MortgageWire Stories from 2002

Analyst: Fannie's 3rd Forecast Still High

Fannie Mae has lowered its 2002 mortgage origination estimate for the second time in a month (from $1.9 trillion to $1.6 trillion), but a senior analyst at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray says that's still too high. (Read More)

Affinity Exits Mortgage Banking

Affinity Technology Group Inc., Columbia, S.C., has exited the mortgage banking business by tendering the stock of its subsidiary Surety Mortgage Inc. to HomeGold Inc. (Read More)

COFI Shatters Record Low -- Again

Continuing its downward slide, the Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index shattered the record low it set in October by falling an additional 26 basis points in November. (Read More)

New MI Dips in November

The dollar volume of primary mortgage insurance written in November totaled $24.7 billion, according to the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America, the industry trade group. (Read More)

Greystone Forms Franchise Servicing Unit

Greystone Servicing Corp., a New York-based commercial loan servicer, has announced the formation of a Franchise Servicing Division in Warrenton, Va. (Read More)

REIT Completes Spinoff of Five Star

Senior Housing Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Newton, Mass., has completed the spinoff to its shareholders of its former subsidiary, Five Star Quality Care Inc. (Read More)

Marriott Selling 8 Hotels

Marriott International, a Washington-based hospitality company, is selling eight hotel properties to CNL Hospitality, Orlando, Fla., for approximately $181 million in cash. (Read More)

Ventas Reduces Leverage

Ventas Inc., Louisville, Ky., has reported a reduction in its leverage and its cost of debt by paying $10 million to cut the outstanding principal balance of its amended credit agreement to $623 million. (Read More)

Swedish Firm to Sell Oslo CRE

Swedish construction and management company NCC, Stockholm, has agreed to sell commercial real estate in Oslo, Norway, for approximately SEK 220 million (about $20.9 million). (Read More)

GreenPoint Exits MH Lending

GreenPoint Financial Corp., New York, is exiting the manufactured housing lending business just three years after acquiring the second-largest originator of these loans. (Read More)

Apps Plunge 40%

Mortgage applications plunged 39.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Dec. 28 as the Purchase Index nose-dived from its record high and the Refinance Index fell below 1000, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

New FHA Loan Limits Take Effect

The Federal Housing Administration is now insuring single-family mortgages of up to $261,609 in high-cost areas and up to $144,336 in places where costs are not out of sight. (Read More)

YSP Hearing Slated

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., will hold a hearing Jan. 8 on predatory lending and abusive uses of yield-spread premiums. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Dip

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell slightly to 7.14% for the week ending Jan. 4 from 7.16% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Moody's OKs Radian Lien Protection

Radian Guaranty Inc., Philadelphia, has announced that Moody's Investors Service has approved Radian Lien Protection for use with refinances, second mortgages, and home equity loans. (Read More)

Malan Rating Under Review

Moody's Investors Service has placed its B3 rating on Malan Realty Investors Inc.'s convertible subordinated debentures under review "with direction uncertain." (Read More)

BRT Names New CEO

Jeffrey Gould has been named chief executive officer of BRT Realty Trust, Great Neck, N.Y. (Read More)

Wilshire Buys Back 4.17MM Shares

Wilshire Financial Services Group, Portland, Ore., has repurchased approximately 4.17 million shares of its common stock at $2.40 per share from entities affiliated with American Express Financial Advisors Inc. (Read More)

e-Net Changes Name to Anza Capital

E-Net Financial.com Corp., Costa Mesa, Calif., the parent company of American Residential Funding, has changed its name to Anza Capital Inc. (Read More)

Nehemiah Touts Milestone

Nehemiah Corp., Sacramento, Calif., has reported reaching the 100,000 mark in downpayment assistance with a downpayment "gifted" to the McMichael family of Louisville, Ky. (Read More)

Mortgage Job Gain Biggest in a Year

Employment in the mortgage industry jumped 2.7% in December while the nation's unemployment rate edged up to 5.8%. (Read More)

Will CRE Insurance Premiums Skyrocket?

Commercial property owners could see their insurance premiums skyrocket 40%-70% this year as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to Elkins/Jones, a Los Angeles-based insurance brokerage firm. (Read More)

CWMBS Class Downgraded

Class B-6 of CWMBS Inc.'s mortgage pass-through certificates Series 1993-E has been downgraded from CC to D by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

S&P Eyes Merrill Lynch MBS Class

Class G of Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Inc.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates Series 1996-C2 has been placed on CreditWatch with negative implications by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

New CEO Named at Conseco Finance

Charles H. "Chuck" Cremens has been named president and chief executive officer of Conseco Finance Corp., St. Paul, Minn., succeeding Bruce Crittenden. (Read More)

Euro CMBS Issuance Surged in '01

European commercial mortgage-backed securities issuance surged nearly 160% in 2001, topping the 18 billion euro (about $16 billion) mark, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Freddie Passes $200B in RefNotes

Freddie Mac plans to launch a new $7 billion, 10-year Reference Note that will bring the amount of outstanding Reference Notes and Bonds to $202.5 billion. (Read More)

Feedback

Should the Treasury Department take the lead in developing "best practices" for subprime lending? (Read More)

Homestore Hires CEO, COO, CFO

Homestore.com Inc., the struggling online real estate listing service based in Westlake Village, Calif., has announced a new management team, and the company's stock has resumed trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. (Read More)

WaMu Becomes Top Originator

Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, has announced the completion of its acquisition of Dime Bancorp Inc., New York, making it the largest mortgage originator in the United States. (Read More)

JP Morgan to Buy 3rd-Party Servicer

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., New York, and Systems & Services Technologies Inc., St. Joseph, Mo., have announced a definitive agreement under which JPMorgan will acquire SST, a wholly owned subsidiary of III Associates. (Read More)

GSE to Integrate e-Cognita CRE Software

Freddie Mac will integrate Birmingham, Mich.-based e-Cognita's Lexicon document authoring system into its existing system for its multifamily mortgage transactions. (Read More)

LendingTree Releases New Version of Lend-X

LendingTree, Charlotte, N.C., has released a new version of its Lend-X technology, a Web-enabled system that facilitates online lending. (Read More)

LandSafe, Ellie Mae Form Alliance

LandSafe Inc., Plano, Texas, has announced an alliance with mortgage technology provider Ellie Mae that will give mortgage brokers and lenders instant access to LandSafe's credit services via Ellie Mae's ePASS Business Center. (Read More)

Radian Rebranding 3 Subs

Radian Group Inc., Philadelphia, has announced that it is rebranding three of its subsidiary units to the Radian name. (Read More)

Capital Senior, Blackstone Join Forces

Capital Senior Living Corp., Dallas, has formed a joint venture with Blackstone Real Estate Advisors to invest in senior housing properties. (Read More)

OneCap Offers Trust Deed Investments

OneCap, Las Vegas, is offering short-term trust deed investments secured by real estate to private investors through its Private Client Services division. (Read More)

S&P Eyeing Argentine Mortgage Bonds

Standard & Poor's has placed the CCC-plus ratings of the class A1 and A2 bonds of Argentina's BHN II Mortgage Trust, Series 1997-1 and BHN III Mortgage Trust, Series 1997-2 on CreditWatch with negative implications. (Read More)

MBA Calls for Broker Comp Disclosure

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America has recommended that the Department of Housing and Urban Development require upfront disclosures of a mortgage broker's total compensation to prevent abuses involving yield-spread premiums. (Read More)

WaMu to Cut 2,300 Dime Jobs, But…

Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, has announced that it will cut 2,300 jobs over the next several months as it moves to consolidate Dime Bancorp, New York, and its North American Mortgage Corp. unit into its overall operation. (Read More)

Charter One Seeks Bank Charter

Charter One Financial Inc., Cleveland, has announced that its principal subsidiary, Charter One Bank FSB, has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to convert from a thrift charter to a national bank charter. (Read More)

Micro General Buys Expeditrix Tech

Micro General Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., a leading provider of production and workflow software systems to the title and real estate industries, has acquired the technology assets of Expeditrix Corp., Austin, Texas, and its real estate closing product, SmartClose. (Read More)

Conseco Blasts SSB Report

Executives at Conseco Inc., Carmel, Ind., have sent a letter to stockholders characterizing a Salomon Smith Barney research report on the company as "absurd." (Read More)

BofA MH Classes Downgraded

Six classes of BankAmerica Manufactured Housing Contract Trust series 1997-1 and 1997-2 have been downgraded by Fitch. (Read More)

Kmart RE-Backed Bonds Downgraded

Series F and G of Kmart Funding Corp.'s secured lease bonds and series 1995 K-1 and K-2 of Kmart Corp.'s Pass-Through Trusts have been downgraded from BB-plus to B-plus by Fitch. (Read More)

