Loss
February 23, 2009ATLANTA-Post Properties here posted a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $15.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2008, compared to net income available to common shareholders of $77.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2007. (Read More)
CORRECTION
February 23, 2009David Friedman is CEO of American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. He was incorrectly identified in a story that ran under the headline "Wilbur Ross Adds Citi Servicing" in the Feb. 9 issue. (Read More)
Appraisal Lawsuits Filed Against Countrywide and Wells Fargo Correction:
February 23, 2009SEATTLE-An area law firm has filed separate suits against Countrywide and Wells Fargo, alleging both companies used affiliated appraisal businesses to boost profits at the expense of homeowners and individual appraisals. (Read More)
ASF's Project Moves Forward
February 23, 2009NEW YORK-The American Securitization Forum has begun its next phase of a project aimed at restoring investor confidence to the market for mortgage- and asset-backed securities. (Read More)
Barclays Takes $2.6B Charge
February 23, 2009LONDON-Barclays PLC took charges that included £1.76 billion ($2.6 billion) of impairments arising from U.S. subprime mortgages and other credit market exposures in 2008, a period in which it saw its pretax profit decline 14% year-to-year to £6.07 billion ($9 billion). (Read More)
Bankruptcy Bill Seen Forcing Losses on High-Rated MBS
February 23, 2009WASHINGTON-Obscure clauses in securitization documents could spell big losses for banks if Congress passes mortgage bankruptcy legislation. (Read More)
U.S. Residential/Commercial Exposures Dent CS Results
February 23, 2009ZURICH, Switzerland-Credit Suisse Group saw 2.3 billion Swiss francs ($2 billion) in United States residential and commercial mortgage-related writedowns during the fourth quarter, a period when it took a net loss of 6 billion Swiss francs ($5 billion). (Read More)
Deutsche Bank Sees Writedowns
February 23, 2009FRANKFURT, Germany-Deutsche Bank saw 458 million euros ($593 million) of mortgage-related sales and trading writedowns in its corporate and investment bank unit during the fourth quarter, when it took a net 4.8 billion euro ($6.2 billion) loss that matched an earlier estimate. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Unusual Times
February 23, 2009We had to look twice at the number. We've seen inversions before, as when long- and short-term government yields cross tracks, but it's not usual for fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgage interest rates to be inverted. (Read More)
TransUnion Markets Latest Version of Fair Isaac's Score
February 23, 2009MINNEAPOLIS-The latest version of the Fair Isaac credit scorecard, FICO 08, is now available for use by lenders. The scorecard is now being marketed by one of the three credit repositories, TransUnion, under the product name FICO Risk Score, Classic 08. (Read More)
First Tenn Sells $14B in MSRs
February 23, 2009MEMPHIS-First Tennessee Bank here said it recently sold $14 billion in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac residential servicing rights to an undisclosed third party. (Read More)
Net Brancher Has Capacity Issues
February 23, 2009TULSA, OK-Gateway Mortgage Group here, which operates as a direct lender and net branch franchise, is having warehouse capacity problems. (Read More)
Genworth MI Unit Takes a 4Q Loss
February 23, 2009RICHMOND, VA-The U.S. mortgage insurance operations at Genworth Financial Inc. here had a fourth-quarter 2008 net operating loss of $114 million. One year prior, it had an operating loss of just $3 million. (Read More)
Celebrities Help Fight Foreclosures
February 23, 2009NEW YORK-The Hope Now alliance is recruiting celebrities to enhance its efforts on curbing foreclosures. (Read More)
MI Moves Don't Affect Freddie Sales
February 23, 2009NEW YORK-The six active private mortgage insurance companies will still be able to insure loans to be sold to Freddie Mac, in spite of an industrywide downgrade by Moody's Investors Service that pushed the insurer financial strength rating of three of them into junk range. (Read More)
TARP Funds in NC to Help Out the Homebuilder Community
February 23, 2009NEW YORK-It is not only the large players that are disclosing how they plan to spend their Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. A trio of North Carolina-based institutions have tied their spending of the government money to programs to help out the homebuilder community. (Read More)
AH/Community Development Entities Eye Federal Aid
February 23, 2009WASHINGTON-While the battle for federal funds continues in Congress, affordable housing and community development entities are trying to fight the crisis through partnership efforts and national organizations that allow for a more efficient use of federal assistance. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Fighting on Two Fronts Fighting on Two Fronts
February 23, 2009Without credit, economies cannot grow at their potential, and right now, critical parts of our financial system are damaged. The credit markets that are essential for small businesses and consumers are not working. Borrowing costs have risen sharply for state and local governments, for students trying to pay for college, and for businesses large and small. Many banks are reducing lending, and across the country they are tightening the terms of loans. (Read More)
PEOPLE
February 23, 2009CALIFORNIA Foothill Ranch-Echo Loans said that Paul Rodriguez has been promoted to president of the company. (Read More)
Executive Returns to PNC Mortgage
February 23, 2009PITTSBURGH-Sy Naqvi, who ran PNC Mortgage for 11 years until it was sold to Washington Mutual earlier this decade, has returned to the bank-owned lender. (Read More)
REITs Still Issuing Stock to Raise Funds
February 23, 2009NEW YORK-Three more REITs have decided to issue additional common stock to pay down debt in a market where financing is difficult to obtain despite low interest rates. (Read More)
Bond Insurer Split Revives Questions about Risk in that Area
February 23, 2009Among the potential shoes yet to truly drop in the ongoing financial malaise have been the bond insurers who provided coverage for an inordinate amount of nonperforming and subperforming mortgage-related securities, and last week - while President Obama's team made plans to address real estate finance-related financial concerns that may help - we saw one of them, MBIA, split off its exposures in this area into a separate division from its municipal bond exposures. (Read More)
FHFA Chief Wants TARP Money Used to Help MI Industry
February 23, 2009WASHINGTON-The nation's GSE regulator wants the Obama administration to use a portion of TARP funds to shore up the capital bases of the six surviving private mortgage insurance companies. (Read More)
Homebuilder Bankruptcies Rising
February 23, 2009NEW YORK-Based on a review of the 33 U.S. homebuilders with more than $10 million in revenue, nearly 30% are in financial distress and in danger of filing for bankruptcy, according to an analysis by Grant Thornton Corporate Advisory and Restructuring Services. (Read More)
MBA Likes Plan, But Seeks More
February 23, 2009TAMPA, FL-The Mortgage Bankers Association generally likes President Barack Obama's foreclosure plan but questions if $75 billion over three years will be enough to solve the problem. (Read More)
Some Servicers Find E-Adoption Helps
February 23, 2009TAMPA, FL-Surely the mortgage industry has problems, namely the rising default rate. Increasingly servicers are recognizing that going electronic can be a way to solve pressing problems today and not something best kept for the future. (Read More)
Servicers May Need to Turn to Tech
February 23, 2009TAMPA, FL-With current market conditions, servicers can't approach technology as business as usual anymore. The sheer volume of modifications required is prompting servicers to be more proactive when it comes to automating vs. being reactive. (Read More)
Barclays Shuts EquiFirst
February 23, 2009CHARLOTTE, NC-Barclays Bank last week officially shuttered EquiFirst Corp. here, its subprime wholesale lending division. (Read More)
White House Plan: Will It Work or Not?
February 23, 2009This past week plenty of ink was spilled (and hot air spewed on television) regarding the White House's new $75 billion effort to help struggling homeowners make good on their mortgages. Will it work or is Uncle Sam just throwing good money after bad - money that might be given to the "good" bankers who've acted responsibility over the past five years? Round all three of them up and hand them a check. (Read More)
GSEs Are Key to U.S. Plan
February 23, 2009WASHINGTON-In an effort to save up to 9 million troubled mortgagors - or about one in 11 Americans with a home loan - the White House is using a combination of TARP funds and the balance sheets of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)
RESPA Rule Causes More Friction
February 23, 2009WASHINGTON-Once again industry trade groups are trying to get HUD to backpedal on a Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rule, claiming the department should work with the Federal Reserve Board on making mortgage disclosures more useful to consumers. (Read More)
Foreclosure Block Seen
February 23, 2009TAMPA, FL-Servicers are seeing increased cases where borrowers are trying to stall or stop foreclosures by filing "right to rescind" notices as violations of the Truth in Lending Act, according to speakers at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Mortgage Servicing Conference here. (Read More)
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March 2, 2009
PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: PETE MASELLI
March 2, 2009Mr. Maselli has joined Lender Processing Services Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., as a senior vice president of strategy and business development. Based in Washington, he brings more than 25 years of mortgage banking experience to his new role and prior to joining LPS spent more than 15 years at Freddie Mac. (Read More)
Bank Absorbs $37 Million in Charges
March 2, 2009LOS ANGELES-A charge of $4.5 million for an other-than-temporary impairment on investment securities, a provision for loan losses of $6.9 million and a writedown of other real estate-owned assets of $1.2 million negatively impacted Preferred Bank here, which ended the fourth quarter with a net loss of $468,000 and a net loss of $473,000 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008. (Read More)
Wilmington Trust Reports 4Q Loss
March 2, 2009WILMINGTON, DE-Wilmington Trust Corp. reported a loss for the fourth quarter of $68.5 million as a result of sharp declines in the carrying value of some of the securities in the investment portfolio, which required the company to record $98.4 million of securities losses. On an after-tax basis, these losses reduced fourth-quarter net income by $62.4 million. (Read More)
Life Insurers See CRE/MBS Risks
March 2, 2009OLDWICK, NJ-Life insurers face several areas of investment risk for 2009, including commercial real estate loans and mortgage-backed securities and prime residential MBS, a report from A.M. Best Co. here declares. The report is titled "Life/Annuity Review & Preview 2009: U.S. Life Insurers Hunker Down As Market Turmoil Continues." (Read More)
BoA Combining CFC's TPO Divisions
March 2, 2009CALABASAS, CA-Bank of America has decided to combine the wholesale and correspondent lending divisions of Countrywide Home Loans into one unit, placing executive Doug Jones in charge of both. (Read More)
No Rebound for Metro Areas
March 2, 2009NEW YORK-The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index recorded an 18.2% decline in the fourth quarter of 2008 vs. the fourth quarter of 2007. (Read More)
Several CMBS Ratings Drop as Cash Flow Concerns Increase
March 2, 2009NEW YORK-Waves of commercial mortgage-backed securities downgrades are following in the wake of Moody's Investors Service's review of large loan and single borrower U.S. CMBS ratings, in which the rating agency found the current economic recession is hurting cash flows and likely to lead to a marked increase in term mortgage loan defaults going forward. (Read More)
Massive Fraud Claimed at C.U. National Mortgage
March 2, 2009NEWARK, NJ-The FBI is investigating claims of a massive fraud at U.S. Mortgage Corp., the privately held owner of C.U. National Mortgage, which filed for bankruptcy last week. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: The Blended Approach
March 2, 2009There was an interesting discussion of the loan modification problem at the recent Mortgage Bankers Association's National Servicing Conference in Tampa, Fla. (Read More)
HECM Lenders Look to Outside Help
March 2, 2009ATLANTA-Market experts believe one of the most efficient ways mortgage lenders can assist seniors in taking advantage of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration is through better cooperation with financial advisers. (Read More)
GSE Refi LTV Lid 'Could Be Raised'
March 2, 2009WASHINGTON-The loan-to-value limit on loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can refinance under the president's foreclosure rescue plan could go higher than 105%, according to a mortgage industry veteran who has been advising the Obama administration on the issue. (Read More)
Metrostudy Research Predicts 47% Drop in Starts for '09
March 2, 2009HOUSTON-Builders slashed new-home production in 2008, and will scale back further in 2009, according to a new study by Metrostudy, a national housing market research firm here. (Read More)
MIs OK with GSE Refinance Plan as Long as It's Temporary
March 2, 2009WASHINGTON-The mortgage insurance industry - which is badly in need of capital - is willing to back a new Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac refinancing program aimed at troubled homeowners. (Read More)
U.K. Lender Ups Funding
March 2, 2009LONDON-Government-supported United Kingdom lender Northern Rock has made plans to increase mortgage funding by up to £14 billion ($20 billion), possibly within the next two years. (Read More)
In Obama's Plan, Less Lender Pain
March 2, 2009WASHINGTON-The fine-tuned version of mortgage bankruptcy reform in President Obama's housing plan may be considerably less painful for lenders than the legislation making its way through Congress. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Staving Off Foreclosures
March 2, 2009I'm here today to talk about a crisis unlike we've ever known - but one that you know very well here in Mesa, and throughout the Valley. In Phoenix and its surrounding suburbs, the American dream is being tested by a home mortgage crisis that not only threatens the stability of our economy, but also the stability of families and neighborhoods. It's a crisis that strikes at the heart of the middle class: the homes in which we invest our savings and build our lives, raise our families and plant roots in our communities. (Read More)
PEOPLE
March 2, 2009CALIFORNIA Irvine-Thompson National Properties said that Jason Larch joined the company as regional vice president, North Central United States. (Read More)
TARP Won't Prevent MI Credit Losses
March 2, 2009PHILADELPHIA-TARP funds will do little to help protect current shareholders of mortgage insurance companies from coming credit losses, warns an FBR Capital Markets report on Radian Group Inc. here. (Read More)
REO Packages Seen Trading Higher Than Many '05-'07 MBS
March 2, 2009When it comes to dealing with the mortgage debt left over from the excesses of 2005-2007, a lot hangs on how government plans take shape. In the meantime, experts say the market for this often-securitized product has reached the point where real estate-owned in many cases trades better than notes and subprime loss estimates are increasing to the point where another downgrade of thousands of ratings could be seen. (Read More)
Virgin Money to Offer 'Social Mortgages'
March 2, 2009WALTHAM, MA-Virgin Money USA here is marketing its traditional and social mortgage lending through "Uncrunch America," a campaign with Lending Club and other personal finance companies aiming to provide viable financing alternatives to consumers who lack them due to today's high credit card rates and tighter bank credit. (Read More)
Deduction Cap Slammed
March 2, 2009WASHINGTON-The Mortgage Bankers Association says it is adamantly opposed to the federal government capping the mortgage interest deduction as well as deductions for mortgage insurance payments and real estate taxes. (Read More)
Non-Banks On Road to Extinction?
March 2, 2009Last week, JPMorgan Chase - which looks as if it has plenty of cash on hand - threw in the towel on warehouse lending. Out in the cold were eight non-depositories that have a few months to find new bankers willing to extend them a lifeline. Good luck to them. (Read More)
CA Sets Moratorium
March 2, 2009SACRAMENTO, CA-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law a 90-day moratorium on California home foreclosures - but the measure carries certain exemptions for residential servicers. (Read More)
CA Home SalesDouble in Jan.
March 2, 2009LOS ANGELES-Statewide home sales in January edged past 600,000, double the year before, signifying that the market is gradually working its way through the large numbers of distressed sales caused by the mortgage crisis, according to the president of the California Association of Realtors. (Read More)
Huge Loss for Fannie
March 2, 2009WASHINGTON-Operating as a ward of the federal government, Fannie Mae posted a massive $25.2 billion loss in the fourth quarter, blaming its abysmal performance on asset- and derivative-related writedowns. For the year the GSE lost an eye-popping $58.7 billion. (Read More)
LIME Chief Plans Return Warehouse Lender Commitments
March 2, 2009LAKE OSWEGO, OR-Zan Hamilton, former CEO of the recently defunct LIME Financial Services here, is already planning his return to the mortgage industry but isn't giving many hints about which direction he's headed. (Read More)
Servicers to Address Demand for Loss Mit Expertise
March 2, 2009TAMPA, FL-Special servicers are drawing on existing support functions and target training as the fastest way to develop new qualified staff capable to fulfill the high demand for loss mitigation expertise. (Read More)
E-Signing and Document Adoption Gaining Momentum
March 2, 2009PLEASANTON, CA-While some lenders continue to sit on the fence when it comes to electronically signing documents, others that are actively using e-signing are realizing the benefits today. (Read More)
Vendor: E-Docs Are More Legally Enforceable than Paper
March 2, 2009Some lenders still shy away from electronic signatures and electronic documents because they fear that they are not legally enforceable. To the contrary, e-signing e-docs may be more legally enforceable than using paper, according to one vendor. (Read More)
Doc Vendors Look to Differentiate
March 2, 2009DALLAS-As the mortgage industry has returned to more conventional loan products, document preparation technology has increasingly become a commodity. Now these vendors are fighting back with new features to set themselves apart. (Read More)
Document Services: Reworking Dataflow
March 2, 2009The mortgage industry remains a very paper-intensive industry. However, as the market declines lenders are looking for efficiencies, which is prompting more and more to go paperless. (Read More)
A More Dynamic Process Makes SMART Docs Even Smarter
March 2, 2009The mortgage industry is trying to adopt processes and protocols that will create a better quality loan. While SMART Docs originally had been the end goal in this movement, a technology process that dynamically creates SMART Docs based on trusted source data is now possible and takes this effort one step further. (Read More)
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March 9, 2009
CitiMortgage Redefaults Just 23%
March 9, 2009NEW YORK-CitiMortgage says that 23% of delinquent home loans it modified over the past year fell into default again - into the 60- and 90-plus day late categories. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Use It or Lose It
March 9, 2009American Indian housing is one of the beneficiaries of the Obama stimulus plan, to the tune of half a billion dollars. This is a great use of stimulus money. But tribes will have to obligate and then spend the money quickly, or it will be recaptured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Read More)
Losses, OTTI for Many FHLBanks
March 9, 2009RESTON, VA-Five of the 10 Federal Home Loan Banks that have thus far released unaudited 2008 financial results have taken fourth-quarter net losses and at least four of those have recorded "other than temporary impairments" for the year linked to private-label mortgage-backed securities market deterioration that the FHLBanks' Office of Finance here warns could continue. (Read More)
Time Running Out on Reauthorization of NFIP
March 9, 2009WASHINGTON-With less than one month for Congress to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, a trade group representing insurance agents has begun a letter writing campaign to all members of the House and Senate calling for action. (Read More)
Geithner Alludes to Program for Toxic Assets
March 9, 2009WASHINGTON-The Treasury Department plans to announce details within the next two weeks on the creation of a public-private partnership for purchases of toxic assets, Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said last Wednesday. (Read More)
Is GNMA GoingInto Warehouse?
March 9, 2009WASHINGTON-Certain factions of the mortgage industry are pushing an idea that would allow the Government National Mortgage Association to get involved in warehouse financing. (Read More)
HSBC Abandons Financial Units
March 9, 2009PROSPECT HEIGHTS, IL-HSBC said it plans to cease all new U.S. real estate-secured originations through the HSBC Finance Corp. and Beneficial brands only, but will continue the prime credit quality business done through its Depew, N.Y.-based HSBC Mortgage Corp. business and its banking arm. (Read More)
MI and Title Cos. Report More Losses
March 9, 2009NEW YORK-The bad news continues for the mortgage insurance and title insurance sectors as the latest three companies to report all had sizable losses. (Read More)
Freddie Hunting for a New CEO
March 9, 2009WASHINGTON-Freddie Mac, which has been operating under a conservatorship since early September, is in the hunt for a new, permanent chief executive. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Staving Off Foreclosures
March 9, 2009So here's what my plan does: establishes clear guidelines for the entire mortgage industry that will encourage lenders to modify mortgages on primary residences. Any institution that wishes to receive financial assistance from the government, from taxpayers, and to modify home mortgages, will have to do so according to these guidelines - which will be in place two weeks from today. (Read More)
PEOPLE
March 9, 2009CALIFORNIA Irvine-Finacorp Securities has hired Itai Benosh, formerly a director at Freddie Mac and a debt capital markets banker at Lehman Brothers. (Read More)
PHH's Mortgage Business is Valued at Zero by FBR Group
March 9, 2009MOUNT LAUREL, NJ-A report from FBR Group gives PHH Corp. here a share price target of $8 but a zero value for the mortgage business. (Read More)
Redefault Risk Cited in Mod Plan
March 9, 2009WASHINGTON-Critics of the Obama administration's loan modification proposal say that it would not adequately address consumers' non-mortgage debt loads or the second liens on their homes, and that many borrowers would end up defaulting again. (Read More)
Still No New Private-Label MBS, But Glimmers of Hope Seen
March 9, 2009New issuance of private-label mortgage-backed securities remains questionable, as does how to resolve the existing subperforming ones out there. But certain players are now saying particular hurdles oft cited in these challenges may be more surmountable than some might have thought. (Read More)
Mortgages Still Hurting UBS
March 9, 2009ZURICH-UBS's ongoing government-assisted repositioning of problem assets, including mortgages, contributed to a net charge of 4.2 billion Swiss francs ($3.6 billion) in the fourth quarter, when the company as a whole took a net loss of 8.1 billion Swiss francs ($7 billion). (Read More)
WKFS Starts Settlement Unit
March 9, 2009MINNEAPOLIS-Over the years, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services here has expanded its operations through acquisitions and the creation of partnerships. Now the company has created a dedicated settlement services business unit to support its efforts in that area. (Read More)
Loan Modification Pros and Cons, from mortgagegrapevine.com
March 9, 2009The following is a compilation of portions of several threads regarding loan modifications posted on the Mortgage Grapevine website in the past few weeks. (Read More)
Canadian Starts Still Down
March 9, 2009OTTAWA-The downward trend in Canada's housing starts is expected to persist through 2009, ending with a slight rebound in 2010, according to a first quarter outlook by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (Read More)
Aid May Quell RBS's Continuing Asset Woes, and Boost Lending Activity
March 9, 2009EDINBURGH, Scotland-The U.K. government-supported Royal Bank of Scotland Group continued to suffer billions of dollars worth of writedowns in 2008, a significant amount of which stem from U.S. mortgage-related exposures, but there is some hope that new government assistance may mitigate problem asset risks and increase its mortgage lending activity this year. (Read More)
Mortgage Brokers: Down For Now, But Surely Not Out Forever
March 9, 2009PARK CITY, UT-Mortgage brokers may be down, but they are far from out, their chief spokesman in Washington said here late last month. (Read More)
Wholesale Lending Now A Big Industry Issue
March 9, 2009PARK CITY, UT-Wholesale lending and the federal tax deduction for mortgage interest, two items that weren't even on the radar screen of the housing finance lobby a year ago, have suddenly vaulted to the top of its list of the industry's major policy issues. (Read More)
Looking for Other Ideas Than Caps for Mortgage Deduction
March 9, 2009PARK CITY, UT-There were plenty of ideas of what to do with the heretofore sacrosanct deduction for mortgage interest at the 37th annual Midwinter Housing Finance Conference here late last month. But capping wasn't one of them. (Read More)
Pair of Economists Advises, Hasten Foreclosures, Don't Delay Them
March 9, 2009PARK CITY, UT-Though well intentioned, the government's plan to end the housing crisis is missing the mark, a pair of economists said here late last month at the annual Midwinter Housing Finance Conference. (Read More)
What Happened to FM Watch?
March 9, 2009Formed in 1999 or thereabouts, FM Watch was a lobbying group whose sole mission in life - at least early on - was to block and thwart the then-expansionist tendencies of Congressionally chartered mortgage behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)
GSEs' Fate: Maybe Next Year
March 9, 2009PARK CITY, UT-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's federal regulator has promised "a healthy debate" on the future of the two troubled government-sponsored enterprises. But it probably won't occur until next year at the earliest, he said here late last month. (Read More)
2008 Volume Is Down 39%
March 9, 2009WASHINGTON-The mortgage industry funded a meager $273 billion in the fourth quarter, as the nation's economy spiraled into a deep recession and lenders continued to exit certain loan channels and tighten program guidelines. (Read More)
SARs Filings Up 44% in 2008
March 9, 2009WASHINGTON-The nation's financial institutions last year filed 62,084 mortgage-related Suspicious Activity Reports with government regulators, a 44% increase from the prior year, according to new figures released by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. (Read More)
Carveouts Complicate Cramdowns
March 9, 2009NEW YORK-Over one-third of outstanding U.S. prime and alternative-A credit residential mortgage-backed securities may have so-called bankruptcy carveouts, Fitch Ratings found as part of its review of the cramdown legislation's potential effects on current RMBS transactions. (Read More)
Obama's Plan Gets Some Praise
March 9, 2009WASHINGTON-It appears the mortgage industry likes the White House's new, somewhat, detailed plan to refinance or modify up to nine million home mortgages, but will it work? (Read More)
MBS Go on CreditWatch Negative
March 9, 2009NEW YORK-Standard & Poor's has put 3,279 ratings of first-lien prime jumbo U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities from 2006 and 2007 on CreditWatch Negative, citing an increase in projected losses to 40% from 30%. (Read More)
Metavante: Lenders Have to Think About How to Cut Costs
March 9, 2009Lenders attending the MBA tech show will be serious about investing in solutions and should take a hard look at the technology vendor's financials when making that final decision, advised Cy Brinn, president of Metavante Lending Solutions. (Read More)
Panel: Integrating Creates Efficiency
March 9, 2009The basis for purchasing automation within the thin margins of today's volatile market often involves spending money to save money, and at least one panel presentation planned for the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference in Las Vegas is aimed at helping market participants do just that using a piecemeal implementation strategy. (Read More)
How to Find the 'Real' Las Vegas
March 9, 2009For such an interesting history, Las Vegas just loves to blow it up. Gone are classics like the Sands, Desert Inn, Stardust, Dunes and Frontier. So where does one go looking for some old-school Las Vegas saved from the wrecking ball? (Read More)
Escape at Red Rock Canyon
March 9, 2009LAS VEGAS-While this city is full of glitz and lights, it is easy to forget that it is located in the middle of the Mojave Desert, an area full of some spectacular views of nature. (Read More)
Wave: Lenders Attending Need an E-Mortgage Roadmap
March 9, 2009Kelly Purcell, executive vice president, global sales and marketing at Wave eSign Systems, Lee, Mass., expects lenders attending the MBA tech show to be thinking about e-mortgages. (Read More)
Getting Serious About Tech
March 9, 2009While attendance is expected to be down well over 50% from what is was last year, most still going to the MBA tech show this year are looking forward to a serious show that tackles serious problems and provides some meaningful recovery strategies. (Read More)
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March 16, 2009
ACPT Secures Apt. Financing
March 16, 2009ST. CHARLES, MD-American Community Properties Trust has secured financing that will enable it to begin construction of Gleneagles Apartments, a new 184-unit rental property in the planned community of St. Charles. (Read More)
Brookdale Amends, Extends LOC
March 16, 2009NASHVILLE, TN-Brookdale Senior Living Inc., an owner and operator of senior living communities here, and its lenders have entered into a second amended and restated credit agreement. (Read More)
JEMB Realty Launches Group
March 16, 2009NEW YORK-To capitalize on the opportunities in the debt market JEMB Realty here has launched Basis Investment Group LLC. Tammy K. Heyman, who previously directed CWCapital's fixed and floating rate capital markets lending division, will serve as president of the new venture. (Read More)
Hot-Button Topics at Servicing Conference
March 16, 2009NEW YORK-Attendees at SourceMedia's Third Annual Mortgage Servicing Conference April 6-7 in Dallas will hear all about the latest servicing updates, including the recent approval of cramdowns by the House of Representatives and how this new legislation will impact servicers. (Read More)
CapitalSource Loses $298M
March 16, 2009CHEVY CHASE, MD-CapitalSource Inc. here, the company that acquired the banking branch operations (but not the charter) of Fremont Investment & Loan this past June, lost $298 million during the fourth quarter and $223 million for the year. (Read More)
Ambac Takes $2.3 Billion Loss
March 16, 2009NEW YORK-Residential mortgage-backed securities insurance concerns continued to weigh on Ambac Financial Group Inc. in the fourth quarter of last year when it took a net loss of $2.34 billion, somewhat of an improvement over its net loss of $3.27 billion during the same period a year ago. (Read More)
Broker Jobs Vanishing Fast
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Employment in the loan brokerage sector fell to an eight-year low in January to 73,600 positions, yet another sign that this third-party lending channel is facing a grim future. (Read More)
Mortgage Police Agency To Come?
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Two pretty high-ranking Democratic senators have introduced a bill to create a consumer credit agency that would police mortgage products offered by any lender, including federally chartered banks. (Read More)
Late Payments Climb to New Record
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-The national mortgage delinquency rate - which includes both prime and subprime mortgages - climbed to a record 7.88% in the fourth quarter with subprime late payments reaching a staggering 21.88%, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)
Chase Disses Mortgage Brokers
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-The head of JPMorgan Chase trashed the mortgage broker business in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Annual Capital Markets Summit here. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: What's Next?
March 16, 2009The outline, if not the detail, of what the government plans to do to bail out the mortgage industry is now clear. The question now becomes, what will the industry do? (Read More)
Congress Increases FHA Authority By $130B
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-It will be a banner year for FHA. Congressional appropriators are expecting another big year for the FHA single-family program, which could generate $300 billion in new loans by the time the 2009 fiscal year ends in September. (Read More)
Subprime Bill Vehicle for Reforms
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., wants to change the way mortgages are securitized and serviced and he is going to use a subprime lending bill to advance his reforms. (Read More)
Freddie to Lease REO Inventory
March 16, 2009MCLEAN, VA-Freddie Mac has launched its new REO rental initiative giving qualified tenants and former owners the option to lease their recently foreclosed properties on a month-to-month basis. (Read More)
Goldman Scaling Back Wholesaler
March 16, 2009FORT MILLS, SC-Goldman Sachs & Co. is scaling back the lending operations of Senderra Funding here, in particular its wholesale division, sources told National Mortgage News last week. (Read More)
Korell Moves to JPMorgan
March 16, 2009NEW YORK-Mark Korell, who once headed the nation's largest mortgage banking firm, has joined JPMorgan Chase and will assist the bank in regard to what he calls "cross strategies" tied to its correspondent lending group. (Read More)
FHA Wants Strong QC Effort
March 16, 2009NEW YORK-To be a Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved Federal Housing Administration program originator, there must be a strong quality control program in place. There is a requirement that 10% of an originator's FHA files be audited. (Read More)
Do-It-Yourself Loan Modification Tool for Homeowners
March 16, 2009LOS ANGELES-A new DVD offers homeowners in distress a loan-modification tool that opens the door to a more affordable, do-it-yourself approach to modifications. (Read More)
MBIA Pays Second-Lien Claims
March 16, 2009NEW YORK-MBIA Inc. said it paid a total of $1.4 billion in claims associated with its second-lien residential mortgage exposures in 2008 but noted it could see some reimbursement for these claims if pending legal challenges against two unnamed seller-servicers go its way. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: The Future of Fannie and Freddie
March 16, 2009Mr. Pollock's Recent Remarks At A Conference On "crisis Is A Terrible Thing To Waste" At New York University Are Presented As Our Open Forum. (Read More)
People
March 16, 2009CALIFORNIA Long Beach-HCP has hired Thomas M. Herzog as executive vice president and chief financial officer. (Read More)
Residential Credit: The Market is Still in Flux
March 16, 2009LOS ANGELES-Despite government intervention efforts "there is not much going on in the market right now," says Dennis G. Stowe, president and CEO of Residential Credit Solutions Inc. here. (Read More)
RESPA Rule Irking Homebuilders
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-The Department of Housing and Urban Development is opening the door to reconsideration of a Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act provision that has really irked homebuilders with affiliated mortgage companies. (Read More)
FHLB-Seattle Becomes the First Bank to Break the Buck
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle has become the first bank in the 76-year history of the system to run out of retained earnings, triggering what once was an unthinkable scenario by "breaking the buck." (Read More)
STREET SMARTS: Fed Purchases Seen as Dominant Factor Driving MBS Plays
March 16, 2009The Fed, since it started purchasing agency mortgage-backed securities, has solidified its position as the market's biggest investor and biggest influence, Wall Street researchers say. (Read More)
Record Lates In Australia
March 16, 2009SYDNEY, Australia-Payments more than 30 days late on Australian residential mortgage-backed securities rose to record heights during the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Sydney office of Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)
Hard LandingFor Russia MBS?