Survey Finds Good News, Bad News for CRE

Commercial real estate values fell only about 1% in the United States after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, but the good news is tempered by an expected surge in property casualty insurance rates, according to a survey of real estate investors by Integra Realty Resources Inc., New York. (Read More)

3 to Become DTCC Subs

The shareholders of the Mortgage-Backed Securities Clearing Corp., the Government Securities Clearing Corp., and the Emerging Markets Clearing Corp. have approved a plan for the three organizations to become subsidiaries of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (Read More)

RMBS Issuance Up in UK, Ireland

The issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities in 2001 increased 5% in the United Kingdom's "prime" credit quality market and 10.9% in Ireland, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Moody's: Belgian Deal Issuance 'Modest'

Belgian securitization activity, including the issuance of mortgage product, was "modest" in 2001, Moody's Investors Service has reported. (Read More)

Hanover Names New CFO

J. Holly Loux has been named chief financial officer of Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., a New York-based mortgage real estate investment trust. (Read More)

Freddie Prices $6B of RefNotes

Freddie Mac has priced $6 billion of 3.25%, two-year Reference Notes due Jan. 15, 2004. (Read More)

Ellis Closes CRE Fund

CB Richard Ellis, Los Angeles, has closed its CB Richard Ellis Strategic Partners II fund. (Read More)

Radian Sells $200MM of Debentures

Radian Group Inc., Philadelphia, has announced the sale of $200 million of its 2.25% senior convertible debentures to institutional buyers. (Read More)

Alltel Re-elected to MISMO Panel

Alltel, Little Rock, Ark., has been re-elected to serve on the governance committee of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization. (Read More)

It's Official: GHR Buys Ultraprise

Ultraprise, Frederick, Md., the struggling business-to-business mortgage technology firm, is no more. (Read More)

Trade Groups Back YSP Disclosure

Four trade groups are backing a model mortgage broker disclosure form that Mortgage Bankers Association of America chairman-elect John Courson described at a Senate hearing Jan. 8. (Read More)

Irwin Seeks Overturn of YSP Class Action

Irwin Mortgage Corp. has filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision that led to the certification of a yield-spread premium class action lawsuit against the Indianapolis lender. (Read More)

MBS Speeds Jump for Seasoned Issues

Prepayment rates for agency mortgage-backed securities increased significantly among seasoned issues in the December reporting period, according to the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary. (Read More)

Near-Record Home Sales Seen for '02

Sales of new and existing homes will set records for 2001, and near-record levels are expected for this year, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

CMBS Issuance Hit $70B

Issuance of commercial mortgage-backed securities reached $70 billion in 2001, a 44% year-over-year increase, and a similar level is possible this year, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

ARMs Slide to 12% of Market

Adjustable-rate mortgages fell from 23% of the market in 2000 to only 12% in 2001, their lowest market share since the all-time low of 11% recorded in 1998, according to Freddie Mac's 18th annual ARM survey. (Read More)

Kmart-Linked Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Six classes of CNC's series 1994-1 pass-through certificates, secured in part by Kmart Corp. leases, have been downgraded by Fitch. (Read More)

Fed OKs Office for German Mortgage Bank

The U.S. Federal Reserve has approved a request by Allgemeine HypothekenBank Rheinboden AG, Germany's largest mortgage bank, to establish a representative office in New York. (Read More)

CarrAmerica Prices Senior Notes

CarrAmerica Realty Corp., a Washington-based company that owns, operates, and develops office properties, has priced a $400 million offering of 10-year senior unsecured notes. (Read More)

Thomson to Keep NMN, Other Pubs

Thomson Corp., the business information giant based in Toronto, said late Wednesday it has decided not to sell National Mortgage News, American Banker, The Bond Buyer and other financial services publications it owns. (Read More)

Applications Jump

Mortgage applications increased 29.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Jan. 4, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Decline

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 7.06% for the week ending Jan. 11 from 7.14% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

FNIS Launches RE Broker Tools

Fidelity National Information Solutions, Santa Barbara, Calif., a national provider of real estate-related transaction management and technology systems, has announced the release of two real estate broker-agent productivity tools. (Read More)

Countrywide Reports Record Fundings

Every month appears to be a record month for Countrywide Credit Industries, Calabasas, Calif., and December was no exception. (Read More)

Freddie Prices Record RefNote

Freddie Mac has priced a record-setting $7 billion of 10-year Reference Notes bearing an interest rate of 5.75%. (Read More)

Koger Buys Trophy Tower in Atlanta

Koger Equity, a Florida-based owner and operator of office buildings, is acquiring Three Ravinia Drive, an 805,972-square-foot "trophy" office building in Atlanta for $125 million in cash. (Read More)

Charter One Touts 1.99% HELOC Rate

Charter One Financial Inc., Cleveland, is offering a 1.99% introductory annual percentage rate on home equity lines of credit that it says is one of the lowest rates in the country. (Read More)

Advisory Firm Hires 2 in RE Securities

Neuberger Berman LLC, a New York-based investment advisory company, has hired Steven R. Brown and Elizabeth Reagan as managing directors to develop the company's institutional real estate securities effort. (Read More)

EastGroup Closes $175MM LOC

EastGroup Properties, Jackson, Miss., has closed a new three-year, $175 million unsecured revolving credit facility with a group of 10 banks headed by Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank. (Read More)

Forum Grapples With FHLBank Membership

Nearly 180 stakeholders in the Federal Home Loan Bank System attended a closed-door forum Jan 10 to thrash out a host of issues surrounding multidistrict membership. (Read More)

Treasury Names GSE Deputy

The Treasury Department has named Patrick Cave to be deputy assistant secretary for financial institutions and government-sponsored enterprise policy. (Read More)

Fitch: Outlook Negative for Consumer Finance

The rating outlook for the consumer finance sector is "decidedly" negative, according to a report from Fitch titled "U.S. Consumer Finance Industry: Challenges Ahead." (Read More)

Delta Funding Eyes MBS Values

Delta Funding Residual Exchange Co. LLC, Woodbury, N.Y., is reviewing its mortgage-related securities to determine how large a fair-value adjustment it should make to their value. (Read More)

Lehman Sees 7% Return on REIT Stocks

Real estate investment trust equities will provide a total return of about 7% this year, and the Morgan Stanley REIT index will end the year at about 440, according to a Lehman Brothers report. (Read More)

Argentines to Get Mortgage Protection?

Borrowers in financially and politically troubled Argentina have reportedly been told that they will be protected from the effects of the country's turmoil if they have mortgage balances under $100,000 -- a development that may mean the country's banks will be responsible for the risk. (Read More)

LandSafe Launches 'Premier' Fee Panel Program

LandSafe Inc., a provider of real estate information and closing services based in Plano, Texas, has named Karen VanGordon to direct a new program to create a "Premier Panel" of top appraisers. (Read More)

Homeless Council Gets New Director

Phil Mangano has been named executive director of the Interagency Homeless Council by Housing Secretary Mel Martinez. (Read More)

Feedback

Many mortgage brokers are angry at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America for backing mandatory disclosure of yield-spread premiums. (Read More)

FDIC Closing Alliance

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has ordered subprime wholesaler Alliance Funding Corp., Orangeburg, N.Y., to stop taking all new loan applications, sources have told MortgageWire. (Read More)

Fed: High Cap Rules Benefit GSEs

Unnecessarily high capital requirements on prime mortgage loans increase the likelihood that banks will securitize the loans with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a Federal Reserve Board research paper. (Read More)

Let FHA Waive Reverse Premiums?

The Federal Housing Administration should be able to waive its upfront insurance premium on reverse mortgages when a senior plans to use the funds to pay for health-related expenses, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. (Read More)

CharterMac Eyes Structure, Revenue Sources

Charter Municipal Mortgage Acceptance Co., New York, has announced the formation of a special committee to explore strategic options involving its management structure and revenue sources. (Read More)

Fannie Reports Another Record Year

Fannie Mae has reported its 15th consecutive year of record earnings, with net income of $5.89 billion ($5.72 per share) for 2001, up from $4.45 billion ($4.29 per share) in 2000. (Read More)

S&P Sees Strong RMBS Market

The U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities market should have another strong year in 2002 if the expected economic recovery occurs, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Fitch: Household Outlook 'Negative'

Fitch has dropped its rating outlook for Household International, Prospect Heights, Ill., from Stable to Negative. (Read More)

Household Units Enter Settlement Pact

Meanwhile, Household International announced that its Household Finance Corp. of California and Beneficial California Inc. business units have entered into a settlement agreement with the California Department of Corporations regarding alleged lending violations. (Read More)

3 Firms Buy Dutch RE Company

Westfield America Trust, Simon Property Group, and The Rouse Co. are jointly purchasing the assets of Rodamco North America, a Netherlands-based property company, for $5.3 billion. (Read More)

FNIS Buys Tech Firm

Fidelity National Information Solutions, Santa Barbara, Calif., has acquired ISDI.net, Honolulu, an information technology, systems integration, and consulting firm that provides software to the real estate broker and agent market. (Read More)

Mexico Forms Federal Mortgage Bank

A federal mortgage bank that has been created in Mexico is expected to lead to the development of primary and secondary mortgage markets in the country in 2002, Standard & Poor's has reported. (Read More)

MBS Web Trading Platform Launched in Brazil

An electronic marketplace for mortgage-backed securities in Brazil has been launched by ePIT Systems. (Read More)

NAHB: Rates Won't Sink Home Sales

A National Association of Home Builders economist does not believe that recent increases in mortgage interest rates will have much effect on housing sales, despite comments by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan. (Read More)

HUD Issues Nonprofit Standards

As part of its crackdown on nonprofit organizations, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued new standards for Federal Housing Administration lenders doing business with nonprofit groups. (Read More)

Fannie Donates $300MM to Foundation

The Fannie Mae Foundation has received a new $300 million contribution of common stock from Fannie Mae that the foundation says will boost its philanthropic activity to $1 billion over a decade. (Read More)

S&P Eyes Conseco-Linked MH Classes

The senior classes of six 1999 securitizations backed by manufactured housing loans and linked to Conseco Finance Corp. have been placed on CreditWatch with negative implications by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

New Plan Buying 92 Shop Centers

New Plan Excel Realty Trust, New York, is acquiring 92 community and neighborhood shopping centers for approximately $654 million, including the assumption of approximately $300 million of debt. (Read More)

MGIC's RE Index Declines

An index of single-family real estate market conditions fell in the fourth quarter to its lowest level since the first quarter of 1996, according to Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., Milwaukee. (Read More)

Delta Projects 4Q Profit

Delta Financial Corp., Woodbury, N.Y., says it expects to post an after-tax profit of $0.20 per share for the fourth quarter of 2001. (Read More)

Record Touted for LockPoint Xtra

Ignition Mortgage Technology Solutions Inc., Sausalito, Calif., formerly Tuttle Decision Systems Inc., has reported that its LockPoint Xtra electronic rate-locking product was used for over $35 billion in commitments in 2001, up $3 billion from the total in 2000. (Read More)

S&P Spotlights Liquidating CMBS Deals in Japan

Nearly a third of the total commercial mortgage-backed securities issuance in Japan in 2001 consisted of liquidating pool transactions, according to the Standard & Poor's structured finance group in Tokyo. (Read More)

Moody's: CMBS Big Share of Asian Deals

Commercial mortgage-backed securities, consumer finance, and collateralized debt obligations made up the bulk of securitization activity in Asia over the past year, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

MBA Vexed Over Freddie G-Fee Floor

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America says it is concerned that a public statement by Freddie Mac concerning its guarantee fees could create the perception of what it calls "signaling," adding that it "could be interpreted by some as laying the groundwork for potential collusion." (Read More)

HUD Announces Lender Sanctions

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced the termination of a nationwide lender from the Federal Housing Administration single-family loan program. (Read More)

Applications Rise

Mortgage applications increased 1.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Jan. 11, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Dot-Com Forms Mortgage Brokerage

USIP.com Inc., Liverpool, N.Y., has announced the formation of Platinum Funding Corp. to develop a real estate-based mortgage brokerage business. (Read More)

Hotel Execs Form HEI Hospitality

Four hotel industry executives have joined together to create HEI Hospitality, a Norwalk, Conn.-based "ownership and management organization" that will invest up to $300 million in full-service hotels over the next 18 months. (Read More)

Kmart-Linked Lease Deals Downgraded

Ratings on 14 Kmart Corp.-related credit lease transactions have been lowered from BB to B-minus and placed on CreditWatch with negative implications by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

WaMu Touts Record Earnings

Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, has reported record earnings of $3.11 billion ($3.59 per share) for 2001, up from $1.90 billion ($2.36 per share) in 2000. (Read More)

Household Reports Record Profits

Household International, Prospect Heights, Ill., has reported record net income of $1.9 billion ($4.08 per share) for 2001, up 13% from $1.7 billion ($3.55 per share) in 2000. (Read More)

Master Financial Unveils EZ Select

Master Financial Inc., Orange, Calif., has introduced EZ Select, a first-trust deed mortgage featuring 100% loan-to-value ratios and loan amounts of up to $275,000. (Read More)

Saxon Sees Heavy Trading on 1st Day

Saxon Capital, the parent company of Saxon Mortgage, saw heavy trading Wednesday morning, its first day as a publicly traded firm listed on the Nasdaq National Market. (Read More)

Mortgage REIT Prices Stock Offering

America First Mortgage Investments Inc., New York, has priced a public offering of 6.5 million shares of its common stock at $8.25 per share. (Read More)

Clarification

In a recent item headlined "Delta Funding Eyes MBS Values," the entity referred to -- Delta Funding Residual Exchange Co. LLC, Woodbury, N.Y. -- is not affiliated with Delta Funding Corp., also of Woodbury. (Read More)

Rates Dive

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate plunged to 6.83% for the week ending Jan. 18 from 7.06% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Housing Starts Rise

Single-family housing starts rose 3.6% in December as the housing market continued to put in a strong performance. (Read More)

Housing Index Passes Pre-9/11 Level

The NAHB Housing Market Index rose four points to 61 in January, one point higher than its level before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, according to the National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)

Feds Tell Examiners to Ignore HUD Ban

Federal banking regulators are telling examiners to ignore the Department of Housing and Urban Development's prohibition on markups of settlement fees in the three states bound by a 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Echevarria v. Chicago Title and Trust Co. (Read More)

Fannie, JP Morgan Chase Form $35B Alliance

Fannie Mae has teamed up with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., New York, in a national affordable housing alliance that will provide $35 billion in new mortgage and residential construction financing over five years. (Read More)

PMI Boosts Investment in Fairbanks

The PMI Group Inc., San Francisco, officially has increased its equity investment in the parent company of Fairbanks Capital Corp., a Salt Lake City-based special servicer of single-family mortgages, by approximately $15 million. (Read More)

MPF Loans Up 61%

The Federal Home Loan Banks' mortgage purchase program grew by 61% over the past year and ended 2001 with $24.8 billion in loans on the books of participating FHLBanks. (Read More)

Freddie Sees $1.2T in Originations, Strong Home Sales

Freddie Mac is forecasting mortgage originations of $1.2 trillion for this year, but says economic recovery will begin soon and that home sales will slip only 4% from last year's record total. (Read More)

NY Official: Anti-Predatory Reg Working

The director of consumer affairs for the New York State Banking Department says the department's surveys show that the state's predatory lending regulation (Part 41) is working. (Read More)

Homestore.com Continues Inquiry

More disciplinary actions were announced Jan. 17 in connection with Homestore.com's internal accounting inquiry, involving seven employees. (Read More)

Kmart Lease Bonds Downgraded

Kmart Funding Corp.'s secured lease bonds series F and G have been downgraded from B-plus to CCC by Fitch and remain on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

MH Exit Spurs Big Loss at GreenPoint

As a result of its exit from the manufactured housing business, GreenPoint Financial Corp., New York, has reported a net loss of $294.7 million ($3.24 per share) for 2001, compared with net income of $213.1 million ($2.34) for 2000. (Read More)

Golden West Reports Record EPS

Golden West Financial Corp., Oakland, Calif., has reported net earnings of $812.8 million and record earnings per share of $5.07 for 2001, compared with $545.8 million ($3.41 per share) in 2000. (Read More)

Terror Insurance Limited, but Available

Terrorism insurance is still available, although coverage is limited and very expensive, according to the American Insurance Association. (Read More)

NY Acts Against 3 Mortgage Companies

The New York State Banking Department has taken action against three mortgage companies in its first enforcement of the state's high-cost home loan regulation, Part 41. (Read More)

Freddie: LP Use Surged in '01

The use of Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector automated underwriting service surged last year, handling over 7.3 million loan applications -- nearly twice its volume in 2000, according to the government-sponsored enterprise. (Read More)

Waterfield to Create 200 Jobs

Waterfield Financial Corp., a division of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Waterfield Mortgage Co., has announced that it will create about 200 new jobs to support growth in its private-label fulfillment services division. (Read More)

GMACCM Sues WTC Leaseholders

GMAC Commercial Mortgage, Horsham, Pa., is suing the Silverstein Properties affiliates that hold 99-year leases on the World Trade Center over a dispute relating to the use of the $150 million in insurance proceeds received so far. (Read More)

Kmart-Linked Pass-Thrus Downgraded Again

Six classes of CNC's series 1994-1 pass-through certificates, secured in part by Kmart Corp. leases, have been further downgraded by Fitch in the wake of its second recent downgrade of the troubled retailer's corporate credit. (Read More)

Colliers: Low Office Demand to Persist

Sluggish demand for office space is likely to continue for another six to nine months, according to Colliers International, a Boston-based global partnership of more than 40 commercial real estate firms. (Read More)