March 16, 2009LONDON-Residential mortgage-backed securities from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States on average remained stable during the second half of last year but default levels varied "significantly" between transactions and the Russian economy may be headed toward a "hard landing," according to a report by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)
UK Nonconforming MBS Overdues Boom
March 16, 2009FRANKFURT, Germany-The percentage of nonconforming residential mortgage securitizations in the United Kingdom that are delinquent almost doubled in the fourth quarter of 2008, and experts in the Economy.com unit at Moody's Investors Service think it is likely to rise even further due to British economic woes and what may be another 7% decline in U.K. home prices. (Read More)
Decision Soon on Merrill
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Sometime within the next 30 days Bank of America will make a final decision on the fate of Merrill Lynch's far-flung mortgage units, which include two large subprime servicing companies and a Jacksonville, Fla.-based division that caters to Merrill's wealthy brokerage customers. (Read More)
Obama Hit for FRE?
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Freddie Mac thinks the Obama administration's loan modification/refi plan could cost it $30 billion. (Read More)
INSIDE TAKE: Things Are Getting Ugly for MIs
March 16, 2009The future of mortgage finance doesn't look particularly bright these days, except maybe the foreclosure business, which doesn't so much involve "finance" as it does the legal process of throwing someone out of a house without garnering much media attention. (Read More)
Foreclosure Numbers Boom Again
March 16, 2009IRVINE, CA-Despite the efforts to stem foreclosures by government and many banks, the hopeful signs of the last quarter of 2008 and January didn't follow through in February, according to top executives from two companies that track rising foreclosures across the country. (Read More)
Warehouse Crisis Spreads
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-Two of the largest remaining players in warehouse finance are preparing to exit the sector, exacerbating an extreme liquidity crisis that could crush several non-bank lenders during the spring homebuying season and a parallel refinancing boom. (Read More)
Fed ConsidersBan on YSPs
March 16, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Reserve Board may be getting tougher on yield-spread premiums because it is just too difficult to explain to consumers how YSPs are used to compensate mortgage brokers. (Read More)
Repackagings Only 'New' 4Q Vols?
March 16, 2009NEW YORK-While new issuance of private-label mortgage-backed securities has remained elusive, fourth-quarter 2008 "league tables" by Thomson Reuters indicate Wall Street firms continued to serve as bookrunners for more than $10 billion of MBS deals that were likely repackagings of existing transactions during that period. More recently no traditional residential deals outside of government or government-sponsored product have been seen. (Read More)
StreetMac in CRE Alliance
March 16, 2009NEW YORK-StreetMac, a Northbrook, Ill.-based commercial real estate financing firm, has allied with Chicago-based Urban Retail Properties LLC to advise Urban on opportunities for acquiring and managing distressed retail mall properties nationwide. (Read More)
E-Collaboration Vendors Stretch Out to Do More
March 16, 2009SAN DIEGO-Realizing that lenders need to both do more with less and cut cost, electronic collaboration technology vendors continue to flesh out their offerings to enable lenders to automate more and more "In this market you have to have the capability to digitize documents and store them virtually," said William DiPaolo, managing partner of e-collaboration vendor Cogent Road here. "Certainly we can do that. You can scan a document, digitize and store the docs in a given stacking order. (Read More)
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March 23, 2009
U.S. Commercial MBS Delinquencies Increase in February
March 23, 2009NEW YORK-Declining retail performance was chiefly responsible for a 13 basis point increase in delinquencies in February 2009, bringing the Fitch Ratings U.S. CMBS loan delinquency index to 1.28%. The rate of increase is consistent with Fitch's expectations that loan defaults will increase to at least 3% by year-end 2009. (Read More)
Realty Finance Posts Net Loss
March 23, 2009HARTFORD, CT-Realty Finance Corp. reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $119.2 million, including a $67.2 million unrealized loss related to the mark-to-market impact of certain assets and liabilities due to the application of SFAS 159. (Read More)
Corrections
March 23, 2009In the "Foreclosure Block Seen" story that ran Feb. 23, H. Terry Hutchens was incorrectly quoted. Mr. Hutchens, moderator of the Foreclosure Litigation Trends panel at the MBA's National Servicing Conference in Tampa, Fla., said the costs of defending cases where borrowers are trying to stall or stop foreclosures by filing "right to rescind" notices as TILA violations have gone up over the past year. But he did not quantify them. (Read More)
'Desperation' Fraud Starting
March 23, 2009LAS VEGAS-If there is one thing that can be said about mortgage fraud - it's constant. It just morphs to fit the current lending environment. (Read More)
Vegas 'Ground Zero for Fraud'
March 23, 2009LAS VEGAS-What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas, according to the U.S. attorney for the state of Nevada. (Read More)
The Other Extreme
March 23, 2009Last quarter, we tried to look at the bright spots in the Mortgage Bankers Association's delinquency report. It was tough, but we found a few (VA mortgages, a cluster of Midwest states with relatively low delinquencies). This quarter, we're looking at the other extreme, and finding no difficulty at all in coming up with bad news. But even here there is a bit of good news. (Read More)
FASB Plans for MTM Changes May Aid MBS Holders
March 23, 2009WASHINGTON-Under pressure from Congress and industry groups, the Financial Accounting Standard Board is moving quickly to modify its mark-to-market accounting rules that have forced many institutions to report major losses on their holdings of mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)
Litigation Trustee for First Magnus Suing Former Officers and Directors
March 23, 2009TUCSON, AZ-The litigation trustee for the First Magnus Financial Corp. Litigation Trust is suing the former officers and directors of that now-defunct company as well as the new company founded by them, StoneWater Mortgage Corp. here. (Read More)
Freddie Eliminates Most Delivery Fees on HARP Refis
March 23, 2009WASHINGTON-Freddie Mac has eliminated most delivery fees on refinancings of its existing loans under the new Home Affordable Refinance program mandated by the Treasury Department. (Read More)
NAHB: Howard to Stay Pres. and CEO
March 23, 2009WASHINGTON-The National Association of Home Builders last week said its current president and CEO, Jerry Howard, is staying on board after all. (Read More)
Changes Coming at MBA
March 23, 2009ATLANTIC CITY-The chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, David Kittle, said there are changes coming to the organization that will make it a "lean mortgage machine going forward." (Read More)
MBIA Sued Over Restructuring
March 23, 2009NEW YORK-Bond insurer MBIA faces a suit filed in New York's Southern Federal District Court alleging its decision to split its mortgage and other structured finance exposures from its public finance obligations hurts its ability to meet its obligations to policyholders. (Read More)
Most Home Sells NetUpdate to Mortgagebot
March 23, 2009MEQUON, WI-Most Home Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia, has sold its point-of-sale automation tool, NetUpdate, to Mortgagebot here. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Loan Loss Provisioning
March 23, 2009Excerpts of Mr. Dugan's recent remarks before the Institute Of International Bankers in Washington are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
PMI Seeks New Capital
March 23, 2009WALNUT CREEK, CA-Losses at the U.S. mortgage insurance business are eating into its net assets and thus PMI Group here is seeking new capital, the company said in its 10-K filing. (Read More)
Treasury Department Pledges to Purchase SBA Loans
March 23, 2009WASHINGTON-The Obama administration has created a niche outlet for certain commercial real estate loans as part of its effort to boost business lending through the purchase of Small Business Administration loans. (Read More)
TALF to Cover Servicing Advances
March 23, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Reserve Board has expanded its new Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) lending facility to help cash strapped mortgage servicers that pay advances to MBS investors to cover missed payments by delinquent homeowners. (Read More)
More States Eye Tax Credits
March 23, 2009WASHINGTON-In an effort to get stalled housing markets moving again in their respective jurisdictions, a number of states are following California's lead in adopting tax credits for homebuyers. (Read More)
Thornburg May File for Bankruptcy
March 23, 2009SANTA FE, NM-Thornburg Mortgage here, once a top-ranked originator of "super jumbo" loans, said it may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has hired the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis to advise it on restructuring options. (Read More)
French RatingsRemain Stable
March 23, 2009LONDON-The London office of Moody's Investors Service left ratings unchanged on French residential mortgage-backed securities transactions during the fourth quarter of last year, but the rating agency said, "An economy in recession and a slowing housing sector do not bode well" for subsequent performance. (Read More)
Downpayments on UK Mortgages Reach an All-Time High
March 23, 2009LONDON-The typical percentage downpayment on United Kingdom mortgages made to first-time buyers has reached a record high of 24%, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders here. (Read More)
FHA 'Zero Pay' Defaults Rising
March 23, 2009LAS VEGAS-The FHA is experiencing "a large number of zero payment defaults" in which borrowers fail to make even one payment on their new government-insured mortgages, a Department of Housing and Urban Development official said at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual National Fraud Issues Conference in Las Vegas. (Read More)
CBoA Seeks to Do More, But Can't
March 23, 2009As the future of warehouse lending hangs in the balance Colonial Bancgroup of Alabama has a message for the non-bank mortgage industry: We love warehouse lending, we really do, and we want to do more of it. But we can't right now. (Read More)
Fraud Losses Still Growing
March 23, 2009LAS VEGAS-There's no question mortgage fraud is a big-ticket item. But it may be bigger than most industry executives believe, speakers at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Fraud Issues Conference said here last week. And the crime isn't going to go away anytime soon. (Read More)
Murin Eyes Warehouse Fix
March 23, 2009WASHINGTON-Joseph Murin, the president of Ginnie Mae, said his agency stands ready to help ease constrictions caused by a dramatic pullback in mortgage warehouse lending to the extent its charter allows, should the government pursue such an easing. (Read More)
Fed Plans Massive Buys
March 23, 2009The Federal Reserve has made plans to buy another $750 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities, another $100 billion of agency debt and purchase up to $300 billion of longer-term Treasury securities, causing the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield to experience its largest one-day drop seen since 1987. (Read More)
Looking at the Capacity Issue
March 23, 2009ATLANTIC CITY-A long-term veteran of the mortgage industry predicts the warehouse capacity issue will be resolved once industry regulators realize that access to capital for mortgage lenders is critical for the nation's recovery. (Read More)
Manhattan Bancorp, Bodi Invest in Cap Markets Biz
March 23, 2009LOS ANGELES-Manhattan Bancorp here has agreed to invest in a new mortgage-related capital markets and advisory business with Bodi Advisors Inc. and a new MB subsidiary called MB Financial Services Inc. The three entities plan to capitalize a new limited liability company that will conduct business under the name BOM Capital LLC. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
March 23, 2009Company 3/19/2009 3/12/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF)8.97 8.11 11% 5.85 30.00 53.33% 10.91 Bank of America (BAC)6.99 5.93 18% 2.53 43.46 176.28% 13.84 Bank of Hawaii (BOH)32.94 31.33 5% 25.33 70.00 30.04% 8.87 Dime Community (DCOM)9.03 9.19 -2% 6.46 20.00 39.78% 11.02 Doral Financial (DRL)2.25 2.87 -22% 2.11 24.23 6.64% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV)34.69 32.87 6% 27.75 54.67 25.01% 10.08 Fidelity National (FNF)19.20 16.68 15% 6.66 20.44 188.29% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM)1.01 0.40 153% 0.30 35.50 236.67% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE)1.06 0.40 165% 0.25 34.22 324.00% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK)11.28 10.31 9% 7.46 20.97 51.21% 13.37 Kaufman & Broad (KBH)11.82 10.90 8% 6.90 28.93 71.30% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC)10.66 9.50 12% 7.13 23.00 49.51% 8.85 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI)0.70 0.41 71% 0.26 7.30 169.27% n/a Radian Group (RDN)1.71 1.35 27% 0.70 8.74 144.29% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Residential Jumbo Lenders IN 4Q08
March 23, 2009Jumbo Jumbo % Market Rank Organization Name 4Q 08 4Q 07 Change Share 1 Bank of America$4,128 $4,924 -16% 23.73% 2 CitiMortgage Inc.$2,192 $6,802 -68% 12.60% 3 ING Bank FSB (E)$1,670 $2,242 -25% 9.60% 4 Wells Fargo & Co.$898 $6,766 -87% 5.16% 5 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.$870 $1,089 -20% 5.00% 6 Wachovia Mortgage FSB$731 $911 -20% 4.20% 7 Chase$646 $5,959 -89% 3.71% 8 Navy FCU$412 $193113% 2.37% 9 Astoria FS & LA$394 $724 -46% 2.27% 10 U.S. Bank Home Mortgage$346 $271 28% 1.99% 11 Flagstar Bank FSBTroy, MI $338 $56 504% 1.94% 12 Fifth Third MortgageCincinnati, OH $143 na na 0.82% 13 HSBC Mortgage Corp. USADepew, NY $130 $204 -36% 0.75% 14 B.F. Saul Mtg./Chevy Chase Bank (E)Bethesda, MD $107 $236 -55% 0.61% 15 AmTrust BankCleveland, OH $53 $522 -90% 0.30% Top 15 Totals: $13,058 $30,899 -58% 75.07% Totals Submitted: $13,380 $33,145 -60% 76.92% Note: Results may be incomplete because some lenders would not provide jumbo volumes. Jumbo GSE limits can range from $417,000 to $729,750 in certain high-cost areas. (E) Estimate. (Read More)
New Tool Enables Data Exchange
March 23, 2009LAS VEGAS-On the heels of Headstrong's acquisition of Lydian Data Services, the global consultancy has formed Headstrong Business Solutions and leveraged Lydian's technology expertise to launch the Loan Delivery Portal at the MBA tech show here Headstrong's Loan Delivery Portal provides a place for mortgage originators, investors, servicers and other participants to exchange data directly to and from their mortgage systems. The central portal designed to control data flow, monitor messages and provide management-level reporting across all activities is important for data quality and management. (Read More)
Realizing Need to Modernize, FHA Takes E-Mortgage Step
March 23, 2009LAS VEGAS-With FHA now capturing more of the market, the calls for FHA to modernize have become louder and louder. Realizing the need, FHA has taken a step forward by now accepting imaged loan files through Xerox Mortgage Service's BlitzDocs e-collaboration tool. (Read More)
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March 30, 2009
Canales: Fraud Prosecution Needs More Resources
March 30, 2009LAS VEGAS-A popular lament among those in the lending community who try to report instances of alleged fraud is that the authorities - either state, local or federal - don't seem to care. (Read More)
Vendor Automates IRS Check
March 30, 2009LAS VEGAS-The Work Number, St. Louis, has automated its gateway to the Internal Revenue Service. (Read More)
PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: Carol Galante
March 30, 2009President Obama named Ms. Galante, a nonprofit multifamily builder, deputy assistant secretary in charge of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's multifamily program. Ms. Galante joins HUD from Bridge Housing Corp., which specializes in affordable homes in the California market. At HUD she will focus on FHA-related matters. (Read More)
RMBS Still Hurts Assured Guaranty
March 30, 2009HAMILTON, Bermuda-Assured Guaranty Ltd. here continued to take losses on credit derivatives largely associated with the credit deterioration of residential mortgage-backed securities, although these were somewhat different in nature than in the past and the company was nevertheless able to record a net profit. (Read More)
MBS Losses Cause Seizure of CUs
March 30, 2009WASHINGTON-The National Credit Union Administration has seized control of the nation's two largest corporate credit unions due to growing losses on their private label mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Signs of Life
March 30, 2009The details of the Obama administration plan to buy toxic MBS sparked a big rally last Monday, reaching nearly 500 points higher by end of day. Of course, with the volatility of the markets these days, those gains could be wiped out in an afternoon. Still, there are signs of life stirring in the mortgage industry. (Read More)
New MI Company Is Being Formed
March 30, 2009PHILADELPHIA-Even though the mortgage insurance business is bleeding red ink amid its worst downturn ever, the former head of Radian Guaranty has formed a new MI firm that also will act as a reinsurer, industry executives confirmed to National Mortgage News. (Read More)
FHFA Stands Ground on GSE Bonuses
March 30, 2009WASHINGTON-Congressional outrage over bonuses paid to AIG employees has spilled over to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have retention bonus programs for senior managers and rank-and-file employees. (Read More)
Guaranty's Warehouse Chief Leaving
March 30, 2009AUSTIN, TX-Jim Clapp, senior vice president in charge of warehouse lending at Guaranty Financial Group, is leaving the bank, industry sources told National Mortgage News. (Read More)
Ellie Mae Offers HVCC Safeguard
March 30, 2009PLEASANTON, CA-As the Home Valuation Code of Conduct compliance deadline approaches on May 1, loan originators, brokers, correspondents and wholesale lenders have the option to use a new tool that will help them be prepared. (Read More)
As Expected, MBA Cuts 20 Staffers
March 30, 2009WASHINGTON-The Mortgage Bankers Association last week laid off about 16% of its workforce - 20 full-timers - including four of its vice presidents. (Read More)
Does the MBA Care About Tech?
March 30, 2009WASHINGTON-As the Mortgage Bankers Association struggles to remain solvent in a very challenging market, it seems to many that the organization is choosing to jettison everything technology to remain afloat. (Read More)
Private MI Companies Looking for $4B Capital for Risk Level
March 30, 2009NEW YORK-The private mortgage insurance companies will need at least $4 billion in new capital to maintain a 15-to-1 risk capital level, according to a white paper from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Redoubling the Efforts
March 30, 2009Excerpts Of Ms. Bair's Remarks Earlier This Month To The National Association Of Attorneys General In Washington Are Presented As Our Open Forum. (Read More)
Pacific Starts Lending Again
March 30, 2009COSTA MESA, CA-After an absence of four years, Pacific Mercantile Bancorp here said it is getting back into the mortgage origination business, both in the wholesale and retail channels. (Read More)
PPIP Aims at Key Part of 'Gridlock' But Has Yet to Fire
March 30, 2009The emerging details of the of the Treasury's Public-Private Investment Plan that came out last Monday may not call for as much optimism as the initial rally in stocks suggested, but at least it suggests the government's willing to do something to directly address the mass of troubled non-agency mortgage securities that are a key part of ongoing market gridlock. (Read More)
Titan Seeks to Boost Warehouse Capacity
March 30, 2009DENVER-The founder of Titan Lenders Corp. here, after recently lamenting about the lack of warehouse capacity, has sprung into action to help create a solution to that problem. (Read More)
Republic Title Files Suit for Unspecified Lost Funds
March 30, 2009ROLLING MEADOWS, IL-A title agency is suing a law firm and its former paralegal alleging the latter stole funds that were supposed to be used to close mortgage loans. (Read More)
Triad Takes a Turn for the Worse
March 30, 2009WINSTON-SALEM, NC-The end may be near for the Triad Guaranty Inc. here quicker than expected. The company said its 2009 10-K filing has a statement doubting its ability to continue as a going concern as per the unqualified audit opinion it received from its accounting firm, Ernst & Young. (Read More)
FL Homebuilder Now Winds Down
March 30, 2009HOLLYWOOD, FL-After filing for Chapter 11 in January, homebuilder TOUSA Inc. here is now suspending efforts to generate new build-to-order sales. (Read More)
EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT: David Stevens
March 30, 2009President Obama nominated Mr. Stevens to be the new Federal Housing Administration commissioner and assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A former Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage executive, Mr. Stevens is currently president and chief executive of Long & Foster's mortgage, insurance and title companies. (Read More)
99 Years for Fraud
March 30, 2009NEW YORK-After being found guilty by a Navarro (Texas) County jury for orchestrating a $3 million mortgage fraud scheme, Kandace Yancy Marriott of Gun Barrel City, Texas, was sentenced to 99 years in prison, according to a report from the Texas attorney general's office. (Read More)
A 'Smoking Gun' Memo at AIG?
March 30, 2009A decade ago the Federal Reserve came to the rescue of Long-Term Capital Management, a gargantuan private hedge fund founded and managed by former Salomon Brothers trader John Meriwether. Even though LTCM wasn't a depository (or even a securities firm) Uncle Sam stepped in to calm the markets. (Read More)
Rate Drop May Spur Massive Refis
March 30, 2009WASHINGTON-Suddenly, things are starting to look up for mortgage bankers, at least in terms of loan applications and fundings. (Read More)
US Plan Takes On Toxic Assets
March 30, 2009WASHINGTON-Financial institutions will soon have an option to unload bad mortgage assets at prices determined by private investors with government backing. (Read More)
Short Sales a Win-Win Solution?
March 30, 2009HOUSTON-Industry experts find that while short sales involve some loss and are time consuming, they represent a win-win loss mitigation tool servicers should embrace and streamline rather than avoid. (Read More)
Tech at the Forefront of Loss Mit
March 30, 2009BELLEVUE, WA-The current default scale and shortage of default management expertise is pushing for more efficient use of technology that will allow servicers to maximize loss mitigation. (Read More)
Loss Mitigation: Reaching Solutions
March 30, 2009As the Obama housing plan gets rolling, the industry faces the ultimate challenge of providing the best loss mitigation tools and processes possible so those so-called toxic assets are either modified and current, or flushed out of the banks' balance sheets. (Read More)
Titanium Knocks On Doors To Provide Outreach for Servicers
March 30, 2009FORT MILL, SC-Titanium Solutions Inc. has launched HomeTouch, an expanded suite of customized services that its clients can use to make contact with their customers who are in various stages of delinquency. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
March 30, 2009Company 3/25/2009 3/18/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF)9.55 8.94 7% 5.85 30.00 63.25% 11.16 Bank of America (BAC)7.55 7.46 1% 2.53 42.25 198.42% 13.03 Bank of Hawaii (BOH)33.93 34.78 -2% 25.33 70.00 33.95% 8.27 Dime Community (DCOM)9.46 9.44 0% 6.46 20.00 46.44% 10.80 Doral Financial (DRL)1.98 2.63 -25% 1.90 24.23 4.21% n/a Fiserv Inc (FISV)35.90 34.97 3% 27.75 54.67 29.37% 10.20 Fidelity National (FNF)19.99 18.90 6% 6.66 21.15 200.11% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM)0.76 0.80 -5% 0.30 32.31 153.33% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE)0.82 0.80 3% 0.25 31.11 229.68% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK)11.72 11.74 -0% 7.46 20.97 57.10% 12.69 Kaufman & Broad (KBH)13.27 12.12 9% 6.90 28.93 92.32% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC)10.64 10.87 -2% 7.13 23.00 49.23% 8.14 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI)0.63 0.61 3% 0.26 7.30 142.19% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 1.62 1.83 -11% 0.70 8.74 131.43% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Delinquencies Based on UPB at 12/31/08
March 30, 2009Servicing % Past Rank Organization Name Location Volume Due Foreclosure 1 Residential Capital LLC (GMAC)Minneapolis, MN $365,033 22.00% 8.00% 2 Taylor, Bean & WhitakerOcala, FL $76,354 10.79% 1.98% 3 Central Mortgage Co.Little Rock, AR $23,792 10.58% 2.85% 4 Bank of AmericaCharlotte, NC $2,056,463 10.34% 1.45% 5 ChaseIselin, NJ $1,503,230 7.45% 1.57% 6 M&T MortgageBuffalo, NY $21,254 7.08% 0.55% 7 PHH MortgageMount Laurel, NJ $149,756 5.93% 1.90% 8 Branch Banking & Trust Co.Wilson, NC $74,102 4.40% 0.74% 9 Colonial Savings FAFort Worth, TX $12,549 4.23% 0.48% 10 Synovus Mortgage Corp.Birmingham, AL $2,124 4.16% na 11 Banco Popular/E-LoanPleasanton, CA $9,288 3.43% na 12 M&I MortgageCedarburg, WI $15,042 3.05% na 13 Provident Funding AssociatesBurlingame, CA $33,599 2.92% 0.94% 14 Regions Mortgage Inc.Montgomery, AL $36,600 2.83% na 15 Zions First National BankSalt Lake City, UT $5,882 2.71% na Top 15 Totals: $4,385,069 9.87% 3.20% Submitted Totals:$4,519,960 9.61% 3.11% Notes: Ranked high to low and based on dollar volume only. Results may be incomplete because some firms would not provide figures. (Read More)
Five Best Years ever for originations
March 30, 2009Rank Year Total Res. Originations 1 2003 $3,904 2 2005 $3,294 3 2006 $3,267 4(e) 2009 $2,800 5 2002 $2,787 Notes: Figures based on data collected by NMN except for the 2009 figure which is an estimate made by the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)
MERS' MIN Number Hangs in the Balance with ASF Effort
March 30, 2009LAS VEGAS-The Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expressing concerns that the American Securitization Forum's efforts to draft consensus secondary market standards could potentially create another mortgage identification standard outside of the MERS Mortgage Identification Number. (Read More)
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April 6, 2009
Nonprofit Buys 47 Loans from JPM
April 6, 2009NEW YORK-A New Jersey nonprofit said it has acquired the mortgages on 47 vacant homes in the Greater Newark area - loans that originally were part of a fraud scheme involving one real estate investor who received financing from the now-defunct Washington Mutual of Seattle. (Read More)
Builders Made the Classic Mistake of Growing Too Fast
April 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The big public builders made all the classic mistakes associated with growing too fast, according to a former executive of one of the largest in the country. But their greatest misstep was in their failure to alter the modus operandi to match local markets conditions. (Read More)
Congress Battles to a Draw on Cramdown Bill
April 6, 2009WASHINGTON-A three-month battle over a bankruptcy cramdown bill has resulted in a draw as Congress adjourns for a two-week spring recess and the legislation appears stalled in the Senate. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Gathering Momentum
April 6, 2009Mortgage lenders should now be going to full alert status as low rates generated by the Federal Reserve's intervention in the MBS market should translate into a flood of refinance applications arriving at their doors via phone and e-mail. (Read More)
FHA Seeks Mod Authority
April 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Housing Administration is seeking expanded loan modification authority as the agency deals with rising defaults and foreclosed properties in a bad housing market. (Read More)
FHA to Enter the Electronic World, Finally
April 6, 2009WASHINGTON-With FHA loan volume expected to come in at about 30% of total originations this year, many in the industry are wondering when the Federal Housing Administration will automate to keep up with this steep increase in volume. FHA realizes this need and will step up by publishing e-mortgage specifications this year. (Read More)
FNIS to Acquire Metavante
April 6, 2009MILWAUKEE-Fidelity National Information Services plans to acquire Metavante Technologies here in a deal in which Metavante shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 1.35 shares of FIS common stock for each share of Metavante common stock they own. (Read More)
FTC Accuses 7 of Credit Repair Scam
April 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Trade Commission has charged seven related credit repair companies in New Jersey and three individuals connected with those companies with violating federal law by falsely promising to remove negative information from consumers' credit reports, including information that is accurate and current, and by charging an upfront fee and failing to provide written disclosures. (Read More)
HUD Clarifies HECM for Purchase Maximum Claim Amount
April 6, 2009WASHINGTON-Clarifying an earlier directive, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has published a new mortgagee letter that sets the maximum claim amount on the new HECM for Purchase product. (Read More)
Huntington Set to Avoid B/C Hurt
April 6, 2009NEW YORK-Huntington Bancshares Inc. unveiled a restructuring last week that its chief executive said should cure its biggest headache: an unprofitable relationship with a troubled Jersey City subprime lender. (Read More)
Fannie-IndyMac Buyback Secret
April 6, 2009WASHINGTON-Prior to the recent sale of the government-owned IndyMac FSB to an investor group, Fannie Mae settled a $1-billion-plus buyback dispute with the thrift but all the parties involved are keeping the settlement quiet. (Read More)
One-Fourth of Mortgages Underwater Soon?
April 6, 2009NEW YORK-A report finds 20% of all mortgaged properties in the U.S. were "underwater" by December 2008 and one-fourth of U.S. homeowners are at risk to find themselves in the same uncomfortable waters in the next six months. (Read More)
KPMG Hit With $1B Lawsuit Over NCFC
April 6, 2009NEW YORK-The trustee for bankrupt subprime giant New Century Financial Corp. is suing the lender's auditor, KPMG, for $1 billion in damages, charging that it abetted the firm in misstating its true financial condition. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Meeting the Financial Challenges
April 6, 2009Excerpts of Mr. Lockhart's comments Before The Women In Housing and Finance Symposium in Washington recently are presented as our Open Forum. (first Of Two Parts.) The biggest challenge we face is the stabilization of the housing market. Both the public and private sectors have begun to apply concentrated action to this pressing goal. FHFA has a four-pronged strategy to ensure the housing government-sponsored enterprises meet this challenge and fulfill their mission of providing liquidity, stability and affordability to the housing market. First, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks must continue to support the market in a safe and sound manner by providing liquidity and stability, with a special emphasis on affordable housing. Given the current predominant role the GSEs play in the nation's mortgage market, it is imperative that FHFA ensure their continued functioning and safety and soundness. (Read More)
PennsylvaniaHas New Rules
April 6, 2009HARRISBURG, PA-Pennsylvania homebuyers will benefit from new rules governing mortgage disclosures and practices, according to the state Department of Banking. (Read More)
Old GSE CEO May Get PHH Board Seat
April 6, 2009MOUNT LAUREL, NJ-Pennant Capital Management, the largest shareholder in PHH Corp. here, is seeking to install former Freddie Mac CEO Greg Parseghian and another candidate on the lender's board. (Read More)
PEOPLE
April 6, 2009COLORADO Denver-Mortgage Spirit named Keith Kemph as vice president of sales and marketing. (Read More)
Non-Agency MBS Prices Jump But Will Confidence Last?
April 6, 2009Between the government's earlier PPIP move and the FASB's mark-to-market action at press time last Thursday, it looked as if the bogged-down private-label mortgage-backed securities market might be loosening up a bit. (Read More)
Subprime Mortgages Didn't Keep People in Houses Long
April 6, 2009NEW YORK-Subprime mortgage loans did not accomplish what their proponents claimed to be their main benefit - putting people into homes. (Read More)
YSP, Subprime Bill Coming
April 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The House Financial Services Committee is expected to approve legislation regulating subprime lending and lender compensation when Congress returns from its spring break in late April. (Read More)
Pfandbriefe May Weather Risks Better than RMBS/CDOs
April 6, 2009BERLIN-A new cross-border study shows Germany's mortgage pfandbriefe, which epitomize a "covered bond" structure used more frequently in Europe, may do a better job of mitigating certain risks than the residential mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations used more frequently in the United States. (Read More)
PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: HELEN KANOVSKY
April 6, 2009President Obama has nominated Ms. Kanovsky to be the general counsel at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She is currently chief operating officer of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust and previously served as chief of staff for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. (Read More)
Boost for Warehouse
April 6, 2009OCALA, FL-If Taylor, Bean & Whitaker's investment in Colonial Bancgroup comes off without a hitch, it could give a major boost to two ailing sectors of the mortgage industry: loan brokers and non-banks that rely on warehouse lines of credit. (Read More)
FASB Rule Aids MBS
April 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The Financial Accounting Standards Board has approved major changes to mark-to-market accounting rules, allowing depositories to reverse certain losses they took on mortgage-backed securities and report an increase in capital for the first quarter. (Read More)
SWAT Teams to Snare Lenders
April 6, 2009WASHINGTON-Concerned that "bad actors" may be originating or brokering FHA-insured loans, housing secretary Shaun Donovan said the government is sending out SWAT teams unannounced to check up on problem lenders. (Read More)
Thornburg End Finally Comes
April 6, 2009SANTA FE, NM-Thornburg Mortgage Inc. here has made plans to discontinue operations after it winds down through a bankruptcy filing and a series of asset sales and liquidations, ending a struggle to survive the non-agency liquidity crisis that started in 2007. (Read More)
Wells in Warehouse?