MISMO Panel Elects Officers

David Barkley of Freddie Mac has been elected to chair the Governance Committee of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, and Lisa Bolelli of First American's Interactive Division has been elected vice-chair. (Read More)

Warrantech to Offer Home Warranty Program

Warrantech Corp., Euless, Texas, has signed a five-year agreement with CRES Insurance Services LLC under which the latter will provide a home warranty program for homebuyers, home sellers, and real estate agents that includes disaster mortgage protection. (Read More)

Love Funding Hires VP

Michael Cadigan has been hired as vice president of Love Funding Corp., a mortgage banking firm based in St. Louis. (Read More)

Monmouth Names EVP

Cynthia J. Morgenstern has been promoted from vice president to executive vice president by Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp., Freehold, N.J. (Read More)

Feedback

Why have so few FHA borrowers refinanced in recent months? (Read More)

Lehman Buys Mortgage Investment Bank

Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers has purchased mortgage investment banking boutique Cohane Rafferty Securities Inc., Harrison, N.Y., for an undisclosed sum. (Read More)

US Bancorp Buys $9B Servicer

U.S. Bancorp, Minneapolis, has agreed to buy The Leader Mortgage Co., Cleveland, the nation's 49th-largest servicer of residential loans. (Read More)

High Court Nixes Further YSP Review

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a petition by Irwin Mortgage Corp. for further review of class certification in a yield-spread premium lawsuit. (Read More)

YSPs Affect Whole Market, HUD Told

In crafting new yield-spread premium disclosures, the Department of Housing and Urban Development should keep in mind that misuse of YSPs is widespread and affects all segments of the mortgage market, including Federal Housing Administration loans, according to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes, D-Md. (Read More)

Oxley Seeks GAO Terror Study

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, has ordered the General Accounting Office to conduct a quick study on the availability of terrorism insurance. (Read More)

Freddie Reports Record '01

Freddie Mac has reported record net income of $4.15 billion ($5.64 per share) for 2001, up from $2.55 billion ($3.40 per share) the year before. (Read More)

Freddie Purchases Set Record

Freddie Mac bought a record $475.1 billion worth of loans in 2001, according to figures released Jan. 22. (Read More)

Mountain Buys Control of Paramount

Mountain Funding, a Charlotte, N.C.-based real estate lending and investment company, has acquired a controlling interest in the Paramount Group of Companies, Boca Raton, Fla., for an undisclosed price. (Read More)

13 FMAC Classes Downgraded

Thirteen classes from four FMAC loan receivables transactions have been downgraded by Fitch. (Read More)

S&P Eyes Kmart-Linked Conseco Class

The AA rating on class A-3 of Conseco Commercial Mortgage Trust I's series 1989-1 commercial mortgage pass-through certificates has been placed on CreditWatch with negative implications by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Home-Link, Chase Mortgage Form Alliance

Home-Link Services Inc., Shelton, Conn., has formed a marketing alliance with Chase Manhattan Mortgage to provide mortgage origination services to HomeLink and its affiliated real estate brokers. (Read More)

Silanis Unveils E-Sign Tech for Originators

Silanis Technology Inc., Montreal, has released the ApproveIt Web Server electronic signature system designed for Web-based mortgage loan origination. (Read More)

Pulte Combines Mexican Units

Pulte Homes Inc., Bloomfield Hills, Mich., has combined its two largest operating entities in Mexico into a single company. (Read More)

Ex-MCI Exec to Head 3 Housing Groups

Patricia Winter, a former director at MCI Worldcom Inc., has been named chief operating officer of three housing trade associations: the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association, the Home Improvement Lenders Association, and the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. (Read More)

COO Elected at Old Republic Units

R. Wayne Shupe has been elected executive vice president and chief operating officer of Old Republic Title Co. and Old Republic Title Holding Co., both based in San Francisco. (Read More)

Fed to Require Subprime Pricing Info

The Federal Reserve Board has ditched a proposal that would have required lenders to report the annual percentage rate on most mortgage loans, but has adopted an alternative that will require pricing information on most subprime mortgage loans for the first time. (Read More)

High Court Rejects CalFed Petition

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to get involved again in the old savings-and-loan goodwill cases that have been kicking around in the federal courts for the past 10 years. (Read More)

Apps Jump as Refis Surge

Mortgage applications jumped 24.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Jan. 18 as refinancings surged, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Study: Monitor GSE Subprime Lending

The Department of Housing and Urban Development needs to closely monitor Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's subprime lending activities, according to an Urban Institute report commissioned by HUD. (Read More)

Martinez Announces Downpayment Fund

Housing Secretary Mel Martinez has announced that the president's budget for next year will include $200 million in new funding to launch the American Dream Downpayment Fund to help low-income families become first-time homeowners. (Read More)

Bear Stearns Class Downgraded

Class B-5 of Bear Stearns Mortgage Securities Inc.'s series 1993-4 has been downgraded from CCC to D by Fitch, and two Bear Stearns securitization classes have been placed on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Kmart P-Ts Downgraded

Series 1995 K-1 and K-2 of Kmart Corp.'s Pass-Through Trusts have been downgraded from CCC to CC by Fitch to reflect the rating agency's view that a "default of some kind seems probable." (Read More)

Freddie Prices Euro RefNote

Freddie Mac has priced a five-year EuroReference Note totaling 5 billion euros (about $4.43 billion). (Read More)

Aames Hires Adviser for Debt Revamp

Aames Financial Corp., Los Angeles, has hired UBS Warburg as a financial adviser to explore options for restructuring its 9.125% senior notes due November 2003 and its 5.5% convertible subordinated debentures due March 2006. (Read More)

Thornburg Touts Record Year

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., has reported record net earnings of $58.4 million and record earnings per share of $2.09 for 2001, compared with $29.1 million ($1.05 per share) in 2000. (Read More)

Equity One Files $250MM Shelf

Equity One, a North Miami Beach, Fla.-based retail real estate investment trust, has filed a shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would allow it to raise up to $250 million through the issuance of securities. (Read More)

Sunrise to Offer $100MM of Notes

Sunrise Assisted Living Inc., McLean, Va., has announced plans to offer a private placement of approximately $100 million of seven-year convertible subordinated notes to qualified institutional buyers. (Read More)

NAB 'Off the Hook' in HomeSide Debacle?

National Australia Bank, Melbourne, wrote down the value of its investment in HomeSide Lending by $2.2 billion last year, but a new independent review of the matter finds no one at the bank responsible for the debacle. (Read More)

OFHEO Finalizes Cap Oversight Rule

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has finalized a rule that spells out the types of supervisory actions it would take if Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac ran into trouble and their capital reserves started to decline. (Read More)

Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.96% for the week ending Jan. 25 from 6.83% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

MBA Sees $1.4T in Originations

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America is predicting that one- to four-family mortgage originations will total $1.41 trillion in 2002, a 27.6% drop from last year's record pace. (Read More)

Fannie Exceeds HUD Goals

Fannie Mae has announced that 51.5% of its business in 2001 served low- and moderate-income families, exceeding the 50% goal set for it by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Read More)

Kmart-Linked Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Six classes of CNC's series 1994-1 pass-through certificates, secured in part by Kmart Corp. leases, have been further downgraded by Fitch and remain in Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Kmart Lease Bonds Downgraded

Meanwhile, series F and G of Kmart Funding Corp.'s secured lease bonds have also been further downgraded by Fitch in the wake of Kmart's bankruptcy filing. (Read More)

S&P Eyes Crescent Ratings

Standard & Poor's has placed its ratings on Crescent Real Estate Equities LP on CreditWatch with negative implications, affecting $400 million in senior unsecured debt. (Read More)

ASC CMBS Classes Under Review

Three classes of Asset Securitization Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1995-MD IV have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch. (Read More)

Countrywide Breaks Record in 10 Months

Countrywide Credit Industries Inc., Calabasas, Calif., has reported unaudited net earnings of $486 million ($3.89 per share) for the 10-month period ended Dec. 31, up 30% from $374 million ($3.14 per share) for the 12-month fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2001. (Read More)

IndyMac Reports '01 Earnings

IndyMac Mortgage Holdings Inc., Pasadena, Calif., the holding company for IndyMac Bank, has reported net earnings of $116.4 million ($1.84 per share) for 2001, compared with $117.9 million ($1.69 per share) in 2000. (Read More)

Farmer Mac Earnings Up in '01

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., Washington, has reported net income of $16.3 million ($1.38 per share) for 2001, compared with $10.4 million ($0.92 per share) in 2000. (Read More)

REIT Prices Public Offering

New Plan Excel Realty Trust, New York, has priced a public offering of 6.0 million of its common shares at $18.52 per share. (Read More)

Resales Dip, but Set Record

Despite a recession and terrorist attacks, 2001 turned out to be a record year for existing-home sales, even though sales in the month of December fell 0.8%. (Read More)