April 6, 2009SAN FRANCISCO-Sources have told National Mortgage News that Wells Fargo & Co. here is about to enter the mortgage warehouse lending business. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
April 6, 2009Company 4/2/2009 3/26/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF)9.20 9.92 -7% 5.85 30.00 57.26% 11.06 Bank of America (BAC)7.19 7.58 -5% 2.53 41.50 184.19% 12.73 Bank of Hawaii (BOH)33.97 35.15 -3% 25.33 70.00 34.11% 8.36 Dime Community (DCOM)9.73 9.84 -1% 6.46 20.00 50.62% 11.14 Doral Financial (DRL)1.78 2.02 -12% 1.61 24.23 10.56% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV)36.64 36.91 -1% 27.75 54.67 32.04% 10.52 Fidelity National (FNF)20.57 19.91 3% 6.66 21.15 208.86% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM)0.71 0.73 -3% 0.30 32.31 136.63% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE)0.75 0.81 -8% 0.25 29.74 198.44% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK)12.12 12.10 0% 7.46 20.97 62.47% 13.13 Kaufman & Broad (KBH)14.54 14.10 3% 6.90 28.93 110.72% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC)11.31 11.63 -3% 7.13 23.00 58.63% 8.40 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI)0.68 0.66 3% 0.26 6.53 162.15% n/a Radian Group (RDN)1.981.90 4% 0.70 7.50 182.86% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Subservicers Continue to Drop
April 6, 2009The # Firms reporting Total outstanding Outstanding Year to NMN residential debt B&C debt 2008 25 $9.59 $0.96 2007 32 $9.21 $1.03 2006 41 $8.59 $1.29 200058 $5.11 $0.32 Notes: Based on a survey conducted by National Mortgage News for the Mortgage Industry Directory. (Read More)
Top Residential Wholesalers 4Q08
April 6, 2009Firm Name 4Q08 4Q07 % Change Mkt. Share Wells Fargo & Co.$5,462 $7,132 -23% 8.96% Taylor Bean & Whitaker$4,772 $5,607 -15% 7.83% AmTrust Bank$4,195 $4,649 -10% 6.88% Chase (1)$3,816 $11,594 -67% 6.26% Provident Funding$3,497 $3,599 - 3% 5.74% Notes: Results may be incomplete because some firms would not disclose this data point. (1) Chase is in the process of exiting the wholesale channel. (Read More)
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April 13, 2009
Neighborhood Funding for 'Green' Affordable Housing
April 13, 2009NEW YORK-New leadership at the Department of Housing and Urban Development is energizing support for green affordable housing through pilot programs backed by federal assistance. (Read More)
HFF Closes FHA Loan in Portland
April 13, 2009PORTLAND, OR-The Portland office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP has arranged a $7.05 million FHA 223f loan for the 2020 Building, a 55-unit multifamily community in downtown Portland. (Read More)
Post Properties Closes Loan With PNC ARCS
April 13, 2009ATLANTA-Post Properties Inc. has closed a mortgage loan with PNC ARCS LLC, pursuant to Freddie Mac's loan program, secured by a mortgage on its Post Luminaria community located in New York. Post Luminaria is held in a joint venture entity in which the company holds a 68% interest. (Read More)
TPG CompletesOffice Financing
April 13, 2009LOS ANGELES-Thomas Properties Group, a full-service real estate company here, has reached an agreement with its other partners in the Austin portfolio partnership, including Lehman Brothers and California State Teachers' Retirement System, that restructures and recapitalizes the financing on the partnership's 3.5-million-square-foot, 10-property, commercial office portfolio in Austin, Texas. (Read More)
PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: TOM DONATACCI
April 13, 2009Mr. Donatacci, who recently left Residential Capital Corp., has joined The Clayton Group, a loan advisory firm based in Shelton, Conn. Clayton named Mr. Donatacci executive vice president of marketing and sales. At ResCap he was in charge of new business development and oversaw its subservicing division. (Read More)
DOJ FraudTask Force?
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The Department of Justice is moving closer to forming a national mortgage fraud task force to investigate and prosecute real estate and mortgage related crimes, according to government officials familiar with the matter. (Read More)
Price DeclineWill Continue
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The decline in prices has much further to go with so many houses for sale and more foreclosures coming on the market, according to David Berson, chief economist at the PMI Group. (Read More)
BoA Trims its Brokers Even More
April 13, 2009CALABASAS, CA-Bank of America recently trimmed certain loan brokers from its active list, according to loan representatives who still use the wholesaler for table funding. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: A Fatal Squeeze
April 13, 2009Thornburg Mortgage put up a good fight to survive the liquidity crisis. Though they ultimately didn't make it, they gave it a good try. While many lenders claimed in the squeeze folded their tents in a matter of days or weeks, Thornburg struggled for a good 18 months to get its house in order. (Read More)
Despite Numbers, Hope for Mortgage Jobs
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-Even though national unemployment numbers continued to be ugly last month, it appears that the job situation in the mortgage sector is showing signs of stabilization with a possible upturn in sight. (Read More)
Lenders Asked to ID Scams
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-Lenders are being asked to help identify potential mortgage modification scams as part of a major coordinated federal-state crackdown on con artists who target financially strapped borrowers struggling to hold onto their homes. (Read More)
FTC Files Enforcement Actions
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-Seeking to halt the proliferation of mortgage relief scams, the Federal Trade Commission last week filed enforcement actions against five operations the agency contends use deceptive tactics to market their schemes. (Read More)
NAMB Withdraws a Lawsuit
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The National Association of Mortgage Brokers has withdrawn its lawsuit against the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which had sought to stop the Home Valuation Code of Conduct from taking effect on May 1. (Read More)
Downgrade Worsens MI Outlook
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The plight of the nation's private mortgage insurers darkened last week with the sector getting a downgrade and little hope that Treasury would anytime soon show financial support for MIs. (Read More)
NM Title Group Supports New Law
April 13, 2009SANTA FE, NM-The governor of New Mexico has signed a bill that supporters state will increase competition and bring down prices for title insurance in the state. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Meeting the Financial Challenges
April 13, 2009Excerpts Of Mr. Lockhart's Comments Before The Women In Housing and Finance Symposium In Washington Recently Are Presented As Our Open Forum. (second Of Two Parts.) Two additional facilities were also implemented when the conservatorships began. Under the first, Treasury has purchased $107 billion in mortgage-backed securities and has made it clear it will continue to be an active buyer. The second is an unlimited secured credit facility that acts as a liquidity backstop for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks, but it has not been needed. (Read More)
PEOPLE
April 13, 2009CALIFORNIA Irvine-RealtyTrac has hired Robert J. Houghton as chief information officer/chief technology officer. (Read More)
MBA: Oversight Body Needed for Industry
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The Mortgage Bankers Association released a regulatory reform proposal last week that calls for the creation of a federal mortgage regulatory agency that sets lending and servicing rules for the entire industry regardless of charter or license. (Read More)
Changing Reverse Mortgage Demographics
April 13, 2009OAKLAND, CA-The demographic of people researching reverse mortgage options appears to be shifting. (Read More)
Geithner: Banks Need to Sell Problem Assets
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The Treasury Department will continue to encourage banks to sell problem assets to government-sponsored investment funds despite recent changes to the mark-to-market accounting rules, according to secretary Timothy Geithner. (Read More)
Effective Quality Control Lacking
April 13, 2009DEERFIELD BEACH, FL-An expert on operational risk management states that what the government-sponsored enterprises and the Federal Housing Administration require of their approved originators in terms of quality control programs is not working. (Read More)
KB Home ShowsA $58MM Loss
April 13, 2009LOS ANGELES-For its first quarter ended Feb. 28, KB Home here generated a net loss of $58.1 million compared to a net loss of $268.2 million for the year-earlier quarter. (Read More)
Loan Modification Nation
April 13, 2009There's gold in them there loan modification hills, I tell ya. At least that's the way it felt at SourceMedia's Mortgage Servicing Conference in Dallas last week. At times, it felt like an old-fashioned regional brokers show, that is, the smell of money and opportunity was in the air. (Read More)
Merger Cracks the Top 25
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-Once homebuilders Pulte Homes and Centex Corp. complete their recently announced merger, their combined mortgage units will rank 23rd nationwide in residential originations, according to figures compiled by this newspaper and the Quarterly Data Report. (Read More)
FRE Inflow May Double
April 13, 2009DALLAS-Freddie Mac saw 52,000 in real estate-owned inflow in 2008 and about 5,400 properties went through disposition in March. And by the end of 2009, the GSE expects to see 136,000 in REO inflow. (Read More)
Next Boom? 15 Years, At Least
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-Waiting for the housing market to bounce back to 2005 levels? (Read More)
Affiliated Realty Broker Saviors
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The ability to generate income from affiliated mortgage and title entities has been "the difference between life and death" for many real estate brokerages, members of the Real Estate Services Providers Council were told at their annual conference here last week. (Read More)
Wait and See on RESPA Regs
April 13, 2009WASHINGTON-When it comes to complying with the new Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act regulations, many lenders appear to be sticking their heads in the sand, according to a pair of Washington regulatory lawyers. (Read More)
GSE's Reverse REMIC Giant PCs Get Under Way
April 13, 2009MCLEAN, VA-Freddie Mac's reverse REMIC Giant PC securities program, which aims to improve liquidity for remaining real estate mortgage investment conduit securities, has gotten under way. (Read More)
Helping Lend America Stay Ahead
April 13, 2009Lend America chief business strategist Michael Ashley's plans to attend the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference are just one aspect of larger plans he has for the company in its efforts to stay ahead of the curve in today's challenging market. (Read More)
Long-Time Secondary Attendee: This One Will Stand Out
April 13, 2009Ed Fuchs got his start in the business in 1992 working for Central Pacific Mortgage, which was then owned by Source One Mortgage Services Corp. and later owned by current Mortgage Bankers Association president/CEO John Courson. Mr. Fuchs has been to 15 or 16 of the MBA's National Secondary Market Conferences representing market participants ranging from mortgage insurers to correspondent lenders and he believes this year's meeting in Chicago will stand out from all others. (Read More)
Eyeing Market For Reverses
April 13, 2009Loan origination vendor LendingSpace is looking forward to talking about the secondary market opening up for reverse mortgages at the MBA show in Chicago. (Read More)
Lenders Eye Agencies, Servicing
April 13, 2009Trends likely to be seen among attendees at this year's Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference may include moves toward directly selling to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, issuing securities and retaining servicing. (Read More)
Not So 'Secondary'
April 13, 2009The secondary market is definitely not what it was, but it remains significant even in its relative absence and continues to shape the industry's fate. Therein lies the reason that - as a couple executives planning to attend put it - the secondary market should be considered a primary concern. Without a secondary market, not much else matters. (Read More)
Attending to Find Answers
April 13, 2009Several representatives from mortgage business cooperative Lenders One plan to attend the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference to try to help find answers to the common questions that cloud the industry's future, according to chief executive officer Scott Stern. (Read More)
Playing a Small Part in the Secondary Market's Recovery
April 13, 2009Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, Carrollton, Texas, is a special servicer - and to a smaller degree, a loan investor - seeking to contribute to efforts solving massive nonperforming loan concerns that have stood in the way of the restoration of a secondary market. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
April 13, 2009Company 4/9/2009 4/2/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 10.33 9.24 12% 5.85 30.00 76.58% 10.72 Bank of America (BAC) 9.72 7.25 34% 2.53 40.65 284.39% 12.74 Bank of Hawaii (BOH) 35.58 34.10 4% 25.33 70.00 40.47% 8.38 Dime Community (DCOM) 10.53 9.75 8% 6.46 20.00 63.00% 11.39 Doral Financial (DRL) 2.66 1.78 49% 1.61 24.13 65.22% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV) 36.38 36.72 -1% 27.75 54.67 31.10% 10.40 Fidelity National (FNF) 22.52 20.59 9% 6.66 21.15 238.14% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM) 0.73 0.71 2% 0.30 31.48 143.33% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE) 0.75 0.75 0% 0.25 28.35 200.00% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) 12.74 12.15 5% 7.46 20.97 70.78% 13.35 Kaufman & Broad (KBH) 14.76 14.56 1% 6.90 26.50 113.91% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC) 12.27 11.25 9% 7.13 23.00 72.09% 8.85 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 0.78 0.68 15% 0.26 6.49 200.54% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 2.27 2.02 12% 0.70 7.50 224.29% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Wells Funds $100B in 1st Quarter
April 13, 2009SAN FRANCISCO-Wells Fargo & Co. hit a residential home run in the first quarter with originations soaring by 51% to $100 billion and mortgage-related commitments topping $175 billion. (Read More)
'Wrapping Up' the REO
April 13, 2009New York-Here's an offbeat idea for REO specialists who need to protect their assets: Rather than pay a caretaker a monthly fee to watch over vacated houses and protect them from the elements, not to mention vandals and varmints, shrink wrap them instead. (Read More)
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April 20, 2009
Jaberi Joins Fannie Mae
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-Javid Jaberi, a former senior vice president of servicing in charge of loss mitigation for Residential Capital Corp., has joined Fannie Mae, industry sources told National Mortgage News. (Read More)
Fidelity Ups Public Offering
April 20, 2009JACKSONVILLE, FL-Title insurance giant Fidelity National Financial here has increased the size of its planned public offering to 15.8 million shares, pricing the stock at $19. (Read More)
Ginnie HitsHighest MBS
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-Ginnie Mae is keeping its stated promise to provide more liquidity to the housing finance market. (Read More)
HFAs: Clarification Needed for Unused GO Zone Tax Credits
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-The Treasury Department should promptly clarify that unused Gulf Opportunity Zone low-income housing tax credits can be recaptured by states and reallocated to other "shovel-ready" projects, and that those tax credits can be exchanged for cash grants, two Louisiana housing finance agencies told federal officials. (Read More)
Irwin Sells Servicing to Green Tree
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-Irwin Financial, which recently posted heavy losses on mortgage and home-equity lending, has sold $900 million in second-lien servicing rights to Green Tree Servicing LLC, St. Paul, Minn., for an undisclosed sum. (Read More)
Mortgages Hurt JPM Chase Net
April 20, 2009NEW YORK-Even though JPMorgan Chase earned $2.1 billion in the first quarter its consumer and mortgage lending group lost $389 million during the same period due to loan servicing and credit charges and higher mortgages costs tied to loan modifications. (Read More)
Loan Servicers Come Under Fire
April 20, 2009DALLAS-Tension is evident in the mortgage servicing industry and federal regulators along with state lawmakers and consumer protection groups are coming after servicers, according to speakers on the legislative roundup session at the SourceMedia Mortgage Servicing Conference here. (Read More)
Cramdown Agreement Coming?
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., is finally willing to compromise on cramdown legislation and accommodate several lender concerns, but it does not appear the industry is ready to sign on. (Read More)
Genworth Financial Weighing Options After TARP Turndown
April 20, 2009Genworth Financial, which controls the nation's fourth largest mortgage insurance company, said it failed to meet requirements to receive a large capital infusion under the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program. (Read More)
Mods Lowering Payments
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-Federal banking regulators are starting to see better results when loan modifications end up lowering the homeowner's monthly payments, which could put more pressure on servicers to lower the interest rate and forgive missed payments. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Making Homes Affordable
April 20, 2009Mr. Donovan's prepared remarks at a mortgage fraud press conference in Washington recently are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
April 20, 2009DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington-The Mortgage Bankers Association named Michael Fratantoni vice president of single-family research and policy development. (Read More)
Lenders' 1st Quarter Margins Are Surging
April 20, 2009NEW YORK-Whether today's unusually low interest rates will continue to feed a refinancing boom remains an open question, but it's clear the lenders still in the game are making a lot more on each loan. (Read More)
Spike in SARs Points to Actual Increase in Crime
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-After claiming for years that bankers were filing ever more suspicious activity reports in response to regulatory pressure, experts are attributing the latest spike to a dramatic rise in actual financial crime. (Read More)
Mortgages Up, But Total Lending is Down at TARP Banks
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-Bankers are making more mortgages but still drastically decreasing other types of consumer lending, according to a Treasury Department survey of the largest financial firms receiving government rescue funds. (Read More)
Cash Now or Tax Credit Later for First Timers
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-First-time home buyers in 11 states don't have to wait until they file their tax returns next year to reap the benefit of the $8,000 federal tax credit approved recently by Congress. (Read More)
States Help Turn Credit into Cash
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-A number of states have taken steps to allow first-time homebuyers to "monetize" the $8,000 tax credit enacted in February's massive stimulus package. (Read More)
UBS Planning More Layoffs
April 20, 2009ZURICH-UBS AG plans to eliminate 8,700 jobs, reducing its workforce by more than 11%, to cut costs after the company reported a first-quarter net loss of nearly $1.75 billion. (Read More)
MBA Asks Capital Cut on Warehouse
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-The Mortgage Bankers Association has asked federal banking regulators to cut the capital requirement on warehouse lines of credit by as much as 80% to alleviate a funding crisis facing non-depositories. (Read More)
European Central Bank Cuts Rates By 25 bps
April 20, 2009FRANKFURT-The European Central Bank here has cut key ECB interest rates by another 25 basis points, saying ongoing concerns that include real estate woes are likely to mean Europe's economy will remain weak until yearend. (Read More)
EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT: HERB ALLISON
April 20, 2009Mr. Allison, Fannie Mae's current CEO, is a candidate to head the Treasury Department's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Treasury and Fannie officials are saying little about the situation but an announcement could come shortly. If Mr. Allison does depart for Treasury, it would leave both housing GSEs without a permanent CEO. The Federal Housing Finance Agency appointed Mr. Allison, a career banker, to head Fannie last September. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Now, Servicing Fraud
April 20, 2009Fraudsters are clever folks. Having run wild and looted the originations side of the mortgage business, they've turned their attention to the servicing side of the industry now that it's the hot sector. (Read More)
Top Five Going at Warp Speed
April 20, 2009In case you missed one of the recent tabulations we published, let me tell you the industry's quiet little secret: the nation's top five servicers, as a group, control almost 67% of all outstanding mortgages in this nation. If that's not power, nothing is. (Read More)
Six Servicers to Get $10B Fees
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-The Obama administration is moving quickly to launch its $75 billion loan modification program, allotting nearly $10 billion to six mortgage firms to cover incentive payments for them, investors and homeowners. (Read More)
MI Down, Ginnie Up
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-The nation's seven mortgage insurance firms wrote just $194 billion in new residential coverage in 2008, a 46% decline from the prior year, according to new figures compiled by National Mortgage News. (Read More)
Foreclosures Booming
April 20, 2009IRVINE, CA-Foreclosure activity is picking up again following initiatives by national and state lawmakers to save borrowers and stop massive amounts of properties from moving into foreclosure and REO. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
April 20, 2009Company 4/16/2009 4/9/2009 Wkly. % Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 9.70 10.21 -5% 5.85 30.00 65.81% 11.87 Bank of America (BAC)10.48 9.57 10% 2.53 40.65 314.23% 18.84 Bank of Hawaii (BOH)35.90 35.29 2% 25.33 70.00 41.73% 8.88 Dime Community (DCOM)9.64 10.39 -7% 6.46 20.00 49.23% 11.12 Doral Financial (DRL)4.75 2.69 77% 1.61 21.70 195.03% n/a Fiserv Inc (FISV)37.46 36.29 3% 27.75 54.67 34.99% 10.48 Fidelity National (FNF)19.49 22.35 -13% 6.66 22.85 192.64% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM)0.90 0.73 23% 0.30 31.48 198.57% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE)0.91 0.74 23% 0.25 28.35 265.60% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK)12.77 12.61 1% 7.46 20.97 71.18% 14.30 Kaufman & Broad (KBH)16.25 14.74 10% 6.90 26.50 135.51% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC)12.20 12.10 1% 7.13 23.00 71.11% 9.15 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI)0.72 0.78 -8% 0.26 6.49 176.92% n/a Radian Group (RDN)2.15 2.28 -6% 0.70 7.50 207.14% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Top Residential Originators in 2008
April 20, 2009Origination Vol % Market Rank Organization Name 2008 2007 change Share 1 Wells Fargo & Co. (1)$234,767 $271,931 -14% 13.41% 2 Chase (2)$187,087 $210,308 -11% 10.69% 3 Bank of America (3)$182,213 $189,889 -4% 10.41% 4 Countrywide Financial Corp. (3)$132,025 $408,234 -68% 7.54% 5 CitiMortgage Inc.$115,386 $197,965 -42% 6.59% 6 Residential Capital LLC (GMAC)$57,332 $95,483 -40% 3.28% 7 Wachovia Mortgage FSB (1)$51,313 $99,218 -48% 2.93% 8 Washington Mutual (2)$40,476 $142,151 -72% 2.31% 9 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.$37,096 $59,404 -38% 2.12% 10 U.S. Bank Home Mortgage$34,256 $27,208 26% 1.96% 11 PHH Mortgage$33,919 $39,546 -14% 1.94% 12 Taylor, Bean & Whitaker$31,551 $35,604 -11% 1.80% 13 Flagstar Bank FSB$27,881 $24,106 16% 1.59% 14 AmTrust Bank$23,888 $24,964 -4% 1.36% 15 National City Mortgage (4)Miamisburg, OH $19,443 $46,449 -58% 1.11% -0.55% 16 Branch Banking & Trust Co.Wilson, NC $19,006 $15,674 21% 1.09% +0.53% 17 Franklin American MortgageFranklin, TN $18,054 $11,951 51% 1.03% +0.61% 18 First Horizon Home LoansIrving, TX $17,814 $29,700 -40% 1.02% -0.04% 19 Provident Funding AssociatesBurlingame, CA $14,529 $21,148 -31% 0.83% +0.08% 20 IndyMac Bancorp Inc. (5)Pasadena, CA $14,263 $76,979 -81% 0.81% -1.93% Top 20 Totals: $1,292,299 $2,027,912 -36% 73.82% 1.49% Top 100 Totals: $1,458,796 $2,336,299 -38% 82.86% 0.46% Notes: Market share based on estimated 2008 loan production of $1.751 trillion. Fundings include prime and nonprime loans and both first and second liens. Results may be incomplete because some firms would not provide figures. (1) Wells bought Wachovia in late 2008. They are listed separately in this ranking. (2) Chase bought Washington Mutual in the fall of 2008. WaMu's pre-Chase fundings are represented here. (3) BoA bought Countrywide on July 1. CFC's pre-BoA fundings are represented in this ranking. (4) NatCity is now owned by PNC. (5) IndyMac was taken over by the government last summer and is now owned by a private investor group. (Read More)
E-Mods Helping Servicers Keep Up
April 20, 2009WASHINGTON-The Obama administration's plan calling for 4 million to 5 million loan modifications includes financial incentives. While servicers would surely like to get their share of those incentives, many aren't automated enough to handle the current volume. (Read More)
Open Close to Automate Workflow
April 20, 2009WEST PALM BEACH, FL-LOS vendor Open Close here acquired point-of-sale vendor LION. Now Open Close is making good use of that acquisition to flesh out its technology offering. (Read More)
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April 27, 2009
HUD and Transportation Dept. Promote Affordable Housing
April 27, 2009WASHINGTON-The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Transportation have entered a partnership that will help create more affordable housing and transportation opportunities. (Read More)
ACPT to Sell Puerto Rico Properties
April 27, 2009ST. CHARLES, MD-American Community Properties Trust, a diversified real estate organization with operations here and in Puerto Rico, has reached an agreement to sell its general and limited partnership interests in its Puerto Rico apartment properties to Partners Business Equities and its associates for $14.3 million. ACPT expects to settle the transaction during the third quarter of 2009. (Read More)
PNC to Close Capstone
April 27, 2009PITTSBURGH-PNC Financial Services Group plans to close Capstone Realty Advisors, its commercial mortgage unit, as part of an ongoing reorganization plan. (Read More)
Bad Market Tempered By Optimism
April 27, 2009WASHINGTON-Senior real estate executives anticipate access to capital may improve slightly in the next 12 months, yet they indicate that current conditions in the income-producing real estate sector, such as office buildings, shopping malls, warehouses, hotels and apartment buildings continue to erode, according to the Real Estate Roundtable Sentiment Survey for the second quarter of 2009. (Read More)
Title Insurers Lose $434 Million
April 27, 2009WASHINGTON-The title insurance industry had adjusted net losses of $434.2 million and operating losses of $710.3 million in 2008, compared with adjusted net income of $315.1 million and operating losses of $87.8 million one year prior, according to data collected by the American Land Title Association. (Read More)
Cimino Now New CEO for iServe
April 27, 2009NEW YORK-Unemployment rates are not affecting the still in high demand mortgage servicing industry knowledgeable elite. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Still Viable
April 27, 2009This year and last have been the worst of times for mortgage brokers. Their market share has plummeted from 60% of originations to 15%. Tens of thousands of brokerages and employees have been lost. Big banks have exited the wholesale channel, making funding more questionable. Blame for the mortgage mess has been ascribed to them as poster children for predatory lending. (Read More)
New Fannie CEO Picks 3 EVPs
April 27, 2009WASHINGTON-Fannie Mae's new CEO Michael Williams took little time hiring three veteran bankers to fill key slots. (Read More)
Builder Players Compete with REO Sales
April 27, 2009CENTENNIAL, CO-Granite Loan Management, a full-service construction risk mitigation company here, is focusing more on workouts and helping banks with workout construction. (Read More)
Code Compliance Should Go Smoothly
April 27, 2009WASHINGTON-Despite heavy refinancing volume, the transition to the new appraisal code that applies to all loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should go smoothly, despite resistance from mortgage brokers and parts of the appraisal industry. (Read More)
Are Nonprime MBS Improving?