LaFalce Lauds HMDA Reg Overhaul

The Federal Reserve Board's overhaul of its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act regulations is a welcome and overdue change, according to Rep. John LaFalce, D-N.Y. (Read More)

Terror Insurance Problems? Tell MBA

If commercial real estate lenders are having any problems involving terrorism insurance, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America wants to know. (Read More)

MBA Gov't Affairs Post Still Vacant

Meanwhile, the MBA has yet to find a successor to its government affairs chief, even though he left two months ago. (Read More)

Countrywide E-Biz Near 50%

Countrywide Credit Industries Inc., Calabasas, Calif., now does nearly 50% of its business electronically on both the wholesale and retail sides. (Read More)

GE to Buy DaimlerChrysler Portfolios

GE Capital, Stamford, Conn., is acquiring the commercial real estate and asset-based lending portfolios of DaimlerChrysler Capital Services -- through GE's CRE and commercial finance divisions -- in an all-cash transaction valued at $1.2 billion. (Read More)

TBMA Unveils Model Securities Pact

The Bond Market Association, New York, has released a new model agreement that a dealer can use to comply with the association's guidelines on deliveries of offering materials relating to government-sponsored enterprise securities. (Read More)

Blackstone Closes Int'l Fund

The Blackstone Group, New York. has reported the final closing of its Blackstone Real Estate Partners International Fund with 800 million euros (about $692.3 million) in commitments. (Read More)

E-Loan Reports GAAP Profits

Online mortgage lender E-Loan Inc., Dublin, Calif., has reported net income of $1.9 million ($0.03 per share) for the fourth quarter of 2001, the first time it has achieved profitability under generally accepted accounting principles. (Read More)

Freddie to Redeem Preferred Stock

Freddie Mac has announced that it will redeem its 6.125% preferred stock, issued in November 1996, as of Feb. 24. (Read More)

Fannie Prices BenchNote Reopening

Fannie Mae has priced a $4 billion reopening of 5.000% five-year Benchmark Notes at 100.756. (Read More)

Feedback

Ever had to enforce a broker contract? (Read More)

New-Home Sales Up 5.6%, Set Record

Sales of new single-family homes surged 5.6% in December, and 2001 turned out to be a record year for the homebuilding industry. (Read More)

Homeowner Rate Dips

Meanwhile, the homeownership rate edged down in the fourth quarter to 68.0% from 68.1% in the third quarter, according to the Census Bureau. (Read More)

Nehemiah Forms Alliance With Homebuilders

The Nehemiah Corp. of California, Sacramento, and Homebuilders Financial Network, Miami, have announced a partnership under which HFN will use the Nehemiah Program of downpayment assistance for its 19 member builders nationwide. (Read More)

RE Fund Closes $104MM in Commitments

Barrow Street Real Estate Fund II has closed $104 million in commitments, New York-based Barrow Street Capital has reported. (Read More)

Fannie Redeeming Preferred Stock

Fannie Mae has announced that it will redeem all outstanding shares of its 6.5% noncumulative preferred stock, series B. (Read More)

Aussie MBS Showing Int'l Appeal

An increasing amount of Australia's mortgage-backed securities issuance is being placed outside that country's borders, according to Credit Suisse First Boston, New York. (Read More)

Kramont Preferred Stock Outlook 'Negative'

The rating outlook for Kramont Realty Trust's preferred stock has been revised from Stable to Negative by Fitch. (Read More)

RAIT Moves to NYSE

The common stock of RAIT Investment Trust, Philadelphia, has begun trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (Read More)

Agency Seeking FHLBank Supervisor

The Federal Housing Finance Board is looking for a new director of supervision to keep an eye on the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks. (Read More)

Freddie Touts Record MF Lending

Freddie Mac's multifamily lending totaled a record $12.3 billion last year, including $6.9 billion through flow programs that financed over 175,000 units of rental housing, according to the government-sponsored enterprise. (Read More)

KBW Forms Whole-Loan Brokerage

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. has formed a new New York-based business unit focusing on the brokerage of whole-loan portfolios. (Read More)

Sunrise, Deutsche Bank RE Join Forces

Sunrise Assisted Living, McLean, Va., and the private equity group of Deutsche Bank Real Estate are forming a joint venture to acquire senior-living properties in the United States. (Read More)

First American Links to MGIC

An upgrade to the CMAX claims software of First American Default Management Solutions now makes it possible for Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., Milwaukee, to receive claims from First American electronically. (Read More)

Fitch Becomes Fitch Ratings

Fitch has announced that it will change its name to Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Broker Taps EESIS for Admin System

First Continental Mortgage Co., a Houston-based mortgage broker, has selected EESIS Inc., Houston, to provide a comprehensive outsourced employee administration system. (Read More)

FDIC Exam Authority Expanded

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will be able to examine any problem bank or thrift under a new agreement struck with its fellow regulators. (Read More)

Homeowner Terror Exclusion Rejected

State regulators have rejected an insurance industry proposal that would exclude terrorism coverage from homeowner's insurance policies and other personal lines of property and casualty insurance. (Read More)

Apps Drop as Refis Plunge

Mortgage applications dropped 25.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Jan. 25 -- erasing their nearly 25% surge the previous week -- as refinancings plummeted, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Some Mortgage Stocks Hit by Accounting Worries

Worries that Enron-like accounting problems could affect more companies sent the stock market sharply lower Tuesday, with companies such as PNC Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Cendant all taking a hit. (Read More)

Beazer, Crossman to Merge

Builder, originator, and title services provider Beazer Homes USA Inc., Atlanta, and builder Crossman Communities, Indianapolis, have agreed to a merger that will make the combined entity the sixth-largest homebuilder in the United States. (Read More)

Conseco Plans Whole Loan Sales

Conseco Inc., Carmel, Ind., has announced that it will be doing whole loan sales on some of its newly generated home equity and home improvement receivables in order to make up a cash shortfall. (Read More)

ARIT Okays Arbitration With Long Beach

American Residential Investment Trust, Del Mar, Calif., has agreed to arbitration with Long Beach Mortgage Co., Orange, Calif., over a pool of subprime mortgages ARIT purchased from a unit of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in late 1997 and early 1998. (Read More)

Ellie Mae Links to FirstAm

Ellie Mae Inc., Pleasanton, Calif., and The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., have formed a partnership that will allow users of Ellie Mae's ePass system direct access to First American's FastWeb, an electronic ordering and delivery system for mortgage services. (Read More)

Grubb & Ellis Plans Rights Offering

Grubb & Ellis Co., a Northbrook, Ill., commercial real estate services firm, has filed a registration statement for a proposed rights offering of common stock shares in which it hopes to raise up to $11 million. (Read More)

1st Aussie RMBS Deal of Year Slated

An A$261.6 million (about $132.3 million) rated transaction backed by Heritage Building Society Ltd.'s loans has been scheduled to be the first deal issued in the Australian residential mortgage-backed securities market this year, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

WesBanco Offers Loan Assistance

WesBanco Bank Inc., Wheeling, W. Va., has announced that it is offering a loan assistance program for Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel employees who have consumer or real estate loans with WesBanco. (Read More)

Terror Issue Plaguing Big CRE Deals?

The costs and terms involved in obtaining terrorism insurance are making it very difficult to finance commercial real estate transactions over $25 million, according to Deborah Beck, executive vice president of the Real Estate Board of New York. (Read More)

Rates Rise Again

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 7.02% for the week ending Feb. 1 from 6.96% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

New MI Up Nearly $8B

Private mortgage insurance firms wrote $32.5 billion of primary insurance on newly originated single-family loans in December, up nearly $8 billion from November, according to data collected by the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America. (Read More)

Freddie Expands MF Forward Commitment

Freddie Mac's Multifamily Forward Commitment pilot product has been expanded to allow owners and builders to finance the construction or substantial rehabilitation of properties funded with conventional mortgages. (Read More)

America's Senior Buys Wholesale Lender

America's Senior Financial Services, Jupiter, Fla., has completed the acquisition of the assets and key employees of DuPont Mortgage, a Tampa, Fla.-based wholesale lender. (Read More)

Conseco Launches Tender Offer

Conseco Finance Corp., Carmel, Ind., has started a tender offer for $110.5 million of debt. (Read More)

Rouse Completes Stock Offering

The Rouse Co., Columbia, Md., has announced the sale of 16.675 million shares of its common stock at $27.40 per share. (Read More)

BofA Gets New S&P Servicer Ranking

Bank of America has been added to the Standard & Poor's Select Servicer List as a commercial mortgage master servicer. (Read More)

Mortgage Jobs Rise

Employment in the mortgage industry edged up nearly 1% in January as the overall U.S. unemployment rate fell for the first time in seven months, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Read More)

COFI Nears 3%

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index is on the verge of going under the 3% mark for the first time. (Read More)