April 27, 2009WASHINGTON-In March, the credit performance of securitized subprime and alt-A loans improved for the first time since December 2007, but the bonds are far from being out of the woods, according to a new research report by Five Bridges Advisors. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: An Affordability Plan
April 27, 2009Excerpts of Mr. Lawler's recent testimony before the House Financial Services Committee are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
TARP IG Wants Guards on PPIP
April 27, 2009WASHINGTON-The TARP inspector general is urging the Treasury Department to install safeguards to prevent asset managers from taking advantage of the Public-Private Investment Program at the expense of taxpayers. (Read More)
Sun Belt Tops Nation's Metro Foreclosure Rates
April 27, 2009IRVINE, CA-In its Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report, RealtyTrac here shows cities in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona accounted for the 26 highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter among metro areas with a population of 200,000 or more. (Read More)
Glimmer of Life for Bulk
April 27, 2009WASHINGTON-In a sign that the bulk market for servicing rights could be showing a small glimmer of life, Interactive Mortgage Advisors is auctioning off a $2.1 billion package of receivables for an undisclosed seller. (Read More)
Eyeing Private-Label MBS
April 27, 2009If the Mortgage Banker Association's National Secondary Market Conference in Chicago last week was any indication, market participants still hold out hope for private-label securitization's return but can not yet tell whether the government's still preliminary programs for it can soothe investors the way the Federal Reserve's fairly successful agency mortgage-backed securities buys have. (Read More)
Fitch Report: Borrowers Still Leery
April 27, 2009NEW YORK-Although not as pronounced as in recent months, national home prices continue to decline, which is only reinforcing the negative psychology of buyers to not purchase new homes. Fitch Ratings said it expects this to continue in 2009 despite recent government initiates to fight the growing foreclosure situation. (Read More)
U.K. Govt. Supports DBS Acquisition
April 27, 2009LONDON-Nationwide Building Society, Swindon, England, through a U.K. government-supported deal, has taken ownership of parts of Scotland's Dunfermline Building Society, including DBS's £1.02 billion ($1.36 billion) originated prime mortgage lending book. (Read More)
PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: HAROLD LEWIS
April 27, 2009Mr. Lewis, a former Fannie Mae servicing executive, has been hired by CitiMortgage to head its Homeowner Assistance Program. While at Fannie, Mr. Lewis worked with the Obama administration to develop the GSE's new Making Home Affordable programs. At Fannie he held the title of senior vice president of national servicing and was responsible for overseeing 1,400 GSE servicers. (Read More)
FHFA to Lower AH Goals
April 27, 2009CHICAGO-The Federal Housing Finance Agency will soon propose a rule to lower the affordable housing goals imposed on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a key agency official said at the MBA's National Secondary Market Conference here. (Read More)
Industry Seeks Default Definition
April 27, 2009CHICAGO-The industry is looking for a more specific definition of "imminent default" in conjunction with its use in qualifying borrowers for new Treasury-directed refinancing and modifications, according to panelists at the MBA Secondary here. (Read More)
Murin Sees Room for Hope
April 27, 2009CHICAGO-If every cloud does indeed have a silver lining, then Joseph Murin has found a couple among the dark cumulus formations that currently shroud the mortgage industry. (Read More)
Only 3 States Yet to Join NMLS
April 27, 2009CHICAGO-All but three states have committed to join the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System, and 15 have already enacted a licensing process that meets the standards spelled out in Title V of last year's Housing and Economic Recovery Act, according to the latest count from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. (Read More)
Not Much Good News at MBA Secondary Market Conference
April 27, 2009CHICAGO-Lenders hoping to hear some good news here last week at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference went away disappointed. (Read More)
Clearing ProblemAssets a Priority
April 27, 2009CHICAGO-Moves to encourage active and more innovative account management by servicers might bring federal efforts aimed at clearing the problem mortgage asset glut and restoring the non-agency secondary market closer to their goals, according to one MBA Secondary Market Conference panelist. (Read More)
Warehouse Funds Still Hard to Find
April 27, 2009CHICAGO-Startups and those attempting broker-to-banker transitions may find it particularly challenging to obtain essential warehouse financing in today's tough market, when even those with established lines have been hit hard by some large providers' recent decisions to drop out of the business, executives participating in a panel discussion at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference told attendees here last week. (Read More)
BoA, Wells Top CRE
April 27, 2009WASHINGTON-Bank of America and Wells Fargo were the top commercial/multifamily originators in 2008, according to research compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)
Caution on Hiring
April 27, 2009WASHINGTON-Big and small mortgage companies have seen huge increases in originations in the first quarter and some actually doubled their production thanks to the refinancing boom. But while Bank of America has announced a big hiring boost, other companies are being more cautious. (Read More)
Expansion for Warehouse
April 27, 2009NEW YORK-After months of negative activity in the warehouse lending market, there are some players stepping up to fill at least part of the void. (Read More)
This Crisis Has a Human Cost
April 27, 2009One of the most appealing aspects of being a financial journalist is that you don't have to deal with such "messy" issues as writing stories about murders and suicides. (Read More)
Wells at 7% Overdue
April 27, 2009SAN FRANCISCO-Wells Fargo & Co., the nation's second largest residential servicer, said that 7% of its $1.6 trillion "owned" servicing portfolio was in some stage of delinquency as of March 31. (Read More)
EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT: MICHAEL J. WILLIAMS
April 27, 2009Mr. Williams recently took control as Fannie Mae's new CEO after the Treasury Department picked former company chief Herb Allison to head the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Prior to the appointment, Mr. Williams served as EVP and COO where he oversaw credit, technology, compliance and other key departments. Fannie has been a ward of the government since early September. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
April 27, 2009Company 4/23/2009 4/16/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 7.17 9.64 -26% 5.85 30.00 22.56% 10.75 Bank of America (BAC) 8.85 10.45 -15% 2.53 40.65 249.80% 14.91 Bank of Hawaii (BOH) 34.75 35.59 -2% 25.33 70.00 37.19% 8.44 Dime Community (DCOM) 8.55 9.58 -11% 6.46 20.00 32.35% 10.67 Doral Financial (DRL) 4.40 4.77 -8% 1.61 21.70 173.29% n/a Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 35.82 37.48 -4% 27.75 54.67 29.08% 10.34 Fidelity National (FNF) 19.55 19.40 1% 6.66 22.85 193.54% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM) 0.80 0.90 -11% 0.30 31.48 166.17% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE) 0.81 0.91 -11% 0.25 28.25 224.00% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) 12.50 12.71 -2% 7.46 20.97 67.56% 13.55 Kaufman & Broad (KBH) 17.41 16.26 7% 6.90 26.50 152.32% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC) 10.70 12.26 -13% 7.13 23.00 50.07% 8.93 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 0.65 0.71 -8% 0.26 6.49 150.08% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 1.67 2.11 -21% 0.70 7.50 138.57% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Top Correspondent Lenders in 2008
April 27, 2009Correspondent Vol % Market Rank Organization Name Location 2008 2007 change Share % pt. +/- 1 Chase (1)Iselin, NJ $98,688 $73,657 34% 18.16% +9.43% 2 Wells Fargo & Co. (2)San Francisco, CA $80,494 $81,768 -2% 14.81% +5.12% 3 Countrywide Financial Corp. (3)Calabasas, CA $58,969 $192,700 -69% 10.85% -11.99% 4 CitiMortgage Inc.O'Fallon, MO $58,487 $94,211 -38% 10.76% -0.41% 5 Residential Capital LLC (GMAC)Minneapolis, MN $32,810 $60,924 -46% 6.04% -1.18% 6 U.S. Bank Home MortgageBloomington, MN $13,928 $12,175 14% 2.56% +1.12% 7 Flagstar Bank FSBTroy, MI $13,003 $9,747 33% 2.39% +1.24% 8 Franklin American MortgageFranklin, TN $11,508 $7,763 48% 2.12% +1.20% 9 Taylor, Bean & WhitakerOcala, FL $9,283 $4,580 103% 1.71% +1.17% 10 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.Richmond, VA $7,281 $13,554 -46% 1.34% -0.27% 11 IndyMac Bancorp Inc. (4)Pasadena, CA $6,863 $32,030 -79% 1.26% -2.53% 12 Branch Banking & Trust Co.Wilson, NC $6,516 $2,762 136% 1.20% +0.87% 13 PHH Mortgage (E)Mount Laurel, NJ $4,739 $6,730 -30% 0.87% +0.07% 14 AmTrust BankCleveland, OH $3,647 $6,313 -42% 0.67% -0.08% 15 Hudson City Savings BankParamus, NJ $3,246 $3,447 -6% 0.60% +0.19% Top 15 Totals: $411,468 $604,367 -32% 75.34% +3.94% Submitted Totals: $418,048 $648,934 -36% 76.55% -0.13% Notes: Results may be incomplete because some firms would not provide this data point. (1) Chase bought WaMu in the fall of 2008. The volumes for WaMu are pre-Chase. Chase continues to be a correspondent buyer of mortgages. (2) Wells Fargo bought Wachovia late last year. (3) CFC was bought by BoA on July 1. The volumes in this table are pre-BoA. (4) IndyMac was taken over by the government in the summer and is now owned by a private investor group. (Read More)
Top Retail Lenders in 2008
April 27, 2009Retail Volume % Market Rank Organization Name 2008 2007 change Share 1 Bank of America $134,627 $156,886 -14% 16.72% 2 Wells Fargo & Co.$127,003 $148,577 -15% 15.78% 3 Chase$57,494 $84,465 -32% 7.14% 4 Countrywide Financial Corp. (PT)$56,916 $145,303 -61% 7.07% 5 Wachovia Mortgage FSB (PT)$34,874 $62,093 -44% 4.33% 6 CitiMortgage Inc.$34,494 $50,039 -31% 4.29% 7 PHH Mortgage$27,614 $30,450 -9% 3.43% 8 Washington Mutual (PT)$25,207 $75,614 -67% 3.13% 9 National City Mortgage (PT)$18,870 $25,586 -26% 2.34% 10 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.$17,683 $24,067 -27% 2.20% Retail Volume % Market Mkt Shr Rank Organization Name Location 2008 2007 change Share % pt. +/- 11 Residential Capital LLC (GMAC)Minneapolis, MN $12,397 $18,142 -32% 1.54% +0.00% 12 Quicken Loans Inc.Livonia, MI $12,018 $18,458 -35% 1.49% -0.07% 13 Branch Banking & Trust Co.Wilson, NC $10,192 $11,273 -10% 1.27% +0.31% 14 First Horizon Home LoansIrving, TX $7,846 $15,619 -50% 0.97% -0.35% 15 U.S. Bank Home MortgageBloomington, MN $7,292 $6,392 14% 0.91% +0.36% 16 Fifth Third MortgageCincinnati, OH $6,927 $6,811 2% 0.86% +0.28% 17 CTX Mortgage (HB)Dallas, TX $5,862 $11,330 -48% 0.73% -0.23% 18 Navy FCUMerrifield, VA $5,713 $5,095 12% 0.71% +0.28% 19 HSBC Mortgage Corp. USADepew, NY $5,025 $4,448 13% 0.62% +0.25% 20 Regions Mortgage Inc.Montgomery, AL $4,820 $6,299 -23% 0.60% +0.06% Top 20 Totals: $614,881 $908,952 -32% 76.14% -0.83% Submitted Totals: $670,803 $982,024 -32% 82.20% -0.12% Notes: Some companies would not disclose production channel breakdowns. (E) Estimate. (HB) Owned by a homebuilder. (Read More)
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May 4, 2009
Nonagency MBS Still Challenging Anti-Foreclosure Efforts in Progress
May 4, 2009NEW YORK-Some progress has been made when it comes to mitigating mortgage losses and helping keep distressed low- to moderate-income borrowers in their homes, but more needs to be done - particularly when it comes to those with loans that are part of private-label securitizations, according to Marietta Rodriguez, director of national homeownership programs at NeighborWorks America. (Read More)
Tennessee Bank Table Funds Banks, Not Mortgage Brokers
May 4, 2009COLLIERVILLE, TN-BankTennessee here has launched a new wholesale division that caters not to independent loan brokers - but to other depositories. (Read More)
Home Prices Continue to Decline
May 4, 2009NEW YORK-Data through February 2009 show continued broad-based declines in the prices of existing single-family homes across the United States, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, with 10 of the 20 metro areas showing record rates of annual decline, and 15 reporting declines in excess of 10% compared to February 2008. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: How and When
May 4, 2009Everybody's pretty much agreed that for the mortgage market to recover, and possibly the national economy beyond it, the secondary mortgage market needs to be re-liquefied. The real question is how, and when. Executives of the Mortgage Bankers Association met with the press at its National Secondary Market Conference recently in Chicago to discuss their most recent position papers on market liquidity and key considerations for the future, and they're a good place to start. (Read More)
Fair Isaac Launches MHA Website
May 4, 2009MINNEAPOLIS-Fair Isaac - the company behind the most commonly used credit scoring system in the nation - has launched a new website that tells consumers if they qualify for a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan modification under the Obama administration's plan. (Read More)
FHA Sees Encouraging Signs
May 4, 2009WASHINGTON-Department of Housing and Urban Department officials are signaling that the FHA single-family program is doing better than expected and downplaying concerns that a budget review might force the agency to increase mortgage insurance premiums. (Read More)
FHA Book of Business Continues to Outperform Subprime
May 4, 2009WASHINGTON-Like the death of Mark Twain, the demise of the Federal Housing Administration is "premature," according to the outgoing commissioner of the government's mortgage insurance fund. (Read More)
Cash-Flush Texas Startup Offers Upscale Second Liens
May 4, 2009NEW YORK-Though many community banking companies are expanding in mortgages, the startup First Texas BHC Inc. is going further than most by offering second liens on million-dollar homes. (Read More)
GNMA Closer to Warehouse?
May 4, 2009WASHINGTON-A proposal that would allow the Government National Mortgage Association to give some type of assistance to the warehouse lending sector is moving closer to fruition, according to industry officials. (Read More)
New HECM Borrower Counselor Rule Is Near
May 4, 2009CHICAGO-Only persons on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's roster of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage counselors will be able to advise potential borrowers under a final rule that is "about to be published." (Read More)
Refi Surge Causes MI Backlog
May 4, 2009NEW YORK-The backlog in the mortgage industry due to the high volume of refinancings is impacting the time it takes title orders to close, three of the four major title groups reported. (Read More)
U.S. Treasury Revamps Mods
May 4, 2009WASHINGTON-The Treasury Department has revised the president's loan modification plan to encourage participating servicers to use FHA's Hope for Homeowners program as an option in writing down the principal amount of a mortgage. (Read More)
Mortgage Reform Bill Set to Curb Abusive Lending
May 4, 2009WASHINGTON-The House Financial Services Committee passed a mortgage reform bill last week to curb abusive lending, which will move the market toward the origination of mostly prime fixed-rate loans. (Read More)
The Outlook for Recovery
May 4, 2009Mr. Kohn's remarks on the economic outlook at the Hutchinson Lecture in Newark, Del., are presented as our Open Forum. (First of two parts.) Consideration of the likely shape of the recovery depends very much on understanding how we got to where we are now. For a number of years earlier in the decade, U.S. economic growth was supported importantly by rapid increases in consumption and housing, which, in turn, were fueled by an extended surge of global credit. Housing demand was propelled, in part, by persistently low long-term interest rates, loose underwriting standards on mortgages, and, for a while, expectations of continuing increases in house prices that resulted in the building of too many houses and the elevation of home prices to unsustainable levels. (Read More)
PEOPLE
May 4, 2009CALIFORNIA Beverly Hills-Kennedy Wilson Auction Group said that Anthony Bains has been named vice president, business development. (Read More)
First Quarter Refis Seen Reducing Payments by $2.5B
May 4, 2009MCLEAN, VA-Refinances tracked by Freddie Mac in the first quarter are on track to reduce mortgage payments by $2.5 billion in the coming year. (Read More)
Ross Now Eyeing the PPIP Market
May 4, 2009NEW YORK-Bottom fisher Wilbur Ross - who has made two large purchases in the residential servicing arena - is now considering taking a run at toxic mortgages offered through the Treasury's Public-Private Investment Program. (Read More)
Stevens FHA Nomination in Limbo
May 4, 2009WASHINGTON-Senate confirmation of David Stevens to be the new FHA commissioner is no longer on a fast track due a RESPA lawsuit filed against his former employer, Long & Foster, a realty firm dominant in the metro area here. (Read More)
Global Credit Revival Efforts Must Allow for Differences
May 4, 2009Global credit markets provide key funding for the U.S. mortgage industry, among others, and if we want them to make a comeback and restore securitization-based liquidity to our business we have to think beyond our borders and our own problems. (Read More)
Ex-AHM Chief Settles with SEC
May 4, 2009WASHINGTON-Former American Home Mortgage founder and CEO Michael Strauss - who is now in the loan modification business - has agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $2.45 million to settle a slew of allegations including one where he had others turn company losses into "fictional" profits. (Read More)
BoA Adds Loan Disclosures
May 4, 2009CHARLOTTE, NC-Bank of America - in conjunction with its Bank of America Home Loans rebranding - has created three new tools, including the "clarity commitment," a one-page loan summary that allows customers to review their loan terms. (Read More)
Cramdowns Defeated
May 4, 2009WASHINGTON-The Senate easily defeated a cramdown amendment last week that Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., has pushed for the past two years as a way to reduce foreclosures and help stabilize the housing market. (Read More)
A Boom Now, but What Comes Next?
May 4, 2009The preliminary results are in and it appears the first quarter was a barnburner when it comes to new residential loan originations. According to figures compiled by National Mortgage News, loan production in the first quarter rose by 36% compared to the same period last year. (Read More)
KCC May Triple Workers
May 4, 2009IRVINE, CA-Kondaur Capital Corp. here - an investor in nonperforming mortgages - expects its work force to triple to 900 workers by yearend. (Read More)
StoneWater ExecsStepping Aside
May 4, 2009TUCSON, AZ-StoneWater Mortgage Corp. here is "restructuring" its management team in the wake of a lawsuit filed against several members who had been part of the officers and directors of First Magnus Corp. (Read More)
Residential Interest-Only Lenders in 4Q 2008
May 4, 2009IO Funded IO Funded % Market Rank Organization Name Location in 4Q 2008 in 4Q 2007 Change Share 1 Wells Fargo & Co.San Francisco, CA $2,397 $10,934 -78% 28.09% 2 ING Bank FSB (E)Wilmington, DE $853 $1,653 -48% 10.00% 3 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.Richmond, VA $762 $1,577 -52% 8.93% 4 CitiMortgage Inc.O'Fallon, MO $622 $5,190 -88% 7.29% 5 Flagstar Bank FSBTroy, MI $306 $578 -47% 3.59% 6 Wachovia Mortgage, FSBCharlotte, NC $257 $1,180 -78% 3.01% 7 U.S. Bank Home MortgageBloomington, MN $243 $429 -43% 2.85% 8 Astoria FS & LALake Success, NY $161 $428 -62% 1.89% 9 HSBC Mortgage Corp. USADepew, NY $80 $182 -56% 0.94% 10 Fifth Third MortgageCincinnati, OH $69 na na 0.81% 11 Branch Banking & Trust Co.Wilson, NC $67 $177 -62% 0.78% 12 Taylor, Bean & WhitakerOcala, FL $66 $258 -74% 0.77% 13 National City MortgageMiamisburg, OH $61 $1,270 -95% 0.71% 14 AmTrust BankCleveland, OH $38 $631 -94% 0.45% 15 Provident Funding AssociatesBurlingame, CA $27 $65 -58% 0.32% Top 15 Totals: $6,009 $24,552 -76% 70.41% Totals Submitted: $6,095 $24,941 -76% 71.43% Notes: Results may be incomplete because some firms did not provide IO production volumes. Market share cut based on estimated 4Q 2008 production of $8.53 billion. NMN/QDR assumes the top firms control 60% of the market. (E) Estimate. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
May 4, 2009Company 4/30/2009 4/23/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF)8.34 7.22 16% 5.85 30.00 42.56% 13.75 Bank of America (BAC)8.91 8.82 1% 2.53 40.65 252.17% 15.67 Bank of Hawaii (BOH)35.28 34.37 3% 25.33 70.00 39.28% 8.97 Dime Community (DCOM)8.42 8.52 -1% 6.46 20.00 30.34% 9.99 Doral Financial (DRL)4.84 4.13 17% 1.61 21.70 200.62% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV)37.22 35.80 4% 27.75 54.67 34.13% 10.62 Fidelity National (FNF)18.14 19.31 -6% 6.66 22.85 172.37% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM)0.76 0.80 -4% 0.30 31.48 154.33% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE)0.78 0.81 -3% 0.25 28.25 212.00% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK)12.49 12.38 1% 7.46 20.97 67.43% 14.33 Kaufman & Broad (KBH)18.19 17.32 5% 6.90 26.50 163.63% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC)12.37 10.72 15% 7.13 23.00 73.49% 9.80 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI)0.66 0.66 0% 0.26 6.49 153.85% n/a Radian Group (RDN)1.74 1.66 5% 0.70 7.50 148.57% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Residential Originators in 1Q 09
May 4, 2009Origination Volume % Organization Name Location 1Q 09 1Q 08 Change EverBank MortgageJacksonville, FL $1,709 $1,308 31% HSBC Mortgage Corp. USADepew, NY $2,159 $3,655 -41% M&T BankBuffalo, NY $1,858 $1,445 29% Midwest Loan ServicesHoughton, MI $62 $7 786% Mortgage Now Inc.Brooklyn, OH $119 $60 98% National City MortgageMiamisburg, OH $6,844 $7,393 -7% Perl MortgageChicago, IL $320 $315 2% Quicken Loans Inc.Livonia, MI $6,800 $4,190 62% Taylor, Bean & WhitakerOcala, FL $7,882 $8,937 -12% Wells Fargo & Co.San Francisco, CA $102,782 $68,384 50% $130,535 $95,694 36% Notes: Firms listed alphabetically. This is a sample table ONLY. National Mortgage News is still compiling 1Q 2009 results. Want to participate in this survey? Send an e-mail to the address below. (Read More)
Flagstar Ups Warehouse Arm
May 4, 2009TROY, MI-Joining Wells Fargo and GMAC, Flagstar Bank here is looking to increase its warehouse operations, but unlike the other two players, Flagstar is doing so with a technology twist. (Read More)
IBM Now Offering Loan Modification Support
May 4, 2009ARMONK, NY-Realizing the need to modify a record number of problem loans and the fact that servicers can't keep up, IBM here has stepped in with a new offering that it hopes will allow mortgage loan servicers to process large volumes of loan modification requests with greater speed, efficiency and accuracy. (Read More)
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May 11, 2009
Housing Advocates Get Kudos
May 11, 2009WASHINGTON-Affordable housing advocate the National Housing Conference and its research affiliate the Center for Housing Policy received the 2009 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions and a $650,000 grant. (Read More)
City Bank Revises $61M Loss
May 11, 2009LYNWOOD, WA-As a result of new appraisals that reflect a deteriorating housing market, City Bank here has revised its loss for 2008 to $60.8 million, an increase of $25 million from the $35.8 million originally reported on Feb. 3. (Read More)
Originations Increase Bank Nets
May 11, 2009NEW YORK-For some banks, their first-quarter results have been enhanced by strong performance in the mortgage origination side of the business, as refinancings have taken hold. However, at some of these same players, there are still issues with credit quality from the loans already on the books. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: A Housing Advocate
May 11, 2009When Jack Kemp was serving as secretary of HUD during the administration of the first President Bush, NMN published a story about him with the headline "Kemp a Housing Liberal." When it was pointed out to him at an MBA annual convention, the famously conservative Kemp laughed and said there might be some truth to it. (Read More)
Keefe Has Mortgage ETF
May 11, 2009BOSTON-Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and State Street Global Advisors have launched what they said is the first exchange traded fund to offer 100% exposure to the U.S. mortgage finance industry. (Read More)
FBR Looks For Consistent Returns
May 11, 2009MOUNT LAUREL, NJ-PHH Corp. here needs to prove to investors that its business model can produce consistent returns, according to analysts at FBR Capital Markets, Arlington, Va. (Read More)
FBI Gets More Fraud Resources
May 11, 2009WASHINGTON-President Obama will be able to sign a bill soon that increases the FBI's resources to go after mortgage fraud and expands the federal bank fraud statutes to cover independent mortgage companies and mortgage brokers. (Read More)
FHA Seen Finishing Fiscal Year 2010 in Black
May 11, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Housing Administration single-family program will not need a congressional appropriation to continue operating in fiscal year 2010 and it should be able to keep its head above water throughout this crisis, according to the new housing secretary. (Read More)
Foreclosures Up,Overdues Down
May 11, 2009JACKSONVILLE, FL-Foreclosure starts are continuing to rise to record highs but total delinquencies fell in March to 7.88%, a month-over-month decrease of 5.8%, according to the April 2009 LPS Mortgage Monitor from Lender Processing Services Inc. here. (Read More)
Demand for Better AVMs Up
May 11, 2009JACKSONVILLE, FL-At least one expert finds the foreclosure crisis has created demand for improved housing valuation and pricing tools that allow for more sustainable business decisions. (Read More)
Merrill Lynch Sued Over Two CDS Deals
May 11, 2009ARMONK, NY-An MBIA Inc. subsidiary and LaCrosse Financial Products LLC are seeking rescission and damages for misrepresentation and breach of contract in connection with credit default swaps that had ties to U.S. subprime residential mortgage risks in a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court against two Merrill Lynch entities. (Read More)
NY Sees 23% Decrease in Filings
May 11, 2009NEW YORK-Foreclosure filings were made on 11,017 properties in New York during the first quarter of 2009, representing a 23% decrease compared to the first quarter of 2008 and a 32% increase over the fourth quarter of 2008, according to data from the New York State Banking Department and RealtyTrac. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: The Outlook for Recovery
May 11, 2009Mr. Kohn's remarks on the economic outlook at the Hutchinson Lecture in Newark, Del., are presented as our Open Forum. (Second of two parts.) In part, this effort has involved targeted actions to prevent the failure or substantial weakening of specific systemically important institutions when the disorderly failure of a large, complex, interconnected firm would disrupt the functioning of a range of financial markets and impede the flow of credit to households and businesses. Besides this targeted support, the government has been injecting capital into the banking system to ensure that U.S. banking institutions are well capitalized and can support the recovery by lending to sound households and businesses. In addition to the programs to provide capital, the government, through the FDIC, has temporarily guaranteed selected liabilities of insured depository institutions and their holding companies, thereby improving their access to funding. The government has also taken steps, most recently through the Making Home Affordable program, to reduce unnecessary foreclosures. Beyond helping homeowners stay in their houses, limiting foreclosures should benefit lenders, mitigate adverse impacts on affected communities, and, by limiting the decline in overall home prices, help support the broader economy. Finally, the Treasury recently announced a program to assist banks and other lenders in finding markets for their "legacy assets" - that is, real estate-related assets that were accumulated during the housing boom and have since declined in value and become relatively illiquid. Uncertainty about the value of legacy assets is weighing on confidence in banks, and so helping banks to dispose of such assets should contribute to their ability to raise capital and increase lending. (Read More)
Servicing BusinessHurts PHH's Net
May 11, 2009MOUNT LAUREL, NJ-PHH Corp. here was a victim of mortgage servicing rights prepayments as the company's first-quarter net income was well below that from the same period one year prior. (Read More)
Servicers GetMore Leeway
May 11, 2009WASHINGTON-The Senate has passed a housing bill that gives mortgage servicers more leeway to modify loans and protect them from investor lawsuits. (Read More)
TALF CMBS Loans May Take Edge Off Commercial Downturn
May 11, 2009The commercial mortgage concerns that threaten to overshadow the few rays of light that have been breaking through the clouds in the residential market are slightly brightened by TALF's CMBS expansion. (Read More)
Credit Risk Index Highest Ever
May 11, 2009CHICAGO-The TransUnion Credit Risk Index reached 124.79 in the last quarter of 2008, the highest level seen since its inception. The index recorded its biggest change on a quarter-to-quarter basis (up by 5.99% compared to 3Q08). It increased 5.41% compared to the same quarter in 2007. (Read More)
AIG Will Keep United Guaranty
May 11, 2009GREENSBORO, NC-The future of United Guaranty Residential Insurance Co. here is up in the air as the company will be kept by American International Group, New York, rather than spun off into a newly created property/casualty insurance holding company. (Read More)
Wells Drops TPO 'Low Balance' Commercial
May 11, 2009SAN FRANCISCO-In yet another sign that depositories are shunning loan brokers and even correspondents, Wells Fargo & Co. said it would no longer fund "low balance" commercial mortgages through third parties. (Read More)
Chase Changes its Mind, Will Stay in Warehouse
May 11, 2009NEW YORK-First the good news: JPMorgan Chase has decided to stay in the warehouse lending business at all. Now the bad: it only plans to provide lines of credit to just a handful of customers that tend to sell loans to it on a correspondent basis. (Read More)
Colonial Deal in Trouble?