NAMB Submits Disclosure Proposal

The Department of Housing and Urban Development missed its own deadline for coming up with a new disclosures for yield-spread premiums, but the delay has given the National Association of Mortgage Brokers enough time to officially submit its proposal. (Read More)

Annaly Nets $347.5MM in Stock Offering

Annaly Mortgage Management Inc., New York, has reported net proceeds of $347.5 million from its recent secondary offering of common stock, including the exercise of the underwriters' overallotment option. (Read More)

MONY/Transwestern Closes RE Fund

MONY/Transwestern Mezzanine Realty Partners has completed the initial closing of its $300 million real estate mezzanine fund, according to The MONY Group and Transwestern Investment Co. (Read More)

Homebuilder Inks Pact With Malaysian Group

Wulf International Ltd., a homebuilder based in Fort Worth, Texas, has signed an agreement with a Malaysian group of companies who will provide $200 million to be used for the construction of one million low-income homes in the southern Philippines. (Read More)

NCRC: CUs Lag in Minority Loans

Credit unions lag behind lenders covered by the Community Reinvestment Act in the percentage of home loans made to minority and low- to moderate-income borrowers, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Names Key Marketing Exec

Simon Knight has been named managing director of strategic marketing for the Residential Capital Group of Residential Funding Corp., Minneapolis. (Read More)

Feedback

Responses to our survey question on whether the Treasury Department should take the lead in developing "best practices" for subprime lending are running about 4-3 against the idea. (Read More)

Bush Budget Calls for Slashing FHA Fraud

The president's budget for fiscal year 2003 calls for the Federal Housing Administration to reduce fraud and start a loan sales program. (Read More)

Budget Cites GSEs as 'Potential Problem'

The Bush administration appears to have concerns about how large Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have grown in recent years, though it isn't providing much in the way of details. (Read More)

Bush Backs OFHEO GSE Charges

The Bush administration is endorsing legislation that would allow the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight to charge Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac directly for the cost of supervision. (Read More)

Panel Focusing on Affordable MF Housing

The need for the production of affordable rental units will be "a major thrust" of the Millennial Housing Commission's report to Congress, according to a member of the panel. (Read More)

Commercial Originations Rose 19% in '01

Mortgage bankers boosted their commercial and multifamily originations by 19% last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. (Read More)

Affordability Index Hits 28-Year High

The affordability of a median-priced existing home increased significantly in the fourth quarter for the typical American family, as the National Association of Realtors' Housing Affordability Index rose to its highest level since 1973. (Read More)

Fannie Nearly Doubles MF Investment

Fannie Mae nearly doubled its investment in multifamily rental housing last year, most of it aimed at affordable housing units, according to the government-sponsored enterprise. (Read More)

MBS, CMO Issuance Expected to Fall

Most market participants expect to see issuance of new mortgage-related securities remain relatively strong in 2002 but to decrease 28% from 2001's record levels, according to a survey by The Bond Market Association. (Read More)

MortgageRamp Links to Fannie

MortgageRamp, Charlotte, N.C., has completed an implementation with Fannie Mae that promises to use an XML-based technology platform to enable commercial loan committing and delivery data to be seamlessly exchanged via the Web. (Read More)

TransUnion Partners With CSW

TransUnion, Chicago, has formed an alliance with Case Shiller Weiss Inc., Cambridge, Mass., that will make CSW's automated property valuation model available through TransUnion's residential lending products. (Read More)

Insignia Sells Brokerage

Insignia Financial Group Inc., New York, has announced the sale of Realty One single-family home brokerage business and affiliated companies to Real Living Inc. for approximately $33 million. (Read More)

Amresco Cap Reports Delisting

Amresco Capital Trust, Dallas, has reported that its securities will be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market at the opening of business Feb. 8. (Read More)

Ex-MBS Trader Forms 9/11 Fund

A former mortgage-backed securities trader has established a charitable fund commemorating 55 mortgage-backed securities traders and brokers who died or were permanently disabled in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (Read More)

GMAC Unit Gets Top Servicer Rating

GMAC Mortgage, Horsham, Pa., has announced that its Client Branded Solutions servicing division has received a residential primary service rating of RPS1 from Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Good Year Seen for CRE, Even With Decline

Mortgage bankers who specialize in commercial and apartment loans are expecting 2002 to be another banner year, but not nearly as good as 2001. (Read More)

Midland Grabs Top Servicer Spot

Midland Loan Services, Kansas City, Mo., was the top overall servicer of commercial mortgage loans as of the end of 2001, with a servicing portfolio of $68 billion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. (Read More)

Fed: Standard Mortgages Performing Well

Despite the recession, banks are finding that standard residential mortgage loans are performing better than expected, but subprime loans are not faring as well, according to a Federal Reserve Board survey of senior loan officers. (Read More)

MISMO Unveils Draft of Data Dictionary

The "exposure draft" of a data dictionary for commercial mortgage originations has been released by the Commercial Working Group of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization. (Read More)

Condo, Co-op Sales Set Another Record

Sales of existing condominiums and cooperatives totaled 738,000 in 2001, a 3.8% rise that set a record for the sixth straight year, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

S&P Endorses CMBS Panel's Checklist

Standard & Poor's has endorsed a recommendation by a joint task force on document defects in commercial mortgage-backed securities that all closing agents use a document checklist developed by the task force beginning March 1. (Read More)

Kmart-Linked Conseco Class Downgraded

Class A-3 of Conseco Commercial Mortgage Trust I's senior commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1989-1 has been downgraded from AA to BBB-minus by Standard & Poor's and removed from CreditWatch with negative implications. (Read More)

Shurgard to Close 2 Warehouses

Shurgard Storage Centers Inc., Seattle, has announced that it will close two of its five Shurgard Storage To Go warehouses and restructure its management to cut overhead costs. (Read More)

REIT Reports Investment by Homburg

Cedar Income Fund Ltd., a real estate investment trust based in Port Washington, N.Y., has announced that Homburg Invest Inc. has acquired 150,000 shares of the REIT, representing about 21.7% of its outstanding shares. (Read More)

UK Lending Reg Revisions 'Substantial'

Revisions that officials of the United Kingdom are making to draft mortgage lending regulations in order to extend oversight to the broker end of the business are turning out to be "substantial," according to Jerry De Melo, a partner in Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft's London office. (Read More)

HUD to Adjust MF Premiums Annually

The planned reduction in the Federal Housing Administration's multifamily mortgage insurance premium (from 80 to 57 basis points) that was announced in the fiscal year 2003 budget could be short-lived. (Read More)

FHA MF Volume Up Despite Premium Hike

Meanwhile, fears that the increase in the FHA's multifamily mortgage insurance premium that took effect Oct. 1 would disrupt the market have proved to be unfounded, according to Federal Housing Commissioner John Weicher. (Read More)

HUD to Test Accelerated Processing

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued a notice that it is starting a demonstration project using five to nine lenders to test an accelerated claims process designed to save the government money and get HUD out of the real estate management business. (Read More)

Ney: Make FHA Downpay Formula Permanent

Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, has introduced a bill to permanently extend a downpayment formula that makes Federal Housing Administration single-family loans more affordable, especially in high-cost areas. (Read More)

GMACCM Buys Proctor

GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., Horsham, Pa., has acquired the operating assets of Proctor Group II and Proctor Mortgage Services, both of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (Read More)

RMIC, eMagic Join Forces

Republic Mortgage Insurance Co., Winston-Salem, N.C., has made "a select menu" of its mortgage insurance products available on the eMagic business-to-business website. (Read More)

JDN Eyes Strategic Options

JDN Realty Corp., Atlanta, has announced that it is reviewing strategic and financing options -- including the possible sale or merger of the company -- with the assistance of its financial adviser, Lazard Freres & Co. (Read More)

General Growth Files $2B Shelf

General Growth Properties Inc., Chicago, has filed a universal shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to permit the sale of up to $2 billion of securities to the public. (Read More)

DC, Sacramento Tops for MF Investment

Washington, D.C., and Sacramento, Calif., are the top two cities for multifamily investments in 2002, according to a study by Integra Realty Resources, a real estate appraisal firm headquartered in New York. (Read More)

Feds Compare Superior to '80s S&Ls

The costly failure of Superior Bank FSB, Hinsdale, Ill., displayed the classic signs of the go-go savings and loans of the late 1980s when thrift owners paid themselves handsomely while running their institutions into the ground, according to reports by government auditors. (Read More)

FDIC Issues Subprime Warning

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is warning bankers that the recession is taking a toll on the performance of subprime mortgage loans. (Read More)

ACORN Suing Household Subs

In the latest blow to Household International Inc.'s California subsidiaries, Household Finance Corp. of California and Beneficial California Inc. are being sued in a class action led by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. (Read More)

Rates Decline

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.88% for the week ending Feb. 8 from 7.02% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Applications Rise

Mortgage applications rose 5.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Feb. 1, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Aging Boomers Spur Homeownership