May 11, 2009NEW YORK-Fitch Ratings believes it could be a challenge for Colonial Bancgroup - the nation's largest warehouse lender - to satisfy some of the conditions attached to a $300 million investment in the bank by a group led by mortgage banker Taylor Bean & Whitaker of Ocala, Fla. (Read More)
1st Metro Being Bought By Hestia
May 11, 2009CHARLOTTE, NC-1st MetropolitanMortgage here, once a top-ranked loan brokerage and net branch operator, has struck a deal to merge with another lender and then become part of Hestia Financial of Dallas. (Read More)
Bankers Get Full Ride on HVCC
May 11, 2009The way loan brokers are feeling these days they've lost the HVCC war and banks won and it's probably just a matter of time before the entire brokerage sector evaporates into thin air. That's the worst-case scenario. The final chapter has yet to be written for brokers. But the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct rule that went into effect May 1 is certainly a win-win for the nation's mega-lenders, especially those with appraisal management companies. (Read More)
YSP Future in Doubt
May 11, 2009WASHINGTON-The House has passed a mortgage reform bill last week by a 300-114 vote that curbs abusive lending practices and discourages subprime and nontraditional mortgage loan products. (Read More)
Mortgage Firms Banned from Doing Business in Pennsylvania
May 11, 2009HARRISBURG, PA-The Pennsylvania Department of Banking has banned four out-of-state mortgage modification companies from doing business in Pennsylvania. (Read More)
Specially Serviced CMBS Up 48%
May 11, 2009NEW YORK-Commercial mortgage-backed securities are raising new red flags of worry for the U.S. secondary market. (Read More)
Servicers, Originators Connect to Offer Full Service Solution
May 11, 2009EWING, NJ-Government assistance requirements pressed a servicer and originator to interrelate services into a full mortgage banking solution. (Read More)
Technology Helps Subservicers Collaborate
May 11, 2009SOUTHFIELD, MI-Subservicers are hard pressed to be more in tune with the customer service needs of the servicing industry. Technology can help them enhance their process and get better results. (Read More)
Subservicing: A Changing Marketplace
May 11, 2009As servicers frantically continue to respond to unprecedented demand, new government programs and regulatory requirements add toissues of scale in response to subservicing and special servicing. (Read More)
Boomers Create Reverse Demand
May 11, 2009SPRING, TX-There is more subservicing being done in the reverse mortgage sector in today's market in part because demand for thsese services continues to grow. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
May 11, 2009Company 5/7/2009 4/30/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF)8.22 8.39 -2% 5.85 30.00 40.51% 14.89 Bank of America (BAC)13.64 8.96 52% 2.53 39.50 439.13% 14.89 Bank of Hawaii (BOH)39.57 35.57 11% 25.33 70.00 56.22% 10.01 Dime Community (DCOM)8.56 8.44 1% 6.46 20.00 32.51% 10.06 Doral Financial (DRL)4.42 4.87 -9% 1.61 21.70 174.53% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV)39.73 37.30 7% 27.75 54.67 43.17% 11.45 Fidelity National (FNF)15.18 18.33 -17% 6.66 22.85 127.93% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM)0.88 0.77 14% 0.30 30.71 193.80% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE)0.91 0.79 15% 0.25 27.95 264.00% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK)12.23 12.56 -3% 7.46 20.97 63.94% 13.23 Kaufman & Broad (KBH)16.11 18.14 -11% 6.90 26.50 133.48% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC)11.71 12.30 -5% 7.13 23.00 64.24% 9.99 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI)1.30 0.67 95% 0.26 6.49 400.00% n/a Radian Group (RDN)2.65 1.74 52% 0.70 7.50 278.57% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Head Servicers Ranked by Portfolio Yield - 4Q08
May 11, 2009Avg. Yield Service Rank Organization Name Location on Portfolio Portfolio Size 1 EMC Mortgage (1)Lewisville, TX 7.36% $74,629 2 DHI MortgageAustin, TX 7.30% $204 3 M&T MortgageBuffalo, NY 7.00% $21,254 4 Banco Popular/E-LoanPleasanton, CA 6.88% $9,288 5 Aurora Loan Services Inc. (2)Aurora, CO 6.74% $117,035 6 Webster BankWaterbury, CT 6.73% $3,068 7 Flagstar Bank FSBTroy, MI 6.43% $63,459 8 LoanCare Servicing Center Inc.Norfolk, VA 6.30% $12,699 9 Nationwide Advantage MortgageWest Des Moines, IA 6.29%$7,998 10 Taylor, Bean & WhitakerOcala, FL 6.29% $76,354 11 Washington Federal SavingsSeattle, WA 6.22% $7,425 12 Fidelity BankWichita, KS 6.20% $2,047 13 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.Richmond, VA 6.19% $159,663 14 TCF Mortgage Corp.Minneapolis, MN 6.17% $6,829 15 Midwest Loan ServicesHoughton, MI 6.16% $5,232 16 Cascade BankEverett, WA 6.16% $129 17 Nara BancorpLos Angeles, CA 6.14% $1,473 18 Fifth Third MortgageCincinnati, OH 6.13% $50,649 19 Regions Mortgage Inc.Montgomery, AL 6.13% $36,600 20 National Penn BancsharesBoyertown, PA 6.10% $2,318 Notes: Results may be incomplete because several servicers would not disclose this data point. (1) Owned by JPMorgan Chase. (2) Owned by Lehman, which is in bankruptcy. (Read More)
Residential Servicers at March 31
May 11, 2009Servicing Volume % Organization Name Location 3/31/09 3/31/08 Change American Internet Mortgage San Diego, CA $260 $289 -10% Branch Banking & Trust Co. Wilson, NC $76,923 $67,648 14% Celink Lansing, MI $3,384 $2,170 56% EverBank Mortgage Jacksonville, FL $41,480 $33,095 25% Fidelity Bank Wichita, KS $1,951 $2,245 -13% Graystone Solutions Sudbury, MA $2,660 $1,812 47% HSBC Mortgage Corp. USA Depew, NY $67,219$66,864 1% Midwest Loan Services Houghton, MI $5,883 $4,270 38% Nationwide Advantage Mortgage West Des Moines, IA $7,997 $7,416 8% Navy FCU Merrifield, VA $27,235 $24,373 12% Ridgewood Savings Bank Ridgewood, NY $1,921 $1,746 10% Saxon Mortgage Services Irving, TX $9,830 $10,660 -8% Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Ocala, FL $78,236 $61,398 27% VNB Mortgage Services Wayne, NJ $3,213 $3,247 -1% Webster Bank Waterbury, CT $3,210 $3,610 -11% Submitted Totals: $331,402 $290,844 14% Notes: Firms listed alphabetically. This is a sample table ONLY. National Mortgage News is still compiling 1Q 2009 results. Want to participate in this survey? Send an e-mail to the address below. (Read More)
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May 18, 2009
Gramercy Completes Manager Internalization
May 18, 2009NEW YORK-Commercial real estate investment company Gramercy Capital Corp. here has completed internalization of its management through the direct acquisition of its external manager, GKK Manager LLC, which was previously a wholly owned subsidiary of SL Green Realty Corp. The consideration paid to SL Green in the transaction was minimal. (Read More)
Office Market Has Worst Quarter Since 2001
May 18, 2009BOSTON-The U.S. office market greeted the first three months of 2009 by continuing its downward spiral, marking the worst quarter since the third quarter of 2001 and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to the first-quarter office report from global real estate services firm Colliers International. (Read More)
Rockwood Capital Closes RE Partners
May 18, 2009SAN FRANCISCO-Real estate investment company Rockwood Capital here has closed the Rockwood Capital Real Estate Partners Fund VIII with $964 million in capital commitments. The fund will primarily invest in hotel, retail, office and residential properties. (Read More)
Warehouse Vacancy Climbs
May 18, 2009BOSTON-The demand for warehouse space declined in the first quarter, according to Colliers International, a real estate services firm here. The national warehouse market struggled during first quarter, with the national industrial vacancy rate jumping to 9.57% at the close of the first quarter of this year, compared to 8.15% in the first quarter of 2008. (Read More)
Title Still Hurting
May 18, 2009OLDWICK, NJ-There was an increase in impaired companies in the property/casualty insurance segment from five to seven between 2007 and 2008, caused by four title companies entering that status, a report from A.M. Best here said. (Read More)
Commercial/Multifamily Continues to Drop
May 18, 2009WASHINGTON-Following the trend set by the residential side of the mortgage business, commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations continued to drop off in the first quarter of 2009, according to numbers that have been produced by the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Follow Us
May 18, 2009The ubiquitous social networks that have sprung up in such abundance have migrated over to the business world. So, in an attempt to try to reach our audience anywhere they may be receptive to us, we've launched a presence on Twitter. (Read More)
FHA Seeks $400B Limit
May 18, 2009WASHINGTON-The Obama administration is pushing the Federal Housing Administration to play a larger role in the mortgage market and it will be asking Congress to provide the agency with a $400 billion loan commitment authority. (Read More)
Mortgage Reform Caps Fees Even on FRMs
May 18, 2009WASHINGTON-A House-passed mortgage reform bill makes it tough for borrowers to get traditional adjustable-rate mortgages and caps origination fees on the most conservative loans, including prime fixed-rate mortgages. (Read More)
Mortgage Reform Caps Fees Even on FRMs
May 18, 2009WASHINGTON-A House-passed mortgage reform bill makes it tough for borrowers to get traditional adjustable-rate mortgages and caps origination fees on the most conservative loans, including prime fixed-rate mortgages. (Read More)
U.S. Lending Units Hurt HSBC
May 18, 2009NEW YORK-HSBC Holdings PLC's troubled U.S. consumer lending division continued to drag down Europe's largest banking company in the first quarter, though charges for soured loans were lower than expected. (Read More)
Employees Get B&C Lender Settlement
May 18, 2009WILMINGTON, DE-Roughly 1,650 former employees of Mortgage Lenders Network will divide a $2.7 million settlement from the bankrupt subprime lender under a settlement approved by a Delaware judge last week. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: These Four Programs Are Critical
May 18, 2009Mr. Geithner's Recent Remarks Before The Congressional Oversight Panel Are Presented As Our Open Forum. (first Of Two Parts.) First, falling home prices and rising unemployment have made it difficult for many responsible homeowners to meet their mortgage payments and stay in their homes. Rising foreclosures risk contributing to further declines in home prices, a further pull back in credit and more job losses. (Read More)
OTS Orders Thrift to Raise Capital
May 18, 2009NEW YORK-Regulators have ordered a $14-million-asset mutual thrift in Pittsburgh to raise capital, citing improper automated clearing house transactions that resulted in large losses. (Read More)
PEOPLE
May 18, 2009CALIFORNIA Santa Ana-Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors LLC said that Fred D. Cochran has joined the company as a regional vice president in Florida. (Read More)
April Foreclosures Still High
May 18, 2009IRVINE, CA-Total foreclosure activity in April ended up slightly above March, once again hitting a record-level high. (Read More)
RESPA Reform Mandates Mortgage Disclosures by Jan. 1
May 18, 2009WASHINGTON-The new HUD secretary has decided to move ahead with a RESPA rule that was issued by the Bush administration and requires the industry to implement new mortgage disclosures by Jan. 1, 2010. (Read More)
60 and Younger Purchasing Homes
May 18, 2009PARSIPPANY, NJ-According to a national survey from Coldwell Banker here, over half of those who work in popular retirement areas are seeing younger retirees (age 60 and under) looking to purchase homes in those markets. (Read More)
Bond Yields, Reports Paint Mixed Picture for Loan Rates
May 18, 2009Bond yields and weekly rate reports available at press time last Thursday painted a mixed picture for current rates as well as future rate direction. (Read More)
Mortgages May Cause $100B Loss
May 18, 2009WASHINGTON-In a hypothetical situation in which the economy is worse than expected over the next two years, the 19 bank holding companies that participated in federal "stress tests" would find first-lien mortgages to be responsible for about one-sixth of the losses they would cumulatively have to absorb. (Read More)
TM's CreditorsAre Owed $4.6B Residential Jumbo Volumes 2005-2008
May 18, 2009SANTA FE, NM-The 10 largest unsecured creditors of the recently bankrupt Thornburg Mortgage include depositories and Wall Street firms that are owed at least $4.6 billion, according to court records. (Read More)
Downgrade Concerns Persist
May 18, 2009LONDON-The latest wave of controversial mortgage-related bond insurer downgrades suggests concerns linked to these companies are growing, and some recent European earnings show losses here beginning to outweigh those from direct exposures to problematic real estate finance debt securities. (Read More)
Canadian Housing Starts Up
May 18, 2009OTTAWA-Canada's seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts bounced back to some extent from their drop to 117,400 in April, but new home construction is not expected to fully rebound to previous levels any time soon. (Read More)
U.K. Market Sees Early Signs of Possible Recovery
May 18, 2009LONDON-The United Kingdom has seen some early signs of a seasonal increase in consumer demand in various surveys, and markets may be stabilizing, but 2009 is still going to be "very, very tough,"said the chairman of the Council of Mortgage Lenders. (Read More)
Tax Credit Bridge Loans Get Okay
May 18, 2009WASHINGTON-The government has given the green light to the financing of bridge loans of up to $8,000 to first-time homebuyers who qualify for tax credits under the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan. (Read More)
CFC Continues to Haunt Fannie
May 18, 2009Sometimes, coming in second can be a good thing. Last week Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported their first-quarter earnings with the former bleeding red ink of $23 billion and the latter losing a mere $9 billion. OK, I'm being sarcastic on the "mere" part, but if outside observers looking at FanFred think they are identical "sister" companies (with similarly sized portfolios) they are sadly mistaken. (Read More)
Treasury Ponders MI Rescue
May 18, 2009WASHINGTON-The stock prices of publicly traded mortgage insurance firms have been rallying of late in part because rumors abound that the Treasury Department is warming up to the idea of helping them out. (Read More)
TRO for Foreclosure Sales in SC
May 18, 2009COLUMBIA, SC-A temporary restraining order has been issued by Chief Justice Jean Hoefer of the Supreme Court of South Carolina involving loans subject to modification under the Home Affordable Modification program. (Read More)
Stepping Up in Warehouse
May 18, 2009HOUSTON-There has been an avalanche of companies exiting the warehouse business, resulting in a backlog in the entire origination process. But as of late, a number of companies are seeing opportunities in this market, especially as tighter underwriting standards have reduced the number of risky mortgage originations. (Read More)
Genworth MI Takes a $135M Loss
May 18, 2009RICHMOND, VA-The United States mortgage insurance business of Genworth Financial Inc. here had a net operating loss of $135 million for the first quarter, as higher captive reinsurance benefits were more than offset by higher incurred losses. The first-quarter loss was higher than the $36 million net operating loss the unit hada year prior. (Read More)
PMI Group Capital Levels in Doubt
May 18, 2009WALNUT CREEK, CA-A pair of analyst reports on The PMI Group here are rather bearish on the agreement the company made with the lenders on its revolving credit facility. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
May 18, 2009MIEC Index: 17.6 Chnages: -0.3 Company 5/14/2009 5/7/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 7.93 8.13 -2% 5.85 30.00 35.56% 12.74 Bank of America (BAC) 11.25 13.53 -17% 2.53 39.50 344.66% 12.92 Bank of Hawaii (BOH) 38.38 39.29 -2% 25.33 70.00 51.52% 10.65 Dime Community (DCOM) 7.77 8.45 -8% 6.46 20.00 20.28% 9.25 Doral Financial (DRL) 3.84 4.40 -13% 1.61 21.70 138.51% n/a Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 39.56 39.70 -0% 27.75 54.67 42.56% 18.42 Fidelity National (FNF) 15.35 15.20 1% 6.66 22.85 130.48% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM) 0.80 0.89 -10% 0.30 30.47 165.80% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE) 0.83 0.91 -9% 0.25 27.95 231.52% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) 12.55 12.18 3% 7.46 20.97 68.23% 12.53 Kaufman & Broad (KBH) 15.86 16.13 -2% 6.90 26.50 129.86% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC) 12.09 11.82 2% 7.13 23.00 69.57% 9.84 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 1.78 1.25 42% 0.26 6.49 584.62% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 2.99 2.65 13% 0.70 7.50 327.14% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Top Servicers in 1993 - Where Are They Today?
May 18, 2009Servicer Name Serv. Port. '93 Where Are They Today? (Read More)
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May 25, 2009
Taking Charge of Charitable Giving
May 25, 2009COSTA MESA, CA-The economic crisis has not dampened efforts to provide and preserve affordable housing in a touching "charity starts at home" fashion. Individuals and organizations keep donating money, time, labor and expertise to benefit those in need. (Read More)
Aries Completes Dallas MF Loan
May 25, 2009HOUSTON-Aries Capital's office here completed a $3.6 million loan for LaVita, a multifamily property in Dallas. Leonard Smith, senior vice president of Aries Capital closed the loan transaction. A local Texas bank provided the investment. (Read More)
SL Green Completes Stock Offering
May 25, 2009NEW YORK-SL Green Realty Corp. completed a public offering of 19.55 million shares of common stock at a price per share of $20.75, including 2.55 million shares issued and sold to the underwriters to cover overallotments. (Read More)
HE Servicing Sector Affects Revenue
May 25, 2009COLUMBUS, IN-Drops in home-equity loan processing revenune and related increases in provisions for loan losses have taken a toll on first-quarter earnings of various banks. (Read More)
Fraud Bill Adds $
May 25, 2009WASHINGTON-Congress has passed landmark legislation that increases the resources of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies to pursue mortgage fraud and white-collar crimes. (Read More)
BOCH Acquires BWC Majority Stake
May 25, 2009REDDING, CA-Bank of Commerce Holdings here is expanding its relationship with Simonich Corp., San Ramon, Calif., by acquiring a majority stake in that company, which does business as BWC Mortgage Services. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: A Reasonable Request
May 25, 2009The fiscal 2010 budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development has more money in it for housing, both single-family and multifamily, and that's a good thing Congress should promptly approve and President Obama should promptly sign into law. (Read More)
FBRG Splits in 2
May 25, 2009ARLINGTON, VA-The two parts of what used to be called Friedman Billings Ramsey Group Inc. here are going for the full divorce. (Read More)
Past NPL Investor Just Subservicing
May 25, 2009JERSEY CITY, NJ-Franklin Credit Holdings here, which made a name for itself as an investor in troubled mortgages, has restructured and is operating mostly as a subservicer. (Read More)
Borrowers Hate ARMs
May 25, 2009MCLEAN, VA-Borrowers continued to show an overwhelming preference for long-term fixed-rate mortgages when they refinance even though one-year adjustable-rate mortgages have been generally one-eighth or two-eighths of a point lower, according to Freddie Mac estimates. (Read More)
Moribund H4H Program Will Get Revamped
May 25, 2009WASHINGTON-Congress has passed a bill that revamps the FHA Hope for Homeowners program and the new administration is hoping the industry will finally warm up to the refinancing program that requires investors to accept a principal reduction. (Read More)
Unemployment Fuels Home Price Drop
May 25, 2009DENVER-Data show that declining house prices are directly affected by rising unemployment. (Read More)
NPL Investor Hit with Cease-and-Desist
May 25, 2009IRVINE, CA-Kondaur Capital Corp. here - an investor in nonperforming loans - has been hit with a final cease-and-desist order by the state of Georgia for engaging in mortgage broker/lending activities without a license or without first obtaining an exemption. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: New Tools for Handling Risk
May 25, 2009Mr. Geithner's recent remarks before the Congressional Oversight Panel are presented as our Open Forum. (Second of two parts.) This financial crisis has shown that the largest financial institutions can pose special risks to the financial system as a whole. In addition to regulating these institutions differently we must give the federal government new tools for dealing with situations where their solvency is called into question. Treasury has proposed legislation for a resolution authority that would grant additional tools to avoid the disorderly liquidation of systemically significant financial institutions that fall outside of the existing resolution regime for banks under the FDIC. (Read More)
Short Sales Made Viable
May 25, 2009WASHINGTON-The Treasury Department has expanded its loan modification program by standardizing procedures for short sales and providing incentives for servicers, investors and homeowners to use this last alternative to foreclosure. (Read More)
CMBS: Performance Woes Climbing, Maturity Risk Fading?
May 25, 2009Much concern has been raised about maturity defaults in the commercial mortgage-backed securities sector, but a report from Fitch last week suggests that this risk may be decreasing while performance risk is rising. (Read More)
Wells: 24% of Homeowners with No Savings
May 25, 2009SAN FRANCISCO-Roughly one-quarter of homeowners have no savings to cover their living expenses should they lose their jobs, according to new survey results released by Wells Fargo & Co., the nation's second-largest residential servicer. (Read More)
An eBay for Troubled Loans?
May 25, 2009So many troubled mortgages to sell and so little time. If only the industry had an eBay-like auction platform where they could put whole loans out for bid and sell them to anyone, even novice mom-and-pop investors that might be comfortable investing in a first (or even second) lien at the right price. (Read More)
Lender in NYCloses Doors?
May 25, 2009NEW YORK-Precision Financial, Syosset, N.Y., a mortgage banking/brokerage firm, has closed its doors, according to industry officials. (Read More)
High HSA Redefaults
May 25, 2009WASHINGTON-A loss mitigation approach that GSE Fannie Mae pioneered turned out to have an extremely high redefault rate and now the company is scaling it back. (Read More)
Problems Predicted in Commercial Nonperforming Loans
May 25, 2009CHICAGO-As time passes and more stress occurs in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market, there will be more activity surrounding nonperforming loans in this area, which will push buyers and sellers to get involved with these loans, according to Michael Newman, president and CEO of Golub & Co. (Read More)
Buying Nonperforming Loans: Maximizing Value
May 25, 2009Alot of new players are coming into the nonperforming loan industry on the purchasing side. Industry insiders say there is also moremoney that's interested but still sitting on the sidelines. As buyers move into ownership positions with a lot of these loans that are causing the market's current problems, they will be motivated to try new solutions. As always, their incentives will be all about maximizing the value of each nonperforming loan. (Read More)
'Turn the Distressed Asset Challenge into Opportunity'
May 25, 2009STAMFORD, CT-Those prepared to face a challenge should find it a good time to buy distressed loans. (Read More)
Wingspan Expects to See First-Lien Loans
May 25, 2009CARROLLTON, TX-Steve Horne, president and founder of Wingspan Portfolio Advisors here, sees the nonperforming loan purchasing business as the key to resolving the huge inventory of nonperforming loans. (Read More)
Loan Modification Disbursement Tally
May 25, 2009Name of Servicer City State Loan Mod Money Chase Home Finance Iselin NJ $3,552 Wells Fargo Bank Des Moines IA $2,873 CitiMortgage O'Fallon MO $2,071 Countrywide Home Loans/BoA Simi Valley CA $1,864 Bank of America (1) Simi Valley CA $799 Aurora Loan Services Littleton CO $798 Ocwen Financial West Palm Beach FL $659 GMAC Mortgage Inc. Fort Washington PA $633 Saxon Mortgage Services Inc. Irving TX $407 Select Portfolio Servicing Salt Lake City UT $376 Wilshire Credit Corp. Beaverton OR $366 Home Loan Services Pittsburgh PA $319 Carrington Mortgage Services Santa Ana CA $195 GreenTree Servicing St. Paul MN $156 Total 15,068 Notes: Represents loan modification money allocated to date. (1) BoA owns Countrywide. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
May 25, 2009Company 5/21/2009 5/14/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 7.47 7.95 -6% 5.85 30.00 27.69% 12.43 Bank of America (BAC) 11.27 11.28 -0% 2.53 39.50 345.45% 13.49 Bank of Hawaii (BOH) 36.30 38.39 -5% 25.33 70.00 43.31% 10.21 Dime Community (DCOM) 8.12 7.72 5% 6.46 20.00 25.70% 10.91 Doral Financial (DRL) 3.28 3.82 -14% 1.61 20.44 103.73% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV) 40.49 39.64 2% 27.75 54.67 45.91% 19.38 Fidelity National (FNF) 14.28 15.42 -7% 6.66 22.85 114.41% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM) 0.76 0.80 -4% 0.30 28.78 154.97% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE) 0.79 0.83 -4% 0.25 26.80 216.00% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) 11.53 12.56 -8% 7.46 20.97 54.56% 12.02 Kaufman & Broad (KBH) 14.98 15.89 -6% 6.90 25.43 117.10% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC) 12.99 12.07 8% 7.13 23.00 82.19% 10.80 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 2.12 1.77 20% 0.26 6.20 715.38% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 2.95 2.96 -0% 0.70 7.50 321.43% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Warehouse Commitments at 03/31/09
May 25, 2009$ Volume of Commitments % Organization Name Location 3/31/09 3/31/08 change Colonial Bank NAOrlando, FL $4,100 $5,900 -31% National City BankLouisville, KY $2,333 $2,203 6% ResCap (GMAC) (E)Minneapolis, MN $1,500 $2,000 -25% Flagstar BankJackson, MI $1,179 $1,320 -11% Horizon Bank NAMichigan City, IN $165 $246 -33% Totals: $9,277 $11,669 -20% Notes: Results may be incomplete because several warehouse lenders would not provide figures. Meanwhile, some firms have exited warehouse altogether. (E) Estimate. (Read More)
Flagstar Bank Wants to Pilot FHA E-Mortgages
May 25, 2009TROY, MI-Flagstar Bank here is among the mortgage industry participants working with FHA to help the government agency finalize its electronic mortgage specifications. Flagstar is eager to start selling FHA e-mortgages when FHA is ready to accept them. (Read More)
New Media to Educate Borrowers
May 25, 2009CHARLOTTE, NC-Lenders are seeing a lot of refinance activity. However, if borrowers were more educated about their options, the refinance activity could be more sustainable. Technology can help there. (Read More)
Warehouse Still Faltering
May 25, 2009WASHINGTON-Even though residential originations spiked 63% in the first quarter from the previous one, warehouse lending commitments to non-depository funders continued to suffer. (Read More)
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June 1, 2009
Fl REIT Suspends Preferred Dividends
June 1, 2009CLEARWATER, FL-Real estate investment trust American Land Lease Inc. will not pay a quarterly dividend on its 7.75% Series A preferred shares for May 2009. (Read More)
Developer Restructures Debt
June 1, 2009NEW YORK-Dominican Republic resort developer Cap Cana SA completed a debt restructuring of $250 million of bonds. The bond restructuring allowed the 30,000-acre property to avoid default and regain financial footing to focus on its ambitious build-out and sales effort for luxury homes and villas. Law firm Simpson Thacher here represented Cap Cana. (Read More)
Loan Sale Advisor Accepting Bids
June 1, 2009NEW YORK-Mission Capital Advisors LLC is presently accepting bids for a commercial real estate mortgage loan and real estate-owned portfolio with an outstanding balance of $441 million. (Read More)
FDIC: Bank Originations Increase 72% in The First Quarter
June 1, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported a surge in single-family originations by banks in the first quarter as defaults and charge-offs on existing one-to-fours continue to mount. (Read More)
Feds to ParticipateIn BankUnited Loss
June 1, 2009WASHINGTON-A group of private equity investors led by former North Fork Bank chief John Kanas bought ailing payment-option ARM investor BankUnited of Florida in a federally assisted transaction where the government could share in losses on up to 84% of its assets. (Read More)
HUD Guidance Coming on Tax Credit
June 1, 2009WASHINGTON-The Department of Housing and Urban Development soon will issue guidance enabling FHA-approved lenders to provide short-term "bridge loans" to borrowers who are eligible for a one-time $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Follow the Leaders
June 1, 2009We reported a couple of weeks ago about our new market outreach on Twitter. And once we got there (we're at twitter.com/mortgagenewz), we discovered that thousands of companies and individuals in the mortgage business were already there. All mortgage firms should be checking out this unlikely but real new opportunity. (Read More)
FDIC's 'Legacy' Loan Sale Effort Is Delayed
June 1, 2009WASHINGTON-An Obama administration initiative to sell troubled bank mortgages to investors with the help of government financing is running into headwinds, according to FDIC chairman Sheila Bair. (Read More)
Grapevine: Making the Transition from Wholesale to Retail
June 1, 2009Mykidsdad: How many brokers are considering going to retail? I am getting calls to go to retail from a couple of the big boys. Everyone (except me I guess) sees the train wreck ahead for brokers. Am I nearsighted about this? One thing that really attracts me to the Wells and others of the retail world is their apparent ability to close loans quicker than my current wholesalers. (I have purchases with a local wholesaler who told me they are so backed up with refis that it will be weeks before they can look at my purchases.) What doesn't attract me is the commission structure but that's another story. I want to have a job when this is all over. Just looking for other Viners thoughts. (Read More)
Price Declines Slow in Hardest Hit States
June 1, 2009SANTA ANA, CA-National housing prices fell 11.5% as of March compared to a year ago, a slight improvement from an 11.7% annual decline as of February, according to First American CoreLogic and its LoanPerformance Home Price Index. (Read More)
Proxy Battle for PHH Heats Up
June 1, 2009Hedge fund Pennant Capital Management has ratcheted-up its proxy battle for seats on the board of mortgage banker PHH Corp., with two candidates it hopes will unseat the lender/servicer's chairman and long time CEO. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Housing Remains Under Repair
June 1, 2009Excerpts of Ms. Bair's remarks before The National Association Of Realtors Midyear Legislative meeting In Washington are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
June 1, 2009CALIFORNIA Los Angeles-The international law firm Greenberg Traurig added two real estate fund attorneys, Sanford C. Presant and Louis Vitali, as shareholders. (Read More)
Treasury Rate Spike Threatens to Derail Mortgage Recovery
June 1, 2009If the dramatic spike in long-term Treasury yields seen last week leads to continuing upward pressure on long-term mortgage rates it could set back federal efforts to keep housing finance rates relatively low as well as the industry's refinance boom, some researchers were warning at press time. (Read More)
Europe Ready For MBS Regs
June 1, 2009LONDON-European officials have drafted some proposals that could set additional regulation on securitized products, including residential mortgage-backed securities and commercial MBS. (Read More)
UK Mortgage Rebound Stalls in April
June 1, 2009LONDON-A year-to-year drop in gross mortgage lending estimates for April is clouding forecasts for a rebound in the United Kingdom residential real estate market. (Read More)
Foreclosures Increase 27%
June 1, 2009WASHINGTON-Residential foreclosure starts jumped 27% in the first quarter to 1.33% of all outstanding residential loans as state moratoriums expired and it became clear that certain at-risk homeowners cannot qualify for government-mandated loan modification programs. (Read More)
Mods, Redefaults Rise
June 1, 2009NEW YORK-A report shows the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification program is invigorating servicing shops despite some skepticism and continuing high redefaults. (Read More)
Workouts Soar At Genworth
June 1, 2009RALEIGH, NC-Over the 12-month period ending March 31, mortgage insurer Genworth Financial here and its servicing partners completed over 15,000 workouts and saved more than $2 billion of mortgages from foreclosure, according to the company's latest Foreclosure Prevention Scorecard, which tracks quarterly progress of the company's Homeowner Assistance program. (Read More)
EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT: EDWARD HJERPE III
June 1, 2009The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston said that Mr. Hjerpe has been appointed president and chief executive officer. A 20-year veteran of the banking industry, Mr. Hjerpe is expected to commence employment at the bank on or before June 30. (Read More)
IPO Hoping to Tap $1T Market
June 1, 2009In January 2008 former Countrywide Financial president Stanford Kurland formed PennyMac to bottom-feed on troubled mortgages. Now he hopes to take a REIT affiliate of the company public by selling $750 million worth of stock to the public through an IPO. Not bad for a business that is barely 18 months old and has only one significant deal under its belt, a $558 million pool of troubled loans from the FDIC. (Read More)
Migration for MISMO
June 1, 2009RESTON, VA-The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization realized the need for greater transparency into the mortgage process and greater security around the data inside the transaction itself even before the mortgage meltdown, but it is now ready to respond with Version Three of the standard. (Read More)
$200 Million Saves Colonial
June 1, 2009MONTGOMERY, AL-Mortgage banker Taylor, Bean & Whitaker is supplying two-thirds of the $300 million investment in Colonial Bancgroup here, the nation's largest warehouse lender to non-depositories. (Read More)
Freddie Launches MF Securities
June 1, 2009WASHINGTON-Freddie Mac is launching a multifamily securitization program and marketing its first structured mortgage pool as part of any effort to increase liquidity for the apartment sector. (Read More)
GNMA Servicers at 3/31/09
June 1, 2009GNMA Serv. GNMA Serv. % Rank GNMA Issuer Location 3/31/09 3/31/08 change 1 Wells Fargo Bank NADes Moines, IA $179,928 $134,695 34% 2 Countrywide/Bank of America (1)Pasadena, CA $106,706 $61,380 74% 3 JPMorgan ChaseColumbus, OH $62,470 $28,056 123% 4 CitiMortgage Inc.St. Louis, MO $54,358 $43,140 26% 5 Bank of America NACharlotte, NC $26,299 $5,425 385% 6 Taylor, Bean & WhitakerOcala, FL $22,439 $10,719 109% 7 U.S. Bank NABloomington, MN $20,969 $14,902 41% 8 National City Mortgage Co.Dayton, OH $19,521 $16,996 15% 9 GMAC Mortgage Corp.Horsham, PA $19,465 $17,769 10% 10 Chase Home Finance Inc.Edison, NJ $17,698 $20,997 -16% 11 Midfirst BankOklahoma City, OK $17,386 $6,908 152% 12 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.Richmond, VA $13,932 $8,536 63% 13 Flagstar BankTroy, MI $10,833 $3,636 198% 14 PHH Mortgage Corp.Mount Laurel, NJ $7,312 $4,751 54% 15 EverBankJacksonville, FL $7,090 $2,124 234% 16 Capmark Finance (GMAC Commercial)Horsham, PA $7,043 $7,046 0% 17 Wells Fargo MulifamilyMcLean, VA $4,563 $4,533 1% 18 Branch Banking & TrustGreenville, SC $4,468 $1,583 182% 19 MetLife Home LoansMemphis, TN $3,887 na na 20 Midland Loan Services LPKansas City, MO $3,788 $2,574 47% Top 20 Totals: $610,155 $395,769 54% Top 50 Totals: $657,725 $446,352 47% Notes: Some firms ranked here are multifamily servicers. (1) HUD continues to rank Countrywide as a separate legal entity even though Bank of America bought CFC on July 1, 2008. (Read More)
Helping Lenders Achieve Recovery
June 1, 2009MAITLAND, FL-As the default rate for single-family mortgages and construction loans continues to rise, national construction loan management companies are reaching out to help lenders maximize their recovery rates. (Read More)
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June 8, 2009
Most U.S. Metro Areas 'Still Unaffordable Despite Price Drops'
June 8, 2009WASHINGTON-A study shows despite widespread home price declines homeownership remains unaffordable in most metropolitan areas where even jobs created through the stimulus plan are not expected to ease the crisis. (Read More)
AmREIT Merges With REITPlus
June 8, 2009HOUSTON-The shareholders for AmREIT, a real estate investment trust here, approved the relocation of AmREIT from Texas to Maryland, which was accomplished in late May. (Read More)
Capmark Financial Completes $1.5 Billion Term Loan Facility
June 8, 2009HORSHAM, PA-Capmark Financial Group Inc. has entered into a new $1.5 billion term loan facility and entered into amendments to its existing senior credit facility and bridge loan agreement. Proceeds from the facility, along with $75 million in cash, were used to refi a portion of the outstanding loans under the existing credit agreements. (Read More)
Maturing Debt Refi Risk Now Top Concern for CRE Sponsors
June 8, 2009NEW YORK-Mortgage financing and the ability of fund sponsors to refinance maturing debt on commercial properties in the next 12 to 18 months is the single most important concern in today's market, according to results of a survey of more than 40 major funds released by Ernst & Young LLP. (Read More)
Cugno GettingBack Into B/C
June 8, 2009SAN PEDRO, CA-After being on the sidelines as a lender for the past few years and instead focusing on industry training and education, Peter Samuel Cugno is on the verge of starting a new company to originate nonprime loans through the wholesale channel. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: A Small Gain
June 8, 2009Last year wasn't a great one for mortgages or real estate. In fact it was one of the worst years in recent memory. But there was one niche of the business where both real estate values and mortgages increased. (Read More)
FDIC Shifts 'Legacy' Program Focus
June 8, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it is refocusing its Legacy Loan Program to concentrate on assets held in receivership by the agency, which currently total about $18.7 billion. (Read More)
Sales May Trend Upward
June 8, 2009WASHINGTON-Home sales appear to have stabilized and could trend upward over the summer but don't look for a turnaround in prices and mortgage defaults anytime soon. (Read More)
H&R Block NPL Portfolio Doesn't Sell As Bids Are Low
June 8, 2009WASHINGTON-A $240 million portfolio of nonperforming loans recently offered for auction by H&R Block failed to sell, according to participants with knowledge of the deal. (Read More)
Delinquencies, Foreclosures Up in April
June 8, 2009JACKSONVILLE, FL-Total mortgage delinquencies in April rose slightly to 8.1%, with a year-over-year increase of 43%, and the nation's foreclosure rate for the month was 2.7%, representing a year-over-year increase of 90.5%, according to Lender Processing Services here. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: The Science of Insolvency
June 8, 2009Mr. Pollock's recent statement before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
June 8, 2009CALIFORNIA Irvine-Financial Asset Services Inc. has hired Jeffrey Flory as business development manager in its Irvine headquarters. (Read More)
PMI CCC RatingGets Boost to B-
June 8, 2009WALNUT CREEK, CA-Standard & Poor's has raised its counterparty credit rating on PMI Group Inc. here from CCC to B- in the wake of the mortgage insurer's renegotiated credit agreement which reduces the potential for covenant default. (Read More)
RBC Loss Is Due To Builder Loans
June 8, 2009NEW YORK-A hefty impairment charge on its U.S. operations drove Royal Bank of Canada to its first quarterly loss in 16 years. (Read More)
TRO Is Removed in South Carolina
June 8, 2009COLUMBIA, SC-A temporary restraining order involving loans subject to modification under the Home Affordable Modification program has been removed by Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal of the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Instead of shutting down foreclosure sales in the state the move could now delay the process of a foreclosure action in some cases. (Read More)
Non-Agency RMBS in TALF Are a Stretch, but Possible
June 8, 2009Nonagency residential mortgage-backed securities still might be included in the Term Asset-Backed Securities Lending Facility program but it would be "particularly difficult" in the personal opinion of one Federal Reserve official. (Read More)
Tax Credit Advances Can't Be Used for FHA Downpayments
June 8, 2009WASHINGTON-Federal Housing Administration-approved lenders can immediately provide short-term loans to first-time borrowers eligible for the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit. (Read More)
Thrift Volumes Jump by 70%
June 8, 2009WASHINGTON-Originations of one-to-four family loans by thrifts jumped nearly 70% in the first quarter as refinancing comprised 55% of loan production, compared to 42% in the previous quarter. (Read More)
New CEO at UG May Mean Restructuring Is in Store
June 8, 2009GREENSBORO, NC-Are there significant changes afoot at mortgage insurer United Guaranty Corp. here? While parent company American International Group did not address the question, it has replaced a mortgage insurance veteran at the top of the company with a person whose background seems to be more on the restructuring side. (Read More)
GSE Mods Target Owner Payments
June 8, 2009WASHINGTON-Loan modifications completed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the first quarter are "significantly deeper" than a year ago in terms of reducing the borrower's payments, according to their regulator. (Read More)
GNMA Close on Warehouse?