The aging of baby boomers was responsible for most of the growth in the homeownership rate in the 1990s, and minority households were also a key factor, according to recent studies cited by the Fannie Mae Foundation. (Read More)

S&P Downgrades Conseco-Linked MH Classes

The ratings on 15 mezzanine and subordinated classes of six 1999 securitizations backed by manufactured housing loans and linked to Conseco Finance Corp. have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's and removed from CreditWatch with negative implications. (Read More)

Freddie Offers RefBond Exchange

Freddie Mac has offered to exchange its Reference Bonds due July 15, 2032 for up to $2.5 billion of 6.75% 30-year Reference Bonds due Sept. 15, 2029 and March 15, 2031. (Read More)

Fannie Prices Callable BenchNotes

Fannie Mae has priced a $1 billion reopening of a $2 billion issue of five-year Callable Benchmark Notes due Jan. 20, 2007. (Read More)

RFS Affiliate Plans Note Offering

RFS Hotel Investors Inc., Memphis, has announced that its operating partnership, RFS Partnership LP, plans to offer $125 million of senior notes in a private placement. (Read More)

Study: Ginnie Choice = Massive Losses

A proposed partnership between private mortgage insurance companies and Ginnie Mae to securitize high-LTV conventional loans would result in massive losses to the federal government, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers commissioned by Fannie Mae. (Read More)

Fed Seeks HMDA Comments

The Federal Reserve Board is seeking public comment on three issues that the Fed governors could not resolve at a Jan. 23 meeting when they approved a major revision of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act regulations. (Read More)

LandAm Forms Default Services Unit

LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Richmond, Va., has formed a division to offer default services, real-estate-owned management, and reconveyance processing to lenders and mortgage servicers. (Read More)

Kmart Lease Rejections Affect CMBS

Standard & Poor's has identified, on a preliminary basis, four commercial mortgage-backed securities deals affected by lease rejections sought by Kmart Corp. in connection with its Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. (Read More)

MHI Unveils 'Best Practices' Program

The Manufactured Housing Institute has announced that six major lenders have applied to participate in its new Lender Best Practices program, which establishes voluntary performance standards for manufactured housing lending. (Read More)

Quadrangle Forms 2nd RE Fund

Quadrangle Development Corp., Washington, has formed its second real estate investment fund, National Capital Properties Trust II, with a capitalization of approximately $250 million. (Read More)

S&P Cites Aussie RMBS First

The Bank of Queensland Ltd.'s Series 2002-1 REDS Trust is issuing the first Australian residential mortgage-backed securities transaction done by a regional bank this year, Standard & Poor's has reported. (Read More)

Acadia Reports Tender Offer Results

Acadia Realty Trust, New York, has announced that it will purchase approximately 5.52 million shares of its stock at $6.05 per share under a modified Dutch auction tender offer that expired Feb. 1. (Read More)

EMB Secures Equity Investment

EMB Corp., Huntington Beach, Calif., has reported receiving the initial investment funds from a private placement of preferred and common stock with Paramount Financial Corp. Inc. (Read More)

Feedback

If an investor buys a discounted property and sells it for its true value, is that loan-flipping? (Read More)

NAHB: '02 Could Be Near-Record Year

Homebuilders won't set another record this year, but they could come close, according to economists speaking at the National Association of Home Builders convention in Atlanta. (Read More)

Prices Spur Cash-Out Loans, Lower LTVs

House price appreciation has been so strong that it has allowed homeowners to use gobs of equity they have built up in their homes and still owe less than when they first bought them. (Read More)

NAHB Elects New Leaders

Gary Garczynski and C. Kent Conine have been elected to lead the 205,000-member National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)

ACB Forms 3 New Alliances

America's Community Bankers has entered into new alliances with Freddie Mac, Countrywide, and Principal Residential Mortgage to give its member thrifts better access to wholesale lenders and secondary market agencies. (Read More)

Attendee at Cendant Convention Dies

A woman who attended a Cendant Mortgage sales convention in Cherry Hill, N.J., died of bacterial pneumonia over the weekend and caused health concerns that resulted in a temporary quarantine at the convention hotel. (Read More)

Trump Sues Conseco for $1B

Donald J. Trump, the real estate tycoon, has brought a $1 billion lawsuit against Conseco -- seeking actual damages in excess of $500 million and punitive damages of $500 million -- alleging a breach of agreement to sell Conseco's interest in The General Motors Building in New York City to Mr. Trump. (Read More)

Board Eyes Sked for FHLBank Cap Plans

The Federal Housing Finance Board is scheduled to meet Wednesday to set a schedule for approving the capital plans of all 12 Federal Home Loan Banks. (Read More)

National Golf Eyes Merger, Cites Forbearance

National Golf Properties Inc., Santa Monica, Calif., has confirmed that it is discussing restructuring efforts that could include a merger with its primary tenant, American Golf Corp. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Securitized $26.4B in '01

Residential Funding Corp., Minneapolis, issued $26.4 billion of asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities in 2001, including a record $10.9 billion of home equity loan ABS, according to GMAC-RFC. (Read More)

Mortgagebot Teams With Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac will make Loan Prospector available through custom websites developed and hosted by Cedarburg, Wis.-based Mortgagebot. (Read More)

Nehemiah Revises Conventional Loan

The Nehemiah Corp. of California, Sacramento, has announced that its conventional loan product has adopted a flat processing fee of $500 and is offering financed mortgage insurance in 19 states. (Read More)

No Boom/Bust Cycle for Housing?

Housing will be an engine of economic growth over the next decade, expanding without the dramatic booms and busts of prior cycles, according to a study commissioned by the Homeownership Alliance. (Read More)

OFHEO to Step Up GSE Review

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight plans to double its examination staff and step up its review of the accounting and risk management practices at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades IndyMac MH Classes

Four classes of IndyMac Manufactured Housing Contract's pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Merrill Kmart-Linked Classes Downgraded

Classes H and J of Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Inc.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1998-C1-CTL have been downgraded from CCC to CC and placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes HK RE-Backed Notes

Moody's Investors Service's Hong Kong office has reported that it is reviewing for possible downgrade the ratings of five series of secured notes issued by Commercial Plaza Securitisation Ltd. (Read More)

Standard Fed to Adopt InterFirst Name

Standard Federal Wholesale Lending will no longer operate under that name, adopting instead the name InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending Inc. (Read More)

Freddie Prices $6B of RefNotes

Freddie Mac has priced $6 billion of 3.875% three-year Reference Notes due Feb. 15, 2005. (Read More)

HUD Plans 'Sweeping' RESPA Reform

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez plans to release a "sweeping" proposal within 90 days to reform the homebuying and mortgage financing process. (Read More)

Alliance Buyer TBA Soon

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is expected to reveal late Wednesday or Thursday the winning bidder of $4 billion in subprime servicing rights that belonged to the now-defunct Alliance Funding, Orangeburg, N.Y. (Read More)

Apps Rise as Refi Index Breaks 2000

Mortgage applications rose 2.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Feb. 8 as the Refinance Index rose above 2000 once again, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Fannie Indian Purchases Rose 70%

Fannie Mae's purchases of mortgage loans on Indian reservations and trust lands increased 70% last year to $70 million, according to senior business manager Walt Patton. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes 9 Kmart-Linked CMBS Deals

Lower-rated classes of nine commercial mortgage-backed securities deals have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings as part of an alert to CMBS investors about the impact of Kmart's bankruptcy filing on Fitch-rated bonds. (Read More)

NAR: Resale Price Gains Strong in 4Q

The median prices of existing homes increased at "well above" historic rates during the fourth quarter in most metropolitan areas, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Year-Over-Year 4Q Resales Rise

Total existing-home sales -- including condominiums and co-operatives -- rose in 40 states in the fourth quarter from levels recorded a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Koger Buys Trophy Tower in Atlanta

Koger Equity, a real estate investment trust based in Boca Raton, Fla., has purchased a "trophy" office building in Atlanta for $125 million in cash. (Read More)

Thornburg Prices Stock Offering

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., has priced an offering of 5.4 million primary shares of common stock at $19.41 per share. (Read More)

FHA Developing 'Appraiser Watch'

The Federal Housing Administration is developing a new system to identify bad appraisers and kick them off the FHA's roster of approved appraisers. (Read More)

Baker Backs OFHEO Independence

Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., says he supports a Bush administration proposal to free the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight from the congressional appropriations process and thus enhance the independence of the agency that supervises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Thrifts Cautioned About Enron-Like Transfers

The Office of Thrift Supervision is advising thrifts to consult with their regional supervisor before transferring "high-risk" assets, including nonperforming loans, to outside entities and booking the transactions as sales. (Read More)

Rates Dip

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate dipped to 6.86% for the week ending Feb. 15 from 6.88% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Freddie Launches MI Claims Tool

In order to speed up the mortgage insurance claims process, Freddie Mac has launched its MI Access online tool. (Read More)