June 8, 2009WASHINGTON-The mortgage industry is making headway on a proposal to have the Government National Mortgage Association aid the warehouse lending sector. (Read More)
Making a Case On Mozilo
June 8, 2009During Angelo Mozilo's final days as Countrywide CEO last summer, an employee of the company walked down the hall to his executive suite to say goodbye. According to one official familiar with the story, the employee peered through the office door and found Mr. Mozilo sobbing at his desk, his head buried in his arms. (Read More)
Originations Soar by 68%
June 8, 2009WASHINGTON-Thanks to record low mortgage rates, residential funders originated $462 billion in product during the first quarter, a 68% jump from the dismal fourth quarter, according to exclusive survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News. (Read More)
Rates Jump, Refis Drop
June 8, 2009NEW YORK-A recent spike in home mortgage rates threatens to quell the current refinancing boom that helped lift lender profits last quarter. (Read More)
Eyeing Post-HVCC Trends
June 8, 2009In the first month of operating under the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, the percentage of lenders who were ordering appraisals through an appraisal management company vs. the number who are dealing directly with appraisers was almost even, said a top executive at an appraisal process management company. (Read More)
Guilty Pleas Linked to False Valuations
June 8, 2009INDIANAPOLIS-Seven Indiana residents charged in U.S. District Court here with participating in a $20 million mortgage fraud scheme obtaining loans for properties at falsely inflated prices have agreed to plead guilty. (Read More)
Changing The Context
June 8, 2009Many mortgage originators feel they are standing outside the ropes as the Home Valuation Code of Conduct has come to rule appraisals made for conforming mortgage loans. (Read More)
Tech, Algorithms Forecast How Properties Sell
June 8, 2009A new company is using a combination of algorithms and technology not only to predict the value of the properties, but also what the properties will eventually sell for on the open market. (Read More)
Stressing a Need to Improve Validations of Valuations on REO Properties
June 8, 2009SAN DIEGO-There is a strong need in the mortgage industry to validate valuations on REO properties so lenders can have confidence that the valuation they have is legitimate and accurate, according to John Walsh, president of MDA DataQuick here. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
June 8, 2009Company 6/4/2009 5/28/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF)8.12 7.36 10% 5.85 30.00 38.80% 13.02 Bank of America (BAC)11.74 11.14 5% 2.53 39.50 364.03% 13.16 Bank of Hawaii (BOH)37.79 36.55 3% 25.33 70.00 49.19% 10.27 Dime Community (DCOM)8.84 8.39 5% 6.46 20.00 36.84% 11.44 Doral Financial (DRL)3.37 3.75 -10% 1.61 19.50 109.32% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV)45.11 41.71 8% 27.75 54.67 62.56% 20.94 Fidelity National (FNF)13.21 12.90 2% 6.66 22.85 98.35% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM)0.72 0.71 1% 0.30 27.68 139.00% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE)0.75 0.77 -3% 0.25 25.29 199.60% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK)13.00 12.48 4% 7.46 20.97 74.26% 12.90 Kaufman & Broad (KBH)14.31 14.35 -0% 6.90 25.43 107.39% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC)12.59 12.30 2% 7.13 23.00 76.58% 10.21 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI)2.82 1.75 61% 0.26 6.03 984.62% n/a Radian Group (RDN)3.58 2.79 28% 0.70 7.50 411.43% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Top Residential Originators in 1Q 09
June 8, 2009Origination Volume % Market Rank Organization Name 1Q 09 1Q 08 Change Share 1 Wells Fargo & Co.$102,782 $68,384 50% 22.27% 2 Bank of America$89,256 $38,380 133% 19.34% 3 Chase$38,983 $54,299 -28% 8.45% 4 CitiMortgage Inc.$24,472 $40,878 -40% 5.30% 5 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.$13,578 $11,971 13% 2.94% 6 U.S. Bank Home Mortgage$13,431 $9,326 44% 2.91% 7 Residential Capital LLC (GMAC)$13,196 $20,899 -37% 2.86% 8 Provident Funding Associates$11,012 $4,806 129% 2.39% 9 MetLife Home Loans$10,341 na na 2.24% 10 Flagstar Bank FSB$9,495 $7,830 21% 2.06% Origination Volume % Market Mkt Shr Rank Organization Name Location 1Q 09 1Q 08 change Share % pt. +/- 11 PHH MortgageMount Laurel, NJ $8,896 $9,950 -11% 1.93% -0.72% 12 AmTrust BankCleveland, OH $8,333 $6,938 20% 1.81% -0.04% 13 Taylor, Bean & WhitakerOcala, FL $7,882 $8,937 -12% 1.71% -0.67% 14 Branch Banking & Trust Co.Wilson, NC $7,682 $5,172 49% 1.66% +0.29% 15 National City Mortgage (1)Miamisburg, OH $6,844 $7,393 -7% 1.48% -0.48% 16 Quicken Loans Inc.Livonia, MI $6,800 $4,190 62% 1.47% +0.36% 17 Fifth Third MortgageCincinnati, OH $4,924 $3,852 28% 1.07% +0.04% 18 Franklin American MortgageFranklin, TN $4,896 $4,311 14% 1.06% -0.09% 19 PNC Consumer Services (E) (1)Pittsburgh, PA $2,400 $2,440 -2% 0.52% -0.13% 20 HSBC Mortgage Corp. USADepew, NY $2,159 $3,655 -41% 0.47% -0.50% Top 20 Totals: $387,362 $313,612 24% 83.93% -1.69% Total of Top 100: $419,566 $341,911 23% 90.02% 0.28% Notes: Results may be incomplete because some lenders would not provide results. Market share based on one-to-four family loan production of $462.4 billion in 1Q 2009. Fundings represent first and second liens. (1) PNC and National City Mortgage are affiliates. (E) Estimate. (Read More)
Some Tech Vendors Rehiring Key Executives
June 8, 2009BETHESDA, MD-There are signs that the mortgage market is beginning to recover, if ever so slightly. As a result, technology vendors that may have made staff cuts last year are now looking to hire again, but these companies are doing so strategically with an emphasis on upper management and sales. (Read More)
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June 15, 2009
Commercial and Multifamily Delinquency Rates Still Rising
June 15, 2009WASHINGTON-The weakening economy and continued credit crunch led to increases in commercial/multifamily mortgage delinquencies during the first quarter of 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)
CRE Mortgages Fall 65% in '08
June 15, 2009WASHINGTON-Commercial and multifamily mortgage origination volumes decreased 65% in 2008, with mortgage bankers closing $181.4 billion in commercial and multifamily loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's "2008 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance: Annual Origination Volume Summation." (Read More)
Best Gives Negative Outlooks to Largest Title Insurers
June 15, 2009OLDWICK, NJ-Insurer ratings agency A.M. Best here has issued negative outlooks to the nation's two largest title insurance underwriting conglomerates, cutting the ratings on Fidelity National Financial Inc., but affirming The First American Corp. Inc. (Read More)
Index Reveals Micro-Market Power
June 15, 2009TRUCKEE, CA-Recent data show that despite the ongoing overall depreciation trend there are signs of improvement at the micro-market level. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: The State of Foreclosures
June 15, 2009Certain states have borne the brunt of the foreclosure pandemic to date. California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, all of these have been badly hurt. But now, it seems, more states are hurting. (Read More)
FICO and EquifaxRoll Out Score
June 15, 2009MINNEAPOLIS-As expected, FICO here and Equifax, Atlanta, have rolled out the branded version of the FICO 08 score for that repository. This version is known as Beacon 09 and the companies say it has advantages over other versions of Beacon, particularly among applicants opening new accounts, consumers with prior derogatory information, and people who are comparatively new to credit. (Read More)
Obama Reaches Out to Minorities
June 15, 2009WASHINGTON-The Obama administration wants to ensure its loan modification program known as "Making Home Affordable" reaches minority communities that were targeted by subprime lenders. (Read More)
FHA Suspends Three Lenders
June 15, 2009WASHINGTON-The Department of Housing and Urban Development has suspended three lenders from originating Federal Housing Administration single-family loans while the agency completes investigations of the companies. (Read More)
Insurance Fund for FHLBs Is on the Table
June 15, 2009WASHINGTON-As the Federal Home Loan Banks continue to struggle with charges on their mortgage holdings, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is considering the creation of an insurance fund that could absorb losses at a troubled Home Loan bank. (Read More)
Moratoriums Cutting the Foreclosure Rate
June 15, 2009NEW YORK-Due to a decline in home prices and other factors, Fitch Ratings is seeing a continued rise in defaults as defined by monthly rolls of 90-plus, foreclosure or REO on a national basis. There has been a moderating influence from foreclosure moratoriums, according to Roelof Slump, a managing director of RMBS at Fitch, who said many loans becoming 90 days delinquent are not quickly progressing through to foreclosure. (Read More)
MBA's Chief Lobbyist Departs for Hill Job
June 15, 2009WASHINGTON-Francis Creighton, a top lobbyist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, is departing the trade group to take a job on Capitol Hill. (Read More)
MDIA DeadlineComing Soon
June 15, 2009WASHINGTON-Mortgage firms are scrambling to implement an overlooked Truth in Lending Act rule going into effect July 30. (Read More)
Helping Consumers to Identify Good Loans, Good Lenders
June 15, 2009WASHINGTON-A group of nonprofits isn't waiting for Congress to repair the mortgage delivery system to make it more consumer-friendly. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Housing Recovery in Offing?
June 15, 2009Excerpts of Mr. Bernanke's remarks before the House Budget Committee recently are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
June 15, 2009CALIFORNIA Long Beach-HCP appointed Scott A. Anderson as senior vice president-chief accounting officer, effective July 1. (Read More)
Edge to Activists in PHH Proxy Battle
June 15, 2009NEW YORK-Activist shareholders appear to have won the proxy fight at the mortgage outsourcer PHH Corp. (Read More)
Foreclosure Total Still Over 300,000
June 15, 2009IRVINE, CA-May foreclosures marked the third straight month where the total number of properties with foreclosure filings exceeded 300,000, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac here. (Read More)
Prepayments Could Peak If Refinancing Boom's End Is Near
June 15, 2009Unless interest rates come down radically from their recent spike above 5% the refi boom may be near an end, and this means - among other things - securitized fixed-rate agency and government mortgage prepayments could peak this month. (Read More)
ECB to Purchase Mortgage Bonds
June 15, 2009FRANKFURT, Germany-The European Central Bank has released some details of its plan to purchase euro-denominated covered bonds, including those backed by mortgages. (Read More)
Germans Take Control of Hypo AG RE
June 15, 2009MUNICH, Germany-Shareholders in Germany's Hypo Real Estate AG have given the go-ahead to a capital increase that makes it possible for the German government to effectively take control of the troubled company. (Read More)
Most Expensive CRE Now Tokyo
June 15, 2009LOS ANGELES-Tokyo's Inner Central District, at about $184 per square foot, has become the world's most expensive market for commercial real estate in the office sector over the last 12 months, according to a report by CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. here. (Read More)
PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: JEFF LEMIEUX
June 15, 2009GMAC Financial Services named Mr. Lemieux, a hedge fund executive, senior vice president of fee-based servicing, including subservicing. Mr. Lemieux comes to GMAC's mortgage division, Residential Capital Corp., from Cerberus Capital where he oversaw the fund's investment in mortgage and consumer assets. (Cerberus owns part of GMAC.) At ResCap he replaces Tom Donatacci who left a few months ago to work for Clayton Holdings, a due diligence outsourcing firm. (Read More)
Colonial C&D May Hurt Deal
June 15, 2009NEW YORK-Fitch has downgraded its rating on Colonial BancGroup - the nation's largest warehouse provider to non-banks - saying a new federal cease-and-desist order against the Alabama bank may have a negative impact on a $300 million investment in the company. (Read More)
Dugan: Reverse Mortgages Risky
June 15, 2009WASHINGTON-Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan warned of the risks of reverse mortgages, which he compared to the dangers of subprime mortgages. (Read More)
Loan Mods: Check Licenses
June 15, 2009As every mortgage banker knows, it takes a license to lend in a state, any state. But what if your firm only services loans? Does it need a license? And what if you happen to manage one of the dozens of new vulture funds popping up to buy delinquent and subperforming mortgages - if you purchase a loan and then modify it, does that count as an origination and if it does, do you need a license? (Read More)
1Q New MI Policies Fall By 66% as FHA, VA Gain
June 15, 2009WASHINGTON-New mortgage insurance policies written by the nation's seven MI firms fell by 66% in the first quarter to just $25.4 billion, according to figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report. (Read More)
AG Takes OnRescue Firms
June 15, 2009NEW YORK-Following in the footsteps of the California attorney general's office, the Georgia Department of Banking and the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of Florida, New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo is going after foreclosure rescue companies that allegedly target vulnerable homeowners. (Read More)
Using Business Rules to Replicate Manual Processes
June 15, 2009As lenders look to outsourcing, one of the main things they fear is that the process of the outsourcer will become their new process, and as a result, it may not be as secure. First American Outsourcing and Technology Solutions, Santa Ana, Calif., has combined business rules technology and personal attention to replicate the lender's existing processes. (Read More)
Domestic Vs. Foreign Outsourcing
June 15, 2009CARROLLTON, TX-In discussing the pros and cons of domestic outsourcing vs. foreign outsourcing, the question of data security and protection is becoming more and more important. (Read More)
LenderLive Sees Boost in Contract Underwriting Business
June 15, 2009LenderLive Network Inc. will provide contract underwriting outsource services to companies that had received these services from PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. PMI has recommended LenderLive as a quality provider of contract underwriting services to many customers in need of these solutions. (Read More)
Unraveling Workload
June 15, 2009All around, lenders and servicers are taking on more work. On the servicing side, residential foreclosure starts jumped by 27% in the first quarter of this year to come in at 1.33% of all outstanding loans. This means servicers will be very, very busy trying to get that number down. (Read More)
Leaning on Vendors for Compliance
June 15, 2009LANSDALE, PA-With a slew of new regulation hitting the mortgage market, lenders are increasingly turning to vendors. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
June 15, 2009Company 6/11/2009 6/4/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 7.94 8.07 -2% 5.85 30.00 35.73% 12.54 Bank of America (BAC) 12.99 11.72 11% 2.53 39.50 413.44% 14.06 Bank of Hawaii (BOH) 39.96 37.68 6% 25.33 70.00 57.76% 10.92 Dime Community (DCOM) 8.58 8.85 -3% 6.46 20.00 32.82% 11.40 Doral Financial (DRL) 2.99 3.36 -11% 1.61 19.50 85.71% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV) 46.88 45.08 4% 27.75 54.67 68.94% 21.66 Fidelity National (FNF) 13.12 13.21 -1% 6.66 22.85 97.00% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM) 0.66 0.72 -8% 0.30 25.99 120.00% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE) 0.70 0.75 -6% 0.25 24.23 180.52% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) 13.13 12.93 2% 7.46 20.97 76.01% 13.24 Kaufman & Broad (KBH) 14.49 14.27 2% 6.90 25.43 110.00% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC) 12.14 12.60 -4% 7.13 23.00 70.27% 9.70 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 2.54 2.81 -10% 0.26 5.43 876.92% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 3.31 3.55 -7% 0.70 7.50 372.86% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Top Retail Lenders in 1Q 09
June 15, 2009Retail Orig Volume % Market Mkt Shr Rank Organization Name 1Q 09 1Q 08 Change Share % pt. +/- 1 Wells Fargo & Co.$54,012 $41,521 30% 24.66% +2.25% 2 Bank of America$46,398 $38,316 21% 21.18% +0.50% 3 Chase$14,829 $18,848 -21% 6.77% -3.40% 4 National City Mortgage (1)$6,844 $6,821 0% 3.12% -0.56% 5 Quicken Loans Inc.$6,800 $4,190 62% 3.10% +0.84% 6 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.$6,516 $5,597 16% 2.97% -0.05% 7 CitiMortgage Inc.$5,715 $14,090 -59% 2.61% -4.99% 8 MetLife Home Loans$5,020 na na 2.29% na 9 Branch Banking & Trust Co.$4,379 $3,086 42% 2.00% +0.33% 10 U.S. Bank Home Mortgage$4,151 $1,932 115% 1.89% +0.85% 11 Fifth Third MortgageCincinnati, OH $2,924 $2,311 27% 1.33% +0.09% 12 Merrill Lynch Credit Corp.Jacksonville, FL $2,545 na na 1.16% na 13 PNC Consumer Services (E)Pittsburgh, PA $2,400 $2,440 -2% 1.10% -0.22% 14 Regions Mortgage Inc.Montgomery, AL $2,121 $1,267 67% 0.97% +0.28% 15 Navy FCUMerrifield, VA $2,078 $1,938 7% 0.95% -0.10% 16 HSBC Mortgage Corp. USADepew, NY $1,781 $1,226 45% 0.81% +0.15% 17 Third Federal Savings & LoanCleveland, OH $1,740 na na 0.79% na 18 Prime Lending/Plains CapitalDallas, TX $1,285 $472 172% 0.59% +0.33% 19 Huntington MortgageColumbus, OH $1,199 $707 69% 0.55% +0.17% 20 Flagstar Bank FSBTroy, MI $1,160 $741 57% 0.53% +0.13% Top 20 Totals: $173,897 $145,503 20% 79.38% -3.39% Submitted Totals: $190,489 $161,129 18% 86.53% -3.98% Notes: Results may be incomplete because some firms would not disclose production breakdowns. (E) Estimate. (1) National City Mortgage is owned by PNC. The two are listed seperately in this ranking. (Read More)
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June 22, 2009
Large Defaults Hurt May CMBS
June 22, 2009NEW YORK-Large loan defaults coupled with declining performance on multifamily and retail properties resulted in a 29 basis point climb to 2.1% for U.S. CMBS delinquencies in May, according to the latest Loan Delinquency Index from Fitch Ratings here. This marks the highest percentage of delinquencies since Fitch began its index in 2001. (Read More)
MF Operator, RE Investment Firm Partner
June 22, 2009REDWOOD CITY, CA-Multifamily operator JB Matteson here has formed a strategic alliance with Los Angeles-based real estate investment company Griffin Capital Corp. whereby Griffin Capital has engaged JB Matteson for multifamily investments. (Read More)
Maguire Negotiates Property With Servicer
June 22, 2009LOS ANGELES-Maguire Properties, a real estate investment trust here, and its joint venture partner, Macquarie Office Trust, have entered into negotiations with the special servicer under the CMBS financing covering the Quintana campus in Irvine, Calif., in anticipation of a possible payment default. (Read More)
Port Authority Issuing $750M for WTC Site
June 22, 2009NEW YORK-The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey went into the market last week with $750 million of taxable bonds to finance construction at the World Trade Center site as uncertainty lingers over the project's future. (Read More)
ALPS May Buy A Title Insurer
June 22, 2009MISSOULA, MT-ALPS Corp. here, whose main operating subsidiary provides professional liability insurance to attorneys, will purchase Southern Title Insurance Corp., a regional title insurance underwriter headquartered in Richmond, Va. ALPS will pay $2.25 million in cash for the company, according to A.M. Best Co., Oldwick, N.J. (Read More)
Agreement with Obama but Doubt Over Retention of Risk
June 22, 2009NEW YORK-Mortgage market players and other securitization market participants say they largely agree with the Obama administration plan's aims but have some concerns about the way in which it plans to realign incentives and its global context. (Read More)
MF the Next Large Wave of Crisis?
June 22, 2009DENVER-The combination of lower rental rates and rising vacancies is causing decreases in value, resulting in significant losses for holders of multifamily debt and equity. (Read More)
Downey Report Criticizes OTS Oversight
June 22, 2009NEW YORK-A watchdog said the Office of Thrift Supervision could have taken a harder look at Downey Savings and Loan's concentration of risky loans before its November failure. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Back to Basics
June 22, 2009The mortgage industry should swallow what will appear to be a bitter pill and go along with re-regulation of the financial services industry. Why? Because it should prevent another disaster of the kind that is now in its third year of devastation to the business. (Read More)
Vendors Work Overtime to Automate FHA
June 22, 2009JACKSONVILLE, FL-As Federal Housing Administration volume now amounts to over 30% of loans done at any given lender, technology vendors are working hard to automate the FHA process to help their clients do more and more FHA volume. (Read More)
MortgageGrapevine.com: How to Adapt to Market Conditions
June 22, 2009Hestia: HVCC, No YSP. How are you going to stay in the business? (I have) 14 years in the business, located in a small town. I am a single parent mother of two. I have moved into a rental house, have credit card debt up the wazuca, and a car payment, no retirement, no medical insurance. I am sharp as a knife. Just wondering as we sit here and post scenarios, how are you going to make it if there is no money on the table from a low HVCC appraisal? (Read More)
Builders Start to See The Light
June 22, 2009NEW YORK-While new home sales are still very weak, they are expected to begin a rebound in the second quarter of 2009. Fitch Ratings and the National Association of Homebuilders point out that sales are likely to pick up slowly as customers come back into the market and as new-home sales continue to compete against existing homes and foreclosed homes. (Read More)
Alt-A, Interest-Only Production Falls Off Dramatically in 1Q
June 22, 2009Even though residential loan production fell just 12% in the first quarter (compared to the same period a year ago), the origination of alt-A loans and interest-only loans plummeted, according to survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: The Present and Future of the GSEs
June 22, 2009Excerpts Of Mr. Lockhart's recent statement before the House Financial Services Committee are presented as our Open Forum. (First of two parts.) As you are well aware, FHFA continues to classify Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the enterprises) as "critical supervisory concerns." After many years of debate, substantial deterioration in housing and financial markets and in the outlook and financial status of the enterprises in the second half of 2007 and in 2008 helped lead to the enactment of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 last July. The enhanced regulatory authorities provided by that legislation came too late to allow FHFA to prevent excessive leveraging and to address serious safety and soundness issues at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As there were significant risks that the enterprises would be unable to fulfill their missions, FHFA placed each enterprise into conservatorship last September. (Read More)
PEOPLE
June 22, 2009CALIFORNIA Irvine-Daniel P. Culler has joined REDC, a real estate auction firm, as chief operating officer to oversee the company's new commercial real estate division. (Read More)
Fannie Mae Rolls Back Condo Loan Fee
June 22, 2009Fannie Mae is rolling back a fee for condominium loans that drew protests from the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders - but only in certain cases. (Read More)
Interest Rates Drop 21 BP
June 22, 2009MCLEAN, VA-Flagging refinance volumes are expected to get a slight boost from the first drop seen in the average weekly 30-year mortgage rate tracked by Freddie Mac since May 20. (Read More)
Repo Narrows
June 22, 2009NEW YORK-The Federal Reserve's purchases of mortgage-backed securities are affecting the supply-demand balance of MBS collateral in the repurchase markets, according to a Barclays Capital report. (Read More)
Reverse Lenders Don't Like Pending Rules
June 22, 2009NEW YORK-Reverse mortgage lenders say that with stricter eligibility requirements looming, they are bracing for a potential pullback in the industry. Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan indicated that with home prices falling, a tougher approach may be needed to slow the growth of such loans. (Read More)
Bank Economists See End to Slump
June 22, 2009WASHINGTON-A group of economists who work for major U.S. banks predicted last Tuesday that the economic recession would end in the third quarter. (Read More)
FHA Nomination Appears to Be in Limbo Now
June 22, 2009WASHINGTON-The nomination of David Stevens to be the new Federal Housing Administration commissioner appears to be in limbo while HUD investigates a RESPA complaint filed against his previous employer. (Read More)
Prepayment Model Offers Alternative to Historical Analysis of MBS
June 22, 2009Among problems for investors in the recent mortgage crisis is the fact many relied on historically based models to predict how residential real estate assets would perform and those assets didn't perform the way they have in the past. (Read More)
Senate Bill Asks $15,000 Tax Credit for All Buyers
June 22, 2009WASHINGTON-All homebuyers - not just new ones - would be entitled to a $15,000 federal tax credit and no qualification caps would be placed on their income, under recently introduced legislation. (Read More)
Foreign Buyers Seek US Assets
June 22, 2009WASHINGTON-A majority of respondents to the first-ever midyear version of an annual survey of foreign investors in real estate indicated they plan to invest some debt or equity in U.S. real estate before 2009 ends, even though many have not made any such investments so far. (Read More)
HVCC Boosts Valuation Services' U.S. Appeal
June 22, 2009MARKHAM, Ontario-Thanks in part to the implementation of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, Solidifi here said it has found certain property valuation and collateral risk management services that fared well in Canada have increased appeal for U.S. lenders, and it plans to continue the cross-border transfer of ideas going forward. (Read More)
Obama Plan Comes with Fees
June 22, 2009The last thing in the world mortgage bankers want right now is to pay millions of dollars in assessments to fund a new regulatory agency that will tell them to watch their "P's and Q's" when it comes to originating loans. Then again, it can be argued that if lenders - and their investment bankers on Wall Street - had been carefully underwriting nontraditional loans during the boom of 2003 to 2007 the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency wouldn't be on the birthing table. (Read More)
First-Time, Minority Buyers Still Facing An Uphill Battle
June 22, 2009NEW YORK-Despite some signs of improvement, the worst housing downturn in generations continues, hitting hard first-time home buyers and low-income minority households, according to the annual Harvard report. (Read More)
MERS Takes On Warehouse
June 22, 2009RESTON, VA-It has been said that the biggest crisis the mortgage industry faces is a lack of warehouse lines. Those lines are the lifeblood of small and midtier lenders. As a result, the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems has updated its eRegistry to allow warehouse lenders to operate in a more secure and electronic world, which will hopefully make both existing and new warehouse players more confident in doing more mortgage business. (Read More)
More Skin in the Game
June 22, 2009WASHINGTON-Homeowners and mortgage investors would not be the only ones with "skin in the game" if housing secretary Shaun Donovan's plan for the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency comes to pass. (Read More)
NPL Auctions Heating Up
June 22, 2009WASHINGTON-Despite some media reports that the auction market for nonperforming (and subperforming) loans is dead in the water, there appears to be a handful of deals percolating that are quietly being circulated among a select group of potential buyers. (Read More)
Residential Interest-Only Lenders
June 22, 2009IO Funded % Market Rank Organization Name Location 1Q 2009 1Q 2008 Change Share 1 Wells Fargo & Co.San Francisco, CA $2,393 $7,834 -69% 27.25% 2 PHH Mortgage (E)Mount Laurel, NJ $2,000 $2,472 -19% 22.78% 3 Union Bank of CaliforniaSan Diego, CA $703 na na 8.00% 4 Flagstar Bank FSBTroy, MI $564 $450 25% 6.42% 5 CitiMortgage Inc.O'Fallon, MO $316 $6,350 -95% 3.60% 6 U.S. Bank Home MortgageBloomington, MN $162 $554 -71% 1.85% 7 HSBC Mortgage Corp. USADepew, NY $161 $269 -40% 1.83% 8 Astoria FS & LALake Success, NY $120 $317 -62% 1.37% 9 National City MortgageMiamisburg, OH $81 $908 -91% 0.92% 10 Fifth Third MortgageCincinnati, OH $72 $422 -83% 0.82% 11 Compass BankBirmingham, AL $43 na na 0.49% 12 Taylor, Bean & WhitakerOcala, FL $34 $300 -89% 0.39% 13 Branch Banking & Trust Co.Wilson, NC $32 $139 -77% 0.36% 14 Navy FCUMerrifield, VA $20 $67 -70% 0.23% 15 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.Richmond, VA $17 $1,163 -99% 0.19% Top 15 Totals: $6,718 $21,245 -68% 76.51% Totals Submitted: $6,754 $24,041 -72% 76.92% Notes: Results may be incomplete because some firms did not provide IO production volumes. Market share cut based on estimated 1Q 2009 production of $8.8 billion. NMN/QDR assumes the top firms control 70% of the market. (E) Estimate. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
June 22, 2009Company 6/18/2009 6/11/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 7.89 7.95 -1% 5.85 30.00 34.87% 13.23 Bank of America (BAC) 12.85 13.02 -1% 2.53 39.50 407.91% 14.44 Bank of Hawaii (BOH) 37.36 39.93 -6% 25.33 70.00 47.49% 10.64 Dime Community (DCOM) 8.43 8.60 -2% 6.46 20.00 30.50% 10.94 Doral Financial (DRL) 2.03 3.00 -32% 1.61 19.50 26.09% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV) 45.57 46.85 -3% 27.75 54.67 64.22% 21.64 Fidelity National (FNF) 12.44 13.14 -5% 6.66 22.85 86.79% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM) 0.65 0.67 -2% 0.30 25.27 117.63% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE) 0.71 0.71 -0% 0.25 23.78 183.96% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) 12.80 13.15 -3% 7.46 20.97 71.58% 13.13 Kaufman & Broad (KBH) 13.20 14.54 -9% 6.90 25.43 91.30% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC) 12.04 12.14 -1% 7.13 23.00 68.86% 9.83 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 2.01 2.56 -21% 0.26 5.43 673.08% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 2.64 3.31 -20% 0.70 7.50 277.14% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
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July 6, 2009
Grassroots Counseling Approach Pays Off
July 6, 2009ISELIN, NJ-A recent foreclosure prevention tour shows how large-scale grassroots collaboration events are one of the most effective loss mitigation tools for lenders. (Read More)
MF Mortgage Debt Unchanged
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding remained relatively unchanged in the first quarter, at $3.48 trillion, according to an analysis by the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)
Commercial RE Prices Fall by 8.6% in April, 26% for Year
July 6, 2009NEW YORK-Commercial real estate prices as measured by Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Indices decreased 8.6% in April, leaving the index at 25.3% below its level a year ago and 29.5% below the peak in prices measured in October 2007. According to Moody's, the large negative return for April partially reflects that deals closed during that month were negotiated at the end of 2008 and in the first quarter of 2009, when securities markets were plunging. (Read More)
PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: HARRY GARDNER
July 6, 2009Electronic process vendor SigniaDocs, Jacksonville, Fla., named Mr. Gardner the company's chief strategy officer. He previously served as vice president of industry technology at the Mortgage Bankers Association and as president of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization. (Read More)
Chase Pilot to Offer Jumbos Via its Correspondent Channel
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-JPMorgan Chase is starting a pilot program to offer jumbo loans through its correspondent channel again but this time it is limited to borrowers with Chase checking accounts. (Read More)
Court Opens the Door For Predatory Lawsuits
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court ruled that the Comptroller of the Currency went too far in trying to block the states from investigating possible discriminatory lending practices at national banks. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Staying the Course
July 6, 2009Recently a number of publications have exited the beleaguered originations side of the mortgage industry. But we're staying in it, and even adding to it. (Read More)
New First Am Division Working with Reverse Lender On Titles
July 6, 2009SANTA ANA, CA-First American Title Insurance Co. here has created a Trusted Reverse Transactions division, whose specialty is closing reverse mortgage loans. The company said there is a need in the marketplace for a national title and settlement solution for this product. Furthermore, there is the opportunity to work with reverse mortgage lenders and help them to meet their goals of closing more transactions. (Read More)
1st American Buys The Rest of FAC
July 6, 2009SANTA ANA, CA-First American Corp.'s proposed acquisition of the minority stake outstanding of First Advantage Corp. will simplify the legal and organizational structure of the two companies and aid in the proposed split of the former's financial services and information solutions businesses, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. (Read More)
HUD Urged to Up Monitoring
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The General Accountability Office is urging the Department of Housing and Urban Development to increase its monitoring of housing counselors who provide information about FHA reverse mortgages to senior citizens. (Read More)
Chase Names Roetelle Head of Warehouse
July 6, 2009NEW YORK-JPMorgan Chase has named Thanh Roetelle the head of warehouse lending for its bank division, putting him in charge of managing the company's five major mortgage banking clients. (Read More)
Retirement Plans Use More HE
July 6, 2009WESTPORT, CT-Reverse mortgages, once positioned as a last resort to help seniors avoid financial disaster, are now being used by a small but growing number of older people earlier in retirement to maintain financial independence, a study from the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the National Council on Aging found. (Read More)
Loan Modifications Sinking Fast
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-Less than three in 10 mortgages that were modified by servicers in the first quarter of 2008 are still current, according to a new "mortgage metrics" report released by the Officer of the Comptroller of the Currency. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: The Present and Future of the GSEs
July 6, 2009Excerpts of Mr. Lockhart's recent statement before the House Financial Services Committee are presented as our Open Forum. (Second of two parts.) Both the Making Home Affordable and the Home Affordable Refinance programs have been launched and will be an important part of the enterprises' business - and mission - activities this year. The goals of enterprise participation in the Making Home Affordable programs are to stabilize housing markets while improving the credit position of their books of business. Given the enterprises' substantial market position - they own or guarantee $5.4 trillion in mortgages - activities that promote responsible homeownership, reduce preventable foreclosures, and stabilize house prices should help reduce their future credit losses. (Read More)
PEOPLE
July 6, 2009ARIZONA Phoenix-Marix Servicing LCC hired Kenneth Ganiel as chief financial officer. (Read More)
Recovery? If So, RE May Be Patchy as Some Areas Lag
July 6, 2009The economy may be recovering, but even in a recovery residential real estate's performance is likely to continue to vary by market, a portfolio manager told attendees at a recent New York Society of Security Analysts meeting. (Read More)
TALF CMBS Program Set Up, But No Deals Yet
July 6, 2009NEW YORK-The Term Asset-Backed Securities Lending Facility opened its monthly subscription window for new issue commercial mortgage-backed securities in June and the program made some progress that month, but at press time it appeared that no deals would be done until the window opens again this month. (Read More)
TBW Settles With 14 States
July 6, 2009HARRISBURG, PA-Wholesale lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. will modify loans for struggling homeowners and pay $9 million in fines as part of a settlement with the Pennsylvania Banking Department and 13 state mortgage regulators. (Read More)
Texas Mortgage Banker Expanding into SE
July 6, 2009DALLAS-The Lending Partners here, a non-bank lender, is expanding into the Southeast market and has hired a regional sales manager to accomplish the goal. (Read More)
NAMB Enters Loan Mod Field
July 6, 2009SAN ANTONIO-A "best-in-class" loan modification company has been picked to be the first commercial firm affiliated with the National Association of Mortgage Brokers under the group's new for-profit division, NAMB Enterprises. (Read More)
No Future in Product Innovation
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The days of innovation in housing finance aren't over, according to the Bank of America Mortgage executive who oversees first-mortgage product development. But the innovation won't be with loan products, he says, it will be in customer service. (Read More)
NAMB Pres Calls HVCC "Dangerous"
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The controversial Home Valuation Code of Conduct is "the most dangerous thing facing the housing finance industry today," the National Association of Mortgage Brokers warned at the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference here. (Read More)
Will House Sizes Continue to Slip?
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-After years of ever-increasing square footage, the size of new houses has abated of late as builders wrestle with ways to bring the price of their products back into line with what today's buyers can afford. (Read More)
EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT: CHARLES E. HALDEMAN Jr.
July 6, 2009Mr. Haldeman, a top executive at Putnam Investments, has been chosen by Freddie Mac's board to be the GSE's next chief executive. His nomination must be approved by Freddie's regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He would replace John Koskinen. (Read More)
125% LTV for Refis
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have received the green light from their regulator to refinance underwater homeowners with loan-to value ratios as high as 125%. (Read More)
JPM's Dimon Is a Smart Guy, Well Sort Of
July 6, 2009I like Jamie Dimon. Don't get me wrong. As chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase he's a survivor who steered his institution clear of the worst excesses on Wall Street, poising his $2.1 trillion baby to grow stronger and more powerful as competitors collapse in the wake of the nation's housing/credit crisis. (Read More)
MBA Lowers Volume Outlook
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-The Mortgage Bankers Association lowered its forecast of mortgage originations in 2009 to $2.03 trillion, a drop of more than $700 billion from its March forecast. (Read More)
Pair Takes Over at NAMB
July 6, 2009SAN ANTONIO-Corpus Christi broker Jim Pair quietly took over the reins at the National Association of Mortgage Brokers here late last month, vowing to put the struggling organization back on a solid foundation. (Read More)
Wells Sells $600MM NPLs
July 6, 2009WASHINGTON-Wells Fargo & Co. has apparently found a buyer for a $600 million portfolio of nonperforming subprime loans, according to investment banking officials. (Read More)
1K CMBS Deals Watch Negative
July 6, 2009NEW YORK-Standard & Poor's has placed more than 1,000 U.S. conduit and fusion commercial mortgage-backed securities deals on "watch negative." (Read More)
Top Residential Second Lien Lenders
July 6, 20092nds Funded % Market Rank Organization Name Location in 1Q 2009 in 1Q 2008 Change Share 1 Bank of AmericaCharlotte, NC $2,357 $15,265 -85% 25.10% 2 Wells Fargo & Co.San Francisco, CA $2,259 $2,287 -1% 24.06% 3 ChaseIselin, NJ $938 $6,713 -86% 9.99% 4 CitiMortgage Inc.O'Fallon, MO $740 $3,020 -75% 7.88% 5 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.Richmond, VA $162 $672 -76% 1.73% 6 U.S. Bank Home MortgageBloomington, MN $133 $111 20% 1.42% 7 HSBC Mortgage Corp. USADepew, NY $130 $364 -64% 1.38% 8 Branch Banking & Trust Co.Wilson, NC$105 $389 -73% 1.12% 9 People's United BankBridgeport, CT $88$144 -39% 0.94% 10 National City MortgageMiamisburg, OH $82 $380 -78% 0.87% Top 10 Totals: $6,994 $29,345 -76% 74.49% Totals Submitted: $7,222 $30,726 -76% 76.92% Notes: Results may be incomplete because some lenders would not disclose second-lien fundings. When surveying, NMN asks for a combined HELOC/HEL number. Market share based on estimated second-lien fundings of $9.4 billion in 1Q 2009. (Read More)
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July 13, 2009
EDITORIAL: Do It Again
July 13, 2009The Mortgage Servicing Conference we chaired in Dallas in April was a very successful meeting, bursting with engaged business people and ideas from the most cutting-edge part of the mortgage world currently. So we're going to do it again. (Read More)
11% Drop in 2Q Foreclosures
July 13, 2009Foreclosures dropped 11% across the nation to 205,031 in the second quarter of 2009 as moratoriums, bailouts, reforms and negotiations help strapped homeowners hang on to their properties, according to the latest U.S. Foreclosure Index from Foreclosures.com. (Read More)
AMCs Tout Their Value as Arms-Length Provider of Services
July 13, 2009WALTHAM, MA-After taking weeks of abuse since the implementation of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, the appraisal management companies are fighting back. (Read More)
Beazer Resolves Fraud Allegations
July 13, 2009ATLANTA-Beazer Homes USA Inc. here has agreed to pay the federal government $5 million, plus contingent payments of up to $48 million to be shared with victimized private homeowners, to resolve allegations that it and Beazer Mortgage Corp. were involved in fraudulent mortgage origination activities in connection with federally insured mortgages. (Read More)
First Price Increases Since '06
July 13, 2009TRUCKEE, CA-The Clear Capital July Home Data Index Market Report shows that for the first time since 2006, rolling quarter-over-quarter price returns for the nation were positive at 1.7%, which was driven primarily by seasonal sales. (Read More)
Lenders Lean on Regulators to Improve Bank Operations
July 13, 2009LYNNWOOD, WA-As a result of the slowdown in residential housing sales and the challenges that come with the increasing level of nonperforming loans, some lenders are entering into agreements with regulators to improve bank operations. (Read More)
Study: Strategic Defaults Present Real Catastrophic Dangers
July 13, 2009CHICAGO-New research shows the so-called strategic defaults on mortgage loans, when homeowners with negative equity walk out on properties, are driving the crisis and pose catastrophic dangers for the future of the market. (Read More)
Cenlar Tackles HomeSaver Servicing
July 13, 2009TRENTON, NJ-Fannie Mae has hired Cenlar, a Trenton, N.J., thrift, to service all newly written unsecured loans made under the government-sponsored enterprise's HomeSaver Advance program beginning Friday. (Read More)
Commercial TALF Effort, Coming?
July 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The commercial real estate industry - which is suffering from rising delinquencies and lower rents these days - is anxious to see a new Federal Reserve Board program get off the ground that provides financing for the purchase of commercial mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)
FHLB Earnings Register a 50% Decline From One Year Prior
July 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The 12 Federal Home Loan Banks reported combined earnings of $345 million in the first quarter, down 50% from a year ago, as six banks booked a net loss for the quarter primarily due to impairment charges on private-label mortgage backed securities. (Read More)
Home Equity Delinquencies Hit New High
July 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The 30-day delinquency rate on 'open-end' home equity lines of credit jumped 43 basis points in the first quarter to a record high of 1.89% on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to a new report issued by the American Bankers Association. (Read More)
Decline in Refis Means Fed MBS Buy Impact Is Now Over
July 13, 2009NEW YORK-A report from analysts at Keefe, Bruyette and Woods here said the decline in the refinance component of the Mortgage Bankers Association Market Composite Index suggested that any benefit from the Federal Reserve's agency mortgage-backed securities purchase program has largely dissipated. (Read More)
US Fund ReturnBeats Ginnie Mae
July 13, 2009NEW YORK-The average cumulative total return during the second quarter for funds investing primarily in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities was higher than the average for funds investing mostly in Government National Mortgage Assoc. securities during that period, according to data from Lipper Inc., a Reuters company. (Read More)
LOS Vendors Just Can't Slow Down
July 13, 2009PLEASANTON, CA-While market conditions are causing most players to contract, loan origination systems are being forced to actually expand their services. (Read More)
Carried Away By the Carry Trade
July 13, 2009NEW YORK-The nation's leading banks increased their holdings of mortgage-backed securities by $42 billion in the first quarter thanks to a steep U.S. yield curve that brought back the carry trade, and their Troubled Asset Relief Program money. (Read More)
Mediation Can Reduce Foreclosures, 'Should Be Mandatory'
July 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The Obama administration is doing everything in its power to reduce foreclosures through the Home Affordable Modification Program. While many are focusing on the refi and modification components of the plan, the Center for American Progress says that mandatory mediation should be incorporated into that process to make sure that the people who are eligible for these programs will in fact get the assistance that they need. (Read More)
New RE Default Law Firm Started in GA
July 13, 2009ATLANTA, GA-Two Atlanta real estate lawyers, Glen Rubin and Peter Lublin, have established the law firm of Rubin Lublin LLC. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: TARP's Scorecard So Far
July 13, 2009Mr. Allison's remarks before the Tarp Congressional Oversight Panel are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
July 13, 2009CALIFORNIA San Francisco-AMB Property Corp. said that James Green has joined the company as managing director, global client services. (Read More)
Fannie Move May Curb Relocations
July 13, 2009ST. LOUIS-A career management firm said a recent change to the Fannie Mae selling guide regarding property sales involving job transferees could have an impact on whether job seekers elect to relocate. (Read More)
Wells Case Could Spell Trouble for Lenders
July 13, 2009BALTIMORE-Wells Fargo Bank has lost the first round of a lawsuit in which the city here claims the mortgage giant should compensate Baltimore for lost tax revenues due to vacant foreclosed houses the lender created by allegedly targeting blacks with predatory loans they could not repay. (Read More)
TILA, RESPA Top the List of Concerns at Community Banks
July 13, 2009MINNEAPOLIS-A survey of community banks by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services here finds that two of their top three regulatory concerns involve a pair of laws dealing with mortgages. (Read More)
Mortgages Stabilizing in Great Britain
July 13, 2009LONDON-Lending volumes appear to be stabilizing in the United Kingdom, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. (Read More)
Cross-Border REGains Interest
July 13, 2009NEW YORK-There is a growing interest in certain types of cross-border real estate deals involving U.S. properties or property buyers in today's challenging market, but the deals this interest drives may involve cash purchases rather than mortgage financing. (Read More)
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: GSEs' AH Goals
July 13, 2009To the editor: I was dismayed by FHFA director James Lockhart's recent statement in the June 19 National Mortgage News Online story blaming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's affordable housing goals for their downfall. (Read More)
Citi Back In Correspondent
July 13, 2009NEW YORK-After putting its residential correspondent loan purchase program on hold in late June, CitiMortgage has begun accepting new correspondent registrations from what it calls "select, qualified" mortgage banking customers. (Read More)
NPL Sellers Fear Dirty Linen
July 13, 2009As the mortgage and banking industries debate whether the PPIP program will work and whether a similar effort over at the FDIC will ever see the light of day, Wells Fargo & Co. recently (and quietly) sold a $600 million portfolio of mostly nonperforming subprime loans. Or so we're told. (Read More)
PPIP, Version Two
July 13, 2009WASHINGTON-The Treasury Department has finally launched a long-awaited program that will provide $30 billion in capital and debt to support the first public-private funds to invest in nonagency residential and commercial MBS. (Read More)
Refis At Record Levels In 1Q
July 13, 2009WASHINGTON-Refinancings of existing mortgages accounted for 77% of all loans funded in the first quarter, the highest reading since National Mortgage News began tracking such figures in the late 1990s. (Read More)
Reverse Lender Halts
July 13, 2009NEW YORK-World Alliance Financial Corp. - the nation's fourth largest originator of reverse mortgages in the U.S. - halted loan production at a Long Island based affiliate last week after failing to find a buyer for the division. (Read More)
Are Servicers Facing Identity Crisis Issues?
July 13, 2009TAMPA, FL-New laws are forcing servicers to engage in largely untraditional activities that are taking a toll on their resources and challenging the meaning of what it means to be a servicer today. (Read More)
Issues With Crunching HAMP Numbers Exist
July 13, 2009IRVINE, CA-At least one market insider finds the Home Affordable Modification Program has created a new dynamic between the scale of demand for loan modifications and real possibilities for those in need. (Read More)
Eyeing Securitized Residential Servicing Advance TALF Deals
July 13, 2009Securitized residential mortgage servicing advance receivables transactions are being done through the government's Term Asset-Backed Securities Lending Facility. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
July 13, 2009Company 7/9/2009 7/2/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF)8.41 8.31 1% 5.85 30.00 43.76% 13.36 Bank of America (BAC)11.94 12.68 -6% 2.53 39.50 371.83% 13.90 Bank of Hawaii (BOH)34.54 34.91 -1% 25.33 70.00 36.36% 9.70 Dime Community (DCOM)8.72 9.12 -4% 6.46 20.00 34.98% 11.44 Doral Financial (DRL)1.93 2.11 -8% 1.61 19.50 20.00% n/a Fiserv, Inc (FISV)44.26 45.16 -2% 27.75 54.67 59.50% 20.71 Fidelity National (FNF)12.95 13.19 -2% 6.66 22.85 94.44% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM)0.53 0.58 -9% 0.30 18.48 76.67% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE)0.58 0.65 -10% 0.25 13.33 132.00% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK)13.56 13.18 3% 7.46 20.97 81.77% 13.68 Kaufman & Broad (KBH)12.44 12.78 -3% 6.90 25.43 80.29% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC)11.31 11.62 -3% 7.13 23.00 58.63% 9.36 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI)1.42 1.90 -25% 0.26 5.43 446.15% n/a Radian Group (RDN)2.00 2.67 -25% 0.87 7.50 129.89%n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Lenders RankED by Refi Ratios
July 13, 2009Refi Rates % Origination Volume Rank Organization Name 1Q 09 1Q 08 change 1Q 09 1Q 08 1 Perl Mortgage97.3% 78.6% 24% $320 $315 2 Goodmortgage.com96.0% 95.0% 1% $83 $44 3 Capitol FS & LA95.0% 94.4% 1% $406 $232 4 Bank Mutual Corp.95.0% 92.3% 3% $217 $67 5 American Internet Mortgage94.0% 86.0% 9% $281 $273 6 America First CU94.0% 72.0% 31% $376 $118 7 Guardian Mortgage Co.88.0% 57.0% 54% $256 $73 8 Fifth Third Mortgage87.4% 72.4% 21% $4,924 $3,852 9 Nationwide Advantage Mortgage87.3% 71.0% 23% $522 $788 10 AmTrust Bank86.0% 67.9% 27% $8,333 $6,938 11 TD Banknorth MortgageFalmouth, ME 85.8% 71.6% 20% $920 $228 12 People's United BankBridgeport, CT 84.9% 72.3% 17% $251 $214 13 Midwest Loan ServicesHoughton, MI 84.0% 67.0% 25% $62 $7 14 National City MortgageMiamisburg, OH 83.4% 66.3% 26% $6,844 $7,393 15 MetLife Home LoansMemphis, TN 82.9% 47.1% 76% $10,341 16 Branch Banking & Trust Co.Wilson, NC 82.3% 64.0% 29% $7,682 $5,172 17 Provident Funding AssociatesBurlingame, CA 81.5% 81.0% 1% $11,012 $4,806 18 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.Richmond, VA 80.3% 57.2% 40% $13,578 $11,971 19 Astoria FS & LALake Success, NY 80.0% 73.0% 10% $468 $673 20 U.S. Bank Home MortgageBloomington, MN 79.7% 61.2% 30% $13,431 $9,326 Top 20 Totals: 82.6% 65.7% 26% $80,307 $52,489 Total of All Firms Reporting: 77.0% 59.4% 30% $377,905 $299,210 Notes: Some firms would not disclose their refi rates. Ranked high to low. (Read More)
MISMO Continues Moving Forward on Agenda
July 13, 2009RESTON, VA-Despite lingering concern that a conflict of interest was created when the Mortgage Bankers Association opted to outsource the management of the industry's data standards group the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization to MERSCORP, a for-profit organization owned by a consortium of home lenders, mortgage investors and trade groups based here, the first MISMO trimester meeting run by MERS was a success according to attendees. (Read More)
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July 20, 2009
1st-Time Buyer Opportunities Crucial to Lender Success
July 20, 2009NEW YORK-First-time homebuyer mortgage lending "is crucial to future lending competition." (Read More)
Consolidated Firm Focuses on Speedy Underwriting
July 20, 2009BETHESDA, MD-A private lending firm and a high-yield investment group have formed a consolidated parent company here that specializes in offering short-term bridge financing for commercial real estate for those wanting loans in a hurry. (Read More)
REIT Closes $60M Loan
July 20, 2009RADNOR, PA-Real estate investment trust Brandywine Realty Trust here closed a $60 million first-mortgage financing on One Logan Square, a previously unencumbered, 594,361-square-foot, 99% leased, class A office tower in Philadelphia. (Read More)
Commercial Hurts Goldman
July 20, 2009NEW YORK-In what was otherwise a very good period for the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. here, commercial mortgages were one of the down items in the firm's second-quarter results. (Read More)
FHA to Insure Hospital Refi Loans
July 20, 2009NEW YORK-The Federal Housing Administration will now provide mortgage loan insurance for hospital refinancing. Prior to this, hospitals could only get FHA insurance on loans that included a substantial construction component such as replacing, rebuilding, or renovating existing structures. (Read More)
Low Rates and Slumping Home Prices Attract New Borrowers
July 20, 2009NEW YORK-Low interest rates, combined with falling home prices, are attracting potential homebuyers back into the market, separate surveys conducted by Realtor.com and the California Association of Realtors found. (Read More)
Chase Mortgage Production Down
July 20, 2009NEW YORK-Despite seeing a 36% increase in net revenue for the second quarter of 2009 from the year-earlier period, mortgage production revenue for JPMorgan Chase & Co. during this period was $284 million, down $110 million from the second quarter of 2008. (Read More)
Clayton Gets NCUA Contract on Mortgages
July 20, 2009SHELTON, CT-Clayton Holdings here has been hired by the National Credit Union Administration to evaluate the mortgage holdings of two large corporate CUs that are under conservatorship. (Read More)
Colonial BancGroup Deal in Question
July 20, 2009WASHINGTON-Lee Farkas, chairman and founder of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker - the lead investor in the recapitalization of Colonial BancGroup of Alabama - said he doesn't know if the deal is going to happen. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: The Thrift Charter
July 20, 2009Much has been made of the fact that Americans, hung over after their profligate, debt-ridden ways exploded in their faces in 2007 and last year, have suddenly become a thrifty race of savers against a rainy day. The last figure we saw on this was that the national savings rate had gone from an incredible zero to an incredible 7%. (Read More)
2Q Earnings May Improve
July 20, 2009ARLINGTON, VA-Mortgage banking is one of the reasons banks should report solid earnings for the second quarter of 2009, a preview report issued by FBR Capital Markets here said. (Read More)
Freddie Updates Appraisal Rules
July 20, 2009WASHINGTON-Freddie Mac has updated its appraisal guidance with respect to foreclosures and distressed sales, as well as appraiser qualifications. (Read More)
HE Servicers Come Under Pressure
July 20, 2009WASHINGTON-Major banks are coming under intense pressure to accept "fair compensation" for their home-equity loans so they don't impede refinancings of delinquent first mortgages. (Read More)
Analyst: MI Sector Will Return
July 20, 2009NEW YORK-The mortgage insurance industry should survive, declared analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, but any fundamental recovery is still well down the road. Meanwhile, the second-quarter spike in interest rates have made estimated volumes for the rest of the year at the title insurers "more tenuous" and as a result, KBW is lowering its earnings estimates and price targets for those companies. (Read More)
Hope Now Reports a Drop in Loan Modifications
July 20, 2009NEW YORK-In May, Hope Now members modified 101,000 mortgages compared to 121,000 in April, which represents a 16.5% drop. In addition, the organization initiated 148,000 repayment plans in May, up 5.7% from 140,000 in April. Faith Schwartz, the group's executive director, says these changes can be partially attributed to the industry's implementation of the Obama administration's home retention program. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: One Good Idea, Some Bad Ones
July 20, 2009Mr. Pollock's recent testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on restructuring consumer financial products regulation is presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
July 20, 2009CALIFORNIA Los Angeles-Commercial real estate investment banking firm George Smith Partners has added Shawn Visutsiri as vice president. (Read More)
RE Auction Firm Launches Loan Site
July 20, 2009IRVINE, CA-REDC here, which has been doing a swift business in selling distressed homes, plans to enter the whole loan auction market, focusing on nonperforming mortgages and other types of first deeds. (Read More)
FTC Crackdown on Loan Mod Scams
July 20, 2009LOS ANGELES-As part of a massive federal-state crackdown on loan modification scams, the Federal Trade Commission - with the help of 23 other federal and state agencies - filed a total of 189 lawsuits and cease-and-desist orders across the entire country against companies and individuals offering allegedly fraudulent loan mod services. (Read More)
Stevens Takes Charge as FHA Commissioner
July 20, 2009WASHINGTON-After a grueling confirmation process, David Stevens finally won Senate approval and started his new job as Federal Housing Administration commissioner. (Read More)
Ginnie Issuance Sets New Record
July 20, 2009WASHINGTON-Ginnie Mae issued $43.6 billion in mortgage-backed securities in June - setting another monthly record as issuance during the first half of this year has nearly doubled from a year ago. (Read More)
Canada Housing Starts Increase
July 20, 2009OTTAWA-The seasonally adjusted, annual rate of Canadian housing starts increased to 140,700 units from 130,300 units in the latest month, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (Read More)
HELOC Eased Pop King Michael Jackson's Burdens
July 20, 2009SANTA BARBARA, CA-Michael Jackson was a citizen of the world who touched generations of music lovers with the thrill of his creative genius. He also was a troubled borrower and a man in financial crisis. (Read More)
AIG Unit to Liquidate $10B
July 20, 2009NEW YORK-American General Financial Services, a subsidiary of the government-controlled AIG, is considering a plan to liquidate up to $10 billion in whole loans using the securitization market, investment banking sources told National Mortgage News. (Read More)
Can MGIC Turn Straw Into Gold?
July 20, 2009First the bad news: the mortgage insurance industry submitted a plan to the Treasury Department for "capital relief" (as in please give us some TARP money) several months ago but has yet to hear from Uncle Sam. In the interim a dialogue has been established between the MIs and Treasury but secretary Timothy Geithner isn't ready to open the cash register quite yet. (Read More)
Mods Up, Doubts Remain
July 20, 2009WASHINGTON-The Obama administration's new Home Affordable Modification Program appears to be gaining momentum. Or so the White House would like to think. (Read More)
LOS Company Shuts Down
July 20, 2009AUSTIN, TX-The latest casualty of the mortgage crisis, loan origination system MortgageDashboard here, has gone out of business. (Read More)
Record Foreclosures
July 20, 2009IRVINE, CA-In spite of the industrywide moratorium earlier this year, along with local, state and national legislative action and increased levels of loan modification activity, foreclosure activity continues to increase to record levels. (Read More)
Top GNMA Multifamily Issuers in 2008
July 20, 2009Rank Issuer Name Volume Number of Loans Market Share 1 Capmark Finance Inc. $471 104 11.4% 2 Wells Fargo Bank NA $402 62 9.8% 3 Prudential Huntoon Paige Assoc. $354 78 8.6% 4 Capstone Realty Advisors LLC $354 113 8.6% 5 Greystone Servicing Corp. $342 42 8.3% 6 Lancaster Pollard Mortgage $206 54 5.0% 7 Capital Funding Group Inc. $188 31 4.6% 8 Keycorp Real Estate Capital $160 25 3.9% 9 Love Funding Corp. $160 29 3.9% 10 Red Mortgage Capital Inc. $150 44 3.7% 11Capmark Bank $128 12 3.1% 12 Evanston Financial Corp. $119 32 2.9% 13 Cambridge Realty Capital $103 10 2.5% 14 P/R Mortgage and Investment $93 22 2.3% 15 CWCapital LLC $90 27 2.2% Remaining Issuers $797 174 19.4% Totals$4,117 859 100% Source: Government National Mortgage Association/NMN. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
July 20, 2009Company 7/16/2009 7/9/2009 Wkly. % Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 8.94 8.45 6% 5.85 30.00 52.82% 14.49 Bank of America (BAC) 13.15 11.97 10% 2.53 39.50 419.76% 15.75 Bank of Hawaii (BOH) 35.62 34.54 3% 25.33 70.00 40.62% 9.93 Dime Community (DCOM) 10.39 8.71 19% 6.46 20.00 60.84% 13.26 Doral Financial (DRL) 2.27 1.93 18% 1.61 19.50 40.99% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV)47.74 44.32 8% 27.75 54.67 72.04% 22.10 Fidelity National (FNF)13.31 12.98 3% 6.66 22.85 99.85% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM) 0.57 0.53 8% 0.30 18.48 90.00% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE) 0.62 0.58 7% 0.25 11.60 147.56% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) 14.28 13.59 5% 7.46 20.97 91.42% 14.98 Kaufman & Broad (KBH) 13.69 12.46 10% 6.90 25.43 98.41% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC) 11.24 11.28 -0% 7.13 23.00 57.64% 9.41 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 1.85 1.41 31% 0.26 5.43 611.54% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 2.28 2.01 13% 0.88 7.50 159.09% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
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July 27, 2009
Hotel Developer Secures Second
July 27, 2009RALEIGH-DURHAM, NC-Hotel developer, owner and operator Concord Hospitality Enterprises here secured a $10.8 million loan to build a 124-room Courtyard by Marriott Meadow Lands in Washington, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh. (Read More)
FL Small Business Loans To Double
July 27, 2009TALLAHASSEE, FL-U.S. Small Business Administration loans for real estate and equipment nearly doubled in the state of Florida from April through June over the first quarter of 2009. (Read More)
Amherst Starts First International Foray
July 27, 2009AUSTIN, TX-Amherst Holdings LLC, a company that assists institutional investors in U.S. residential mortgage markets, is starting its first international venture. (Read More)
The Fed, Frank Disagree on CFPA
July 27, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Reserve Board suddenly wants to be a consumer champion despite the Obama administration's efforts to create a new consumer protection agency. (Read More)
Investors Purchase Big Part of CRT
July 27, 2009STAMFORD, CT-A group of investors purchased a controlling interest in CRT Capital Group here and say they plan to focus the firm on mortgage/asset-backed products and U.S. Treasuries going forward. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: The Wrong Way
July 27, 2009The administration is wrong to bow down to lenders and water down its toxic asset disposal program. (Read More)
New Commercial REIT Registers With the SEC
July 27, 2009NEW YORK-Ladder Capital Realty Finance Inc., a newly organized commercial real estate finance corporation, has filed a registration statement on Form S-11 in connection with the initial public offering of its common stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Read More)
MBA Lobbyist Leaving for Capitol Hill
July 27, 2009WASHINGTON-The Mortgage Bankers Association is continuing to lose some of its top government affairs talent. Catherine Cruz Wojtasik, a Democratic lobbyist for the group, is leaving the organization shortly to take a job on Capitol Hill. (Read More)
Milestone Starts ADC Effort with Thrift Vets
July 27, 2009WASHINGTON-Milestone Merchant Partners, a boutique investment banking firm, is launching a new division to advise lenders and investors on ailing acquisition, development and construction loans. (Read More)
MortgageDashboard Finds Equity Partner
July 27, 2009AUSTIN, TX-After news circulated that Web-based loan origination system MortgageDashboard here lost funding, Catalizador Private Equity Group stepped in and acquired a majority interest in the software provider. (Read More)
FHFA: HVCC Not Causing Market Problems
July 27, 2009The regulator of the government-sponsored enterprises has moved to clear up "misinformation" about the Home Valuation Code of Conduct that the GSEs adopted three months ago and counter criticism that the new appraisal code is causing problems in the real estate market. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: CFPA Proposal Concerns
July 27, 2009Sen. Shelby's opening remarks at a recent Senate Banking Committee Hearing on the Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
FHA May Cut Reverse Loan Proceeds
July 27, 2009WASHINGTON-House appropriators have instructed the Federal Housing Administration to cut the proceeds seniors receive when taking out a FHA-insured reverse mortgage in fiscal year 2010, which starts Oct. 1. (Read More)
Here's What Some Distressed Deals Actually Done Look Like
July 27, 2009Plenty of executives have been willing to talk about "dry powder" in the distressed mortgage-related debt market over the last year, but there is at least one group of executives out there that - more interestingly - is willing to talk about some deals they have actually done during that time. (Read More)
Fed Eyes Limited CRE Financing
July 27, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Reserve Board is paying close attention to the commercial real estate sector and the limited availability of financing for maturing CRE loans. (Read More)
16% Redefault For Indy Mods
July 27, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s experiment in modifying loans at IndyMac Bank is still showing good results with a low redefault rate of less than 16%. (Read More)
Freddie CEO 'Gets' Regulator
July 27, 2009WASHINGTON-More than four months after Freddie Mac's chief executive officer quit amid talk of frustration with government meddling, his successor, Charles Haldeman Jr., said federal involvement would not be a problem for him. (Read More)
Making a Move into Jumbos
July 27, 2009When it comes to mortgage banking, Jess Lederman has been around the block and then some. During his long career he's worked at an MI company, launched Bear Stearns' "A" paper conduit two decades ago, put Ohio Savings on the map as a national correspondent lender, and worked for Countrywide Home Loans in global risk management. (OK, maybe don't hold that last one against him.) You might say he's seen it all. And because he's seen it all he looks at the jumbo mortgage market today and realizes there's a huge opportunity in the space. How huge? "There are excellent returns with minimal risk," he says. His firm's maximum loan amount? Answer: a cool $4 million. (Read More)
Servicers Ramping Up
July 27, 2009DALLAS-Servicing shops are seeing a dramatic increase in new hires and loss mitigation training in order to handle capacity issues. This is what speakers said on a panel at the SourceMedia Best Practices in Loss Mitigation Conference here. (Read More)
Sidhu Jumping Into Warehouse
July 27, 2009PHILADELPHIA-Former Sovereign Bancorp chairman Jay Sidhu plans to launch an aggressive warehouse lending initiative with his new bank and is targeting early August as a launch date. (Read More)
'Flat Fee' Curbs YSPs
July 27, 2009WASHINGTON-The Federal Reserve wants mortgage lenders to start paying loan officers and mortgage brokers a flat fee as a way to end certain abusive practices associated with yield-spread premiums and other incentivized compensation arrangements. (Read More)
Tool Offers Transparency
July 27, 2009NEW YORK-One dangerous loophole in the financial services marketplace is the disconnection of accountability between loan originators and investors in mortgage- and asset-backed securities. (Read More)
Sunshine State Seeks to Stop Loan Modification Scams
July 27, 2009ORLANDO, FL-With one in every 147 homes in Florida in the throes of foreclosure, it's little wonder scam artists are having a field day enticing worried owners into forking over thousands of dollars in an effort to save their properties. (Read More)
Tool Optimizes Borrower Investor Outcome
July 27, 2009Market demand is pressing financial service providers to create systematic tools that ensure an optimized outcome for both the homeowner and the loan investor and help return liquidity to the securities market. (Read More)
HAMP Becomes Focus for Industry
July 27, 2009NEW YORK-The federal Home Affordable Modification Program has become a focus for the industry as it seeks standards it hopes will help restore liquidity and help clear the glut of subperforming mortgages bogging down the market. (Read More)
Loan Modifications: Making Connections
July 27, 2009Loan mods have gotten an official push from the federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program, which makes them a key loss mitigation strategy in today's market, and given the overwhelming workload in this area as well as the complexities involved in efforts to modify loans successfully, some servicers are finding they could use some help with them. (Read More)
E-Modification Solutions Gain Ground
July 27, 2009DALLAS-Mortgage technology providers are flooding the market with loss mitigation solutions that challenge servicers to get on board with what they see as the unavoidable future marketplace. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
July 27, 2009Company 7/23/2009 7/16/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 9.48 8.96 6% 5.85 30.00 62.05% 13.54 Bank of America (BAC) 12.65 13.20 -4% 2.53 39.50 400.08% 14.35 Bank of Hawaii (BOH) 35.32 35.70 -1% 25.33 70.00 39.44% 9.64 Dime Community (DCOM) 10.83 10.41 4% 6.46 20.00 67.65% 13.39 Doral Financial (DRL) 2.28 2.30 -1% 1.61 19.50 41.61% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV) 49.34 47.86 3% 27.75 54.67 77.82% 22.54 Fidelity National (FNF) 13.82 13.32 4% 6.66 22.85 107.51% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM) 0.57 0.57 -0% 0.30 16.99 89.13% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE) 0.60 0.61 -2% 0.25 11.60 140.44% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) 13.89 14.35 -3% 7.46 20.97 86.19% 13.93 Kaufman & Broad (KBH) 15.96 13.71 16% 6.90 25.43 131.30% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC) 11.47 11.28 2% 7.13 23.00 60.87% 9.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 1.97 1.84 7% 0.26 5.43 657.69% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 2.65 2.27 17% 0.95 7.50 178.95% n/a NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
home funders in 2Q 09 (Sample)
July 27, 2009Origination Volume % Organization Name Location 2Q 09 2Q 08 Change AmTrust BankCleveland, OH $8,533 $6,945 23% Bank of America (1)Charlotte, NC $114,294 $35,334 223% Cherry Creek MortgageGreenwood Village, CO $1,095 $456 140% EverBank MortgageJacksonville, FL $2,441 $1,434 70% Franklin American MortgageFranklin, TN $4,903 $5,077 -3% People's United BankBridgeport, CT $373 $206 81% Quicken Loans Inc.Livonia, MI $7,930 $2,700 194% $139,569 $52,153 168% Notes: Firms listed alphabetically. This is a sample table ONLY. National Mortgage News is still compiling 2Q09 results. Want to participate in this survey? Send an e-mail to the address below. (1) In 2Q08 Bank of America did not own Countrywide Financial. Its purchase of the nation's largest lender closed July 1. (Read More)
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August 3, 2009
NAMB RESPA Suit Setback
August 3, 2009SAN DIEGO-The National Association of Mortgage Brokers received a setback in its lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development over the proposed Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rule. (Read More)
Hope for an End To Price Drops
August 3, 2009WASHINGTON-Recent reports are showing encouraging signs that the steep decline in house prices has finally come to an end and prices may be stabilizing along with home sales. (Read More)
CFC Officer Says Dodd Knew of VIP Status
August 3, 2009WASHINGTON-A former Countrywide Financial Corp. official told congressional investigators that Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., knew he was getting preferential treatment when the giant mortgage lender, since bought by Bank of America, financed two residences for the senator, according to a report. (Read More)
FL Brokers Given Civics Lesson on Congress
August 3, 2009ORLANDO, FL-A group of mortgage brokers got a civics lesson here earlier this month unlike anything they ever learned in high school. (Read More)
Congress at Odds on FHA
August 3, 2009WASHINGTON-The House and Senate appropriators are at odds over how to deal with a shortfall in the FHA reverse mortgage program and they are taking different approaches. (Read More)
HUD Outlines New Mod Program
August 3, 2009WASHINGTON-The Department of Housing and Urban Development is rolling a new modification program that will allow servicers to reduce the principal amount of troubled FHA mortgages by up to 30%. (Read More)
Special Notice Gives HVCC Info
August 3, 2009WASHINGTON-The regulator of the government-sponsored enterprises has moved to clear up some "misinformation" about the Home Valuation Code of Conduct that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac adopted three months ago. (Read More)
House OKs Loan Limit Extension
August 3, 2009WASHINGTON-The House Appropriations Committee has approved an extension of the maximum loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration for another nine months. (Read More)
Signs of Improvement in Housing Market
August 3, 2009JACKSONVILLE, FL-Based on data collected as of June 30 by Lender Processing Services Inc., new delinquencies dropped to their second lowest level in the last year. And the percentage of loans rolling to a more delinquent status declined across all product types. (Read More)
PMIs Give GSE Mods A Second Look
August 3, 2009WASHINGTON-Private mortgage insurers have developed a "second look" program so that insured non-GSE loans are not overlooked when it comes to loan modifications. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: What the CFPA Will Do
August 3, 2009Excerpts Of Secretary Geithner's Written Testimony Before The House Financial Services Committee Are Presented As Our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
August 3, 2009CALIFORNIA Irvine-MOS Group, a provider of loss mitigation and default services for the mortgage industry, appointed Greg Hebner as its new president. (Read More)
Capital Markets Chief Leaves ResCap
August 3, 2009MINNEAPOLIS-Tom Neary has resigned as executive vice president and senior managing director of Residential Capital Corp., effective the end of July. (Read More)
Participations: A Baby Step Toward New Nonagency MBS?
August 3, 2009Among other things, Capital Markets Cooperative, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., has been helping its membership try to address secondary market challenges in the nonagency jumbo space, and in doing so has seen what could be a "baby step" back toward the securitized private-label market. (Read More)
Consolidation to Shape Dubai Residential Market's Future
August 3, 2009DUBAI, UAE-Large-scale lending in Dubai still has not resumed, the once-hot residential property market there still remains oversupplied and now consolidation has reached a point where control of the entire market may largely be left in the hands of a single entity. (Read More)
Mexican Builder Sells More Homes in 2Q
August 3, 2009CULIACAN, Mexico-Mexican government mortgage programs aimed at increasing availability for middle-income borrowers resulted in 1.4% growth in middle-income homes sold by Mexican builder Desarrolladora Homex during the second quarter. (Read More)
Fannie Encourages Servicer-Vendor Alliances
August 3, 2009DALLAS-A Fannie Mae executive encouraged servicers to move up home retention efforts and take advantage of vendor services, especially face-to-face borrower contact, so they can manage the scale of loss mitigation demand. (Read More)
Pre-Approvals Increase Loan Mod Success Rate
August 3, 2009DALLAS-The crisis is making clear that the industry's focus and concentrated efforts should be in the front-end of home retention. (Read More)
2d Reverse Firm Folds
August 3, 2009WESTMONT, IL-WSFS Financial Corp., Wilmington, Del., has given up on its joint venture in the reverse mortgage field after a little over one year, citing the unlikelihood of profitability at the unit. (Read More)
2d C&D for Colonial
August 3, 2009MONTGOMERY, AL-In another blow for the troubled company, Colonial BancGroup Inc. here has consented to a cease-and-desist order from the Federal Reserve System and the Alabama State Banking Department. (Read More)
A Very Long Housing Drought
August 3, 2009The Mescalero Apache tribe totally missed the homebuilding bubble of the late 1990s and the early years of this decade. But now the long housing drought has ended for the New Mexico-based tribe with the recent dedication of 30 single-family homes, the first residential construction on the 460,000-acre Native homeland since 1996. (Read More)
Obama Urges Faster Mod Pace
August 3, 2009WASHINGTON-Obama administration officials want servicers to pick up the pace of loan modifications as policymakers consider more extreme measures to prevent foreclosures. (Read More)
PennyMac IPONets $320MM
August 3, 2009NEW YORK-PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, Calabasas Hills, Calif., said its initial public offering of 16 million common shares has been priced at $20 per share, raising $320 million. (Read More)
Some Areas Show Decline in Foreclosures, Others Increase
August 3, 2009IRVINE, CA-While some of the most foreclosure-saturated metro areas in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and California posted declining activity in the first six months of 2009, other areas of the country not previously considered foreclosure hot spots have seen increased levels of activity, according to the Midyear 2009 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
August 3, 2009Company 7/30/2009 7/23/2009 Wkly. % Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 9.72 9.50 2% 5.85 30.00 66.15% 35.30 Bank of America (BAC) 13.97 12.65 10% 2.53 39.50 452.17% 15.87 Bank of Hawaii (BOH) 37.89 35.28 7% 25.33 70.00 49.59% 10.77 Dime Community (DCOM) 12.15 10.74 13% 6.46 20.00 88.08% 15.95 Doral Financial (DRL) 2.35 2.30 2% 1.61 19.50 45.96% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV) 47.84 49.35 -3% 27.75 54.67 72.40% 23.64 Fidelity National (FNF) 14.22 13.82 3% 6.66 22.85 113.51% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM) 0.57 0.56 2% 0.30 13.60 90.00% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE) 0.60 0.60 -0% 0.25 9.50 140.04% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) 14.02 13.90 1% 7.46 20.97 87.94% 13.64 Kaufman & Broad (KBH) 16.48 15.98 3% 6.90 25.43 138.84% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC) 12.41 11.48 8% 7.13 23.00 74.05% 9.87 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 2.21 1.96 13% 0.26 5.43 750.00% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 3.422.65 29% 0.95 7.50 260.00% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Residential Servicers (Sample)
August 3, 2009Servicing Volume Location 6/30/09 6/30/08 % Change CelinkLansing, MI $4,214 $2,312 82% Cimarron MortgageJackson, MS $911 $654 39% EverBank MortgageJacksonville, FL $41,539 $37,197 12% Guardian Mortgage Co.Richardson, TX $2,024 $1,934 5% M&T MortgageBuffalo, NY $21,084 $21,598 -2% Nationwide Advantage MortgageWest Des Moines, IA $7,952 $7,678 4% Provident Funding AssociatesBurlingame, CA $40,031 $35,741 12% Saxon Mortgage ServicesFort Worth, TX $9,562 $10,376 -8% State Employees CURaleigh, NC $10,841 $9,58813% Webster BankWaterbury, CT $2,205 $3,560 -38% Submitted Totals: $140,363 $130,639 7% Notes: Firms listed alphabetically. This is a sample table ONLY. National Mortgage News is still compiling 2Q 2009 results. Want to participate in this survey? Send an e-mail to the address below. (Read More)
Upping Access to TOTAL Scorecard
August 3, 2009IRVINE, CA-If lenders want an instant decision out of FHA, those lenders have to access FHA TOTAL Scorecard to get an AU decision. But up until now that access was rather restricted. (Read More)
Servicing Web Portals Could Equal More 'E' Originations
August 3, 2009BETHESDA, MD-As mortgage servicers scramble to help underwater borrowers, volume is becoming too much to handle manually. As a result, more and more servicers are launching borrower self-service Web portals to help, but the technology is having some unintended consequences. (Read More)
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August 10, 2009
Economist Calls Out Politicians
August 10, 2009SAN DIEGO-Political leaders in Washington are missing the point that every recovery from every recession since 1949 has been led by a recovery in the housing market, said the chief economist for Stewart Title Guaranty Co., Houston. (Read More)
Cal CRE Slump Will Continue
August 10, 2009LOS ANGELES-The commercial real estate slump in California shows little indication of abating this year, according to the latest Allen Matkins/UCLA Anderson Forecast Commercial Real Estate Survey and Index Research Project. (Read More)
Fannie Invests $10B in Multi
August 10, 2009WASHINGTON-Fannie Mae provided $10.1 billion in debt financing for the multifamily rental housing market through its lender and housing partners in the first half of 2009. (Read More)
TrinityCare Extends Financing for TX Senior Facility
August 10, 2009FRIENDSWOOD, TX-TrinityCare Senior Living, here that develops, manages and owns faith-based senior living facilities, executed a six-month extension of its construction/mini-perm loan with Trustmark National Bank for the Trinity Shores senior living facility in Port Lavaca, Texas. (Read More)
Mortgage Volume Helps Banks
August 10, 2009NEW YORK-For a pair of bank holding companies, the mortgage business was good for their second-quarter results. Comm Bancorp Inc., Clarks Summit, Pa., saw its mortgage income increase 175% from the same period one year prior. (Read More)
SEC Reduces Naked Short Selling
August 10, 2009WASHINGTON-The Securities and Exchange Commission has made permanent an interim rule aimed at reducing the potential for so-called naked short selling of stock, a practice that during the financial crisis last year was a particular concern for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares. (Read More)
Barclays Loses $1.1B On U.S. Subprime
August 10, 2009LONDON-Barclays PLC here saw a $1.1 billion loss on its U.S subprime loans during the first half of 2009 but the London banking company still generated £2.98 billion ($5.05 billion) in pretax profit for the period. (Read More)
Chase Offers 1% Cash Back Option
August 10, 2009ISELIN, NJ-Chase on Aug. 1 launched a program where customers who choose to pay their new Chase home loan mortgages regularly through Chase checking account debits can get 1% of their total scheduled monthly principal and interest back through a new patent-pending program. (Read More)
Elliott & Co. Appraisers Now Offers BPOs
August 10, 2009NEW YORK-Elliott & Co. Appraisers started out in 1980 as a two-person company in Greensboro, N.C., performing only local appraisals and evaluations. It now does business in all 50 states and continues to expand its array of services. The latest addition to the Elliott line is broker price opinions. (Read More)
Equity National Acquires Secured Collateral
August 10, 2009EAST PROVIDENCE, RI-Equity National, a privately held title and settlement services company here, acquired Secured Collateral of Jacksonville, Fla., in an effort to move from being a regional player to being a national one. (Read More)
Fannie Mae Loss Lessens
August 10, 2009WASHINGTON-Fannie Mae lost $14.8 billion during the second quarter, a smaller loss than the $23 billion it lost during the first quarter. (Read More)
FHA Gets Added Loan Authority
August 10, 2009WASHINGTON-Congress has passed a bill that provides the Federal Housing Administration with additional loan commitment authority so FHA can continue to endorse single-family loans through Sept. 30 without interruption. (Read More)
Split Ruling, FICO Case Will Go On
August 10, 2009STAMFORD, CT-The war of words between FICO, Minneapolis, and VantageScore Solutions LLC here continues after a U.S. District Court judge's ruling gave both sides something to crow about. (Read More)
GMAC Takes $1.6B Loss on Mortgages
August 10, 2009NEW YORK-GMAC Financial Services had an after-tax net loss of $3.9 billion for the second quarter, which includes a $1.6 million loss on the disposition of international mortgage assets and provision, impairments and reserves on U.S. mortgage assets. (Read More)
Treasury Report: Banks Aren't Meeting Loan Mod Goals
August 10, 2009WASHINGTON-Some of the largest banks scored poorly on the Treasury Department's first progress report on the implementation of the president's loan modification program. (Read More)
Nationalmortgagenews.com: Regulators Seek Relief for Banks
August 10, 2009Federal regulators are working on providing capital relief for banks that have to bring securitized assets back on their balance sheets due to a change in the accounting rules that goes into effect at yearend. Regulators told a Senate panel they cannot delay the impact of the Financial Accounting Standard 167 on a bank's leverage-capital ratio. (Read More)
Foreclosure Activity Increases in New York in 2Q
August 10, 2009NEW YORK-Foreclosure filings on 13,664 properties in New York during the second quarter represented a 15% decrease compared to the second quarter of 2008 and a 24% increase over the first quarter of 2009 - well above the national increase of 11%. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Protecting Against Loan Abuse
August 10, 2009Excerpts of Ms. Bair's recent statement before the House Financial Services Committee are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
PEOPLE
August 10, 2009CALIFORNIA Irvine-Sorrento Capital named Steve Ozonian as its executive chairman of the board. (Read More)
Regulatory Pressure Seen Driving Some Whole Loan Sales
August 10, 2009Regulatory pressure has been driving some more distressed whole loan and real estate-owned pools transactions recently but the private-label mortgage-backed securities market remains a hurdle. (Read More)
Moody's: Tough Times for Aussie MBS
August 10, 2009NEW YORK-The negative outlook for Australian residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities is expected to persist for another 12 to 18 months, according to the Sydney office of Moody's here. (Read More)
Canada Overdues Lower Than U.S.
August 10, 2009TORONTO-Cross-border differences in certain loan underwriting and servicing practices may be among reasons why Canadian mortgage delinquency rates during the recent financial crisis have come in a lot lower than U.S. mortgage delinquency rates, according to Robert Elliott, a partner with the Canadian law firm Fasken Martineau. (Read More)
Grapevine Posters Compare New Regs
August 10, 2009The following is a compilation of several threads on mortgagegrapevine.com commenting on how changes in industry rules and regulations are impacting business. (Read More)
2ds a Mod Problem
August 10, 2009WASHINGTON-Federal regulators are urging banks to be realistic about the value of their second liens so they don't obstruct modifications of first mortgages that they service for other investors. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Here's a Real Paradigm Change
August 10, 2009People are always talking about paradigm changes in the mortgage business. In fact they come along so often they are almost a paradigm a dozen. But recently I came across what I think really does constitute one. (Read More)
HSBC Results Are Mixed Bag
August 10, 2009LONDON-The latest results from HSBC Holdings PLC here and its subsidiaries show mortgage business in the United States and two other regions improving in some respects, but runoff of troubled legacy assets still leaves U.S. operations with net losses. (Read More)
GSEs Were Tough Job
August 10, 2009WASHINGTON-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were already well on a downward slope when James Lockhart was appointed three years ago to be their regulator. (Read More)
TBW/CBG Crash Hurts Many
August 10, 2009OCALA, FL-This is how swiftly the end of the line came for Taylor, Bean & Whitaker here. On Aug. 1, the company was actively soliciting for new mortgage business at the California Association of Mortgage Brokers trade show in San Diego. By Aug. 5, the announcement came that it was halting all origination activity. (Read More)
Can the Loan Mod Program Goals Be Met?
August 10, 2009DALLAS-Servicing industry specialists came together at the SourceMedia Best Practices in Loss Mitigation Conference here to discuss the latest developments in the president's plan on loan modifications, as well as the hot topics of hiring qualified loss mit consultants and getting them trained to handle increased volumes of defaults. The roundtable attendees also discussed how technology is helping servicers in the pre- and post-foreclosure process. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
August 10, 2009Company 8/6/2009 7/30/2009 Wkly.% Chg. 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi % Chg. P/E Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 10.87 9.74 12% 5.85 30.00 85.81% 40.22 Bank of America (BAC) 16.67 13.95 19% 2.53 39.50 558.89% 27.31 Bank of Hawaii (BOH) 40.51 37.93 7% 25.33 70.00 59.93% 12.56 Dime Community (DCOM) 12.09 12.11 -0% 6.46 20.00 87.15% 17.67 Doral Financial (DRL) 2.34 2.38 -2% 1.61 19.50 45.34% n/a Fiserv Inc. (FISV) 47.28 47.81 -1% 27.75 54.67 70.38% 19.81 Fidelity National (FNF) 15.03 14.21 6% 6.66 22.85 125.68% n/a Fannie Mae (FNM) 0.78 0.58 35% 0.30 12.66 160.43% n/a Freddie Mac (FRE) 0.83 0.60 39% 0.25 7.23 232.76% n/a Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) 14.24 14.01 2% 7.46 20.97 90.88% 14.18 Kaufman & Broad (KBH) 17.19 16.52 4% 6.90 25.43 149.13% n/a Ocean Financial (OCFC) 12.46 12.42 0% 7.13 23.00 74.75% 10.58 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 3.53 2.21 60% 0.26 5.43 1257.69% n/a Radian Group (RDN) 6.97 3.42 104% 0.95 7.50 633.68% n/a Notes: NMN compares last Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Top Retail Online Originators in 1Q09
August 10, 2009Online Retail Orig Vol Rank Organization Name Location 1Q 09 1Q 08 % change 1 Quicken Loans Inc.Livonia, MI $6,800 $4,190 62% 2 ChaseIselin, NJ $4,707 $3,301 43% 3 SunTrust Mortgage Inc.Richmond, VA $863 $371 133% 4 Navy FCUMerrifield, VA $792 $765 4% 5 MetLife Home LoansMemphis, TN $611 na na 6 SurePoint LendingLouisville, KY $384 na na 7 Provident Funding AssociatesBurlingame, CA $317 $221 43% 8 American Internet MortgageSan Diego, CA $281 $273 3% 9 Branch Banking & Trust Co.Wilson, NC $248 $45 451% 10 HSBC Mortgage Corp. USADepew, NY $217 $74 194% Top 10 Totals: $15,220 $9,239 65% Totals Submitted: $23,641 $14,289 65% Notes: QDR defines an online origination as any new loan where the consumer applied or pre-applied online. Some firms include their tele-sales numbers in with their online volume. (Read More)
Encomia: Nowadays A Lot of Lenders are Automating Loss Mitigation
August 10, 2009HOUSTON-Andrew Dubinsky, president and CEO of Encomia, a provider of e-lending software solutions, is seeing more lenders use technology for loss mitigation, specifically around the adoption of electronic modifications or at the very least, getting approval from the borrower electronically to do modifications. (Read More)
Analysis: Tech Vendors Need to Add Value
August 10, 2009FORT WORTH, TX-Lenders don't have the budget for nice-to-have technology, so vendors have to increasingly step up to prove their worth in order to remain viable. (Read More)
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August 17, 2009
Fraud Abating? No Time Soon
August 17, 2009SAVANNAH, GA-Anyone who thought the meltdown in housing finance would bring some relief from the onslaught of mortgage fraud had best think again. (Read More)
Loan Originator Testing Begins
August 17, 2009SAVANNAH, GA-A "psychometrically valid" mortgage originator loan test that meets the requirements of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act is now available for all state licensed originators. (Read More)
48 States Meet SAFE Act Deadline
August 17, 2009SAVANNAH, GA-In what is being praised as practically warp speed for legislation, all but two states have now acted to implement provisions of the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act. (Read More)
Home Prices Rise 5% in Quarter
August 17, 2009TRUCKEE, CA-As debates over the real meaning of recent price changes continue, data show further overall price improvements. (Read More)
EDITORIAL: Big Tent/Little Tent
August 17, 2009The cratering of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, Ocala, Fla., and the seemingly imminent demise of Colonial Bank Group, Montgomery, Ala., have enormous potential repercussions for the mortgage industry. (Read More)
Equifax: Revenue Up
August 17, 2009ATLANTA-Operating revenue from mortgage reporting solutions at Equifax here was up 60% for the second quarter over the same period last year. (Read More)
FHLB Earnings Top $1B
August 17, 2009WASHINGTON-The 12 Federal Home Loan Banks reported combined earnings of $1.1 billion in the second quarter, up over 200% from the previous quarter and over 50% from a year ago. (Read More)
GMAC Strikes Asset Management Deal
August 17, 2009CHARLOTTE, NC-GMAC-ResCap has entered into a servicing arrangement with Mountain Funding LLC here, a national real estate investment company, to provide asset servicing and consulting advice for some of the REO assets in GMAC-ResCap's business capital group portfolio. (Read More)
GSE Buybacks Will Increase
August 17, 2009WASHINGTON-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are bracing for higher mortgage defaults and anticipate forcing their seller/servicers to buy back even more loans in the quarters ahead. (Read More)
MBA Study: Originations Earned $184 Apiece in Second Half
August 17, 2009WASHINGTON-Independent mortgage bankers eked out a profit of $184 on each loan originated in the second half of 2008, according to a new study issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)
Ocwen to Service NPLs for Freddie Mac
August 17, 2009WASHINGTON-Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC has inked a deal to be the interim servicer on 24,000 nonperforming Freddie Mac single-family loans with a principal balance of $4.4 billion. (Read More)
OPEN FORUM: Sustainable Loan Modifications
August 17, 2009Sen. Durbin's remarks before the Center for American Progress are presented as our Open Forum. (First of two parts.) Ten thousand American families a day are seeing their homes lost and their security shattered by this foreclosure disaster. Ten thousand families every single day. For each of those families, the loss of their home leaves deep financial and emotional wounds that will take years, if not decades, to heal. But they are not the only ones hurt by this crisis. (Read More)
PEOPLE
August 17, 2009ARIZONA Phoenix-CCG Catalyst, a provider of strategic guidance for banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders and other financial organizations, named Pamela Mitchell as senior vice president, client relations. (Read More)
IL Sees 86% Spike in Defaults
August 17, 2009IRVINE, CA-Efforts by the government to delay foreclosures do not appear to be stopping the tsunami of foreclosure actions taking place in states like Illinois, where activity increased almost 35% in July, boosted by an 86% surge in default notices, which bounced back from low levels in May and June, according to the latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac here. (Read More)
CMBS Moves Limited; Credit, Origination Still Challenges
August 17, 2009While government programs have made some headway in tightening spreads in at least the top-rated portion of the commercial mortgage-backed securities market, their impact is limited and both credit and new origination remain challenges. (Read More)
UBS Exposures Down
August 17, 2009ZURICH-UBS during the second quarter still was working on reducing monoline insurance risks that can be traced partially back to U.S. residential real estate finance exposures, but it said in an earnings report that as of July it had agreed to commute certain trades with insurers, mitigating those bond insurance risks. (Read More)
Some Good News for RBS on Mortgage Front
August 17, 2009EDINBURGH, Scotland-Troubled legacy assets from the Royal Bank of Scotland's U.S. mortgage business appear likely to continue casting a long shadow over the government-controlled company's financials into 2010, but there also are some bright spots in the company's more recent U.S. residential real finance activity that could offset this to some extent. (Read More)
Wells Adjusts Loan Apps
August 17, 2009MISSISSAUGA, Ontario-Wells Fargo Financial Corp. Canada is no longer accepting residential mortgage applications through its consumer branch and indirect broker network channels. (Read More)
LETTERS: Founder of TBW in 1982 Reflects on the Company
August 17, 2009To the editor: My name is John A. Smaldone and I was the founder of Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Corp. I formed TBW in late 1982. My attorney who formed the company for me is a local Ocala attorney, Doc Blanchard. I sold TBW to a bank out of Peoria, Ill., First Security Federal Savings and Loan in 1987. Taylor, Bean & Whitaker was my pride and joy. My production manager, Gary Covaleski, remained on after the sale and was managing operations. (Read More)
INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT: JOSEPH J. MURIN
August 17, 2009Mr. Murin, the president of the Government National Mortgage Association, resigned effective Aug. 14. No successor for him has yet been chosen, according to Ginnie Mae. Mr. Murin served for a little more than a year. (Read More)
Movement on NPLs?
August 17, 2009WASHINGTON-Bank of America is set to auction off $90 million in nonperforming and current loans and PHH Corp. is sending out feelers on a $15 m