'Full Recovery' in RE Markets Seen in '04

U.S. real estate markets will experience a full recovery in 2004, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report. (Read More)

Freddie Prices $3.24B of RefBonds

Freddie Mac has priced approximately $3.24 billion of 6.25% 30-year Reference Bonds due on July 15, 2032. (Read More)

AMAC Announces Equity Offering

American Mortgage Acceptance Co., a New York City-based multifamily real estate investment trust, has announced a public offering of 2.5 million common shares of beneficial interest at a price of $13.50 per share. (Read More)

Anworth Prices Stock Offering

Anworth Mortgage Asset Corp., a real estate investment trust based in Santa Monica, Calif., has priced a follow-on public offering of 4.2 million shares of common stock at $8.85 per share. (Read More)

Fannie Recruits Opposition to Ginnie Choice

Fannie Mae is having some success in getting trade groups to oppose Ginnie Mae Choice, a proposal that would allow Ginnie Mae to securitize high-loan-to-value conventional loans. (Read More)

Dallas: Buy-to-Top Strategy Doomed

Controversial industry expert Bill Dallas says the buying-your-way-to-be-the-top-originator strategy is "doomed to fail." (Read More)

Fitch: Retail Late Pays to Threaten CMBS

The softening retail environment will lead to an increase in retail delinquencies and downgrades of commercial mortgage-backed securities throughout this year and into 2003, according to Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

ACB, Countrywide Form Alliance

America's Community Bankers has formed an alliance with Countrywide Home Loans, Calabasas, Calif., that will give ACB members more options and benefits for selling mortgage loans into the secondary market. (Read More)

S&P Rates Its 1st J-REIT

Standard & Poor's has assigned its first credit rating to a Japanese real estate investment trust. (Read More)

Impac Completes Stock Offering

Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., Newport Beach, Calif., has completed an offering of 7.5 million shares of its common stock at $8.25 per share that produced net proceeds of approximately $56.6 million. (Read More)

Nasdaq Adds REIT to Index

The Nasdaq Stock Market has announced that Capital Automotive REIT, McLean, Va., has become a component of the Nasdaq Financial-100 Index, replacing the de-listed Old National Bancorp. (Read More)

Feedback

A recent Grapevine posting asking whether mortgage business is slowing down has drawn scores of responses. (Read More)

HUD Mulls FHA Lender Fee Limits

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering "strict limits" on the costs and fees that Federal Housing Administration lenders can charge. (Read More)

SF Starts Hit 2-Year Peak

Single-family housing starts rose 4.3% in January to the highest level in two years. (Read More)

Housing Index Declines

The NAHB Housing Market Index fell two points to 58 in February after a cumulative 13-point rise in the previous three months, according to the National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)

Post Ratings Downgraded

The corporate credit ratings of Post Properties Inc., an Atlanta-based multifamily real estate investment trust, and its operating partnership, Post Apartment Homes LP, have been lowered from BBB-plus to BBB by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

GS Mortgage CMBS Classes on Review

The ratings on classes G and H of GS Mortgage Securities Corp. II's commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1999-C1 have been placed on CreditWatch with negative implications by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

New Century to Re-establish Servicing Ops

New Century Mortgage Corp., Irvine, Calif., plans to re-establish its servicing operations and has rehired Richard Cimino as president of the servicing division, according to the parent company, New Century Financial Corp. (Read More)

New Century Names Prez

Meanwhile, Patrick Flanagan has been named president of New Century Mortgage. Mr. Flanagan will continue to serve as executive vice president of New Century Financial and president of NC Capital Corp., which handles New Century's secondary marketing activities. (Read More)

Option 1 Names Servicing Chief, Counsel

John A. Vella has been appointed chief servicing officer at Option One Mortgage Corp., Irvine, Calif., and William S. Smith has been named vice president and general counsel of the company. (Read More)

PNC Cites Accounting Error

The PNC Financial Services Group Inc., Pittsburgh, has reported that its results from discontinued operations (and its consolidated net income) for 2001 will be reduced by about $35 million due to a bookkeeping error related to the sale of its residential mortgage banking business. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Closes Record ABS Volume

GMAC-Residential Funding Corp., Minneapolis, has reported that it closed a record volume of asset-backed securities deals in January, including what the company says is one of the largest subprime mortgage transactions in its history. (Read More)

OFHEO Finalizes Risk Proposal

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has finalized a capital proposal on counterparty risk that has narrowed the advantage that triple-A rated mortgage insurance companies would have over their double-A rated competitors. (Read More)

MBA Sees Refis Slackening

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America expects refinancing activity to account for 37% of new home loans this year, down a full 20 percentage points from last year's record 57% refinancing share. (Read More)

GSE Stocks Slip on WSJ Editorial

The share price of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac got clipped Wednesday morning -- though not too badly -- after the Wall Street Journal published an editorial questioning their investments in derivatives, accounting practices, and political donations, among other things. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Closes Record ABS Volume

GMAC-Residential Funding Corp., Minneapolis, has reported that it closed a record volume of asset-backed securities deals in January, including what the company says is one of the largest subprime mortgage transactions in history. (Read More)

FHLB-Dallas Passes $1.2T in Web Loans

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas has surpassed $1.2 trillion in loans to member banks through its SecureConnect service over the Internet, according to the FHLBank. (Read More)

Equity-Tapping Refis Fall in 4Q

Less than half the homeowners who refinanced their homes in the fourth quarter tapped into their equity by getting a mortgage at least 5% larger than the original loan, according to Freddie Mac's quarterly refinance review. (Read More)

Industry Vet Joins MGIC

Mortgage industry veteran John Fisk has joined Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., Milwaukee, as executive vice president for strategic planning. (Read More)

Freddie Enhances $392MM of MF Bonds

Freddie Mac has announced the closing of more than $392 million of bond credit enhancements through its Multifamily Negotiated Transactions Department. (Read More)

S&P Downgrades Insurance-Linked CMBS

Standard & Poor's has downgraded four securities from three insurance-dependent commercial mortgage-backed securities deals and removed them from CreditWatch with negative implications. (Read More)

German Bank Selling Credit Risk on Mortgages

Germany's Rheinische Hypotheken Bank is selling the credit risk on approximately 28,000 of its second-lien mortgages through a program in which credit protection is provided on a reference portfolio of residential product and hedged via a senior credit default swap, Moody's Investors Service has reported. (Read More)

Will Terror Insurance Issue Slow Recovery?

Problems in getting terrorism insurance are holding up construction projects and could slow the economic recovery, according to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley, R-Ohio. (Read More)

WaMu Sues PNC Over Mortgage Deal

Washington Mutual, Seattle, has filed a complaint against PNC Financial Services Group Inc., Pittsburgh, alleging transaction violations relating to WaMu's purchase of PNC's residential mortgage business early last year. (Read More)

Cap Ratio of FHA Fund Rises

The Federal Housing Administration has received some good news from its auditor, Deloitte & Touche. The auditor reported that the capital ratio of the single-family insurance fund increased from 3.51% in fiscal year 2000 to 3.75% in fiscal 2001. (Read More)

Rates Decline

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.81% for the week ending Feb. 22 from 6.86% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Applications Fall

Mortgage applications fell 8.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Feb. 15, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Ofek Restructuring U.S. Mortgage Ops

Ofek Capital Corp., Toronto, has reported that it is restructuring its mortgage banking operations in the United States by entering into an agreement with the Delaware corporation Lado Holdings Inc. that is expected to increase Ofek's consolidated net assets by $500,000. (Read More)

Insurance Firms License PAM System

PAM for Mortgages from Princeton Financial Systems, Princeton, N.J., has been licensed by two of the largest insurance companies in the United States to manage their commercial mortgage assets. (Read More)

Fannie Prices BenchNotes

Fannie Mae has priced $6 billion of 3.875% three-year Benchmark Notes at 99.758. (Read More)

Correction

GMAC-Residential Funding Corp.'s asset-backed securities deals in January included one of the largest subprime mortgage transactions in the company's history. A recent item incorrectly described the relative size of the deal. (Read More)

Sarbanes: Close Loophole for Predatory Lenders

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., wants to stop state-licensed lenders from using a federal lending law -- the Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act -- to avoid compliance with state anti-predatory lending laws. (Read More)

Feds Want Street to Back Best Practices

Treasury Assistant Secretary Sheila Bair is trying to recruit Wall Street securities firms in her efforts to develop a national code of best practices for subprime lending. (Read More)

Freddie Unveils 'Modifiable Mortgage'

Freddie Mac has introduced the "modifiable mortgage," a fixed-rate home mortgage that can be modified after being sold to the government-sponsored enterprise and pooled under one of two new prefixes. (Read More)

Moody's Releases Default Loss Model

Moody's Risk Management Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Moody's Investors Service, has unveiled LossCalc, which predicts recovery rates for debt instruments that have defaulted. (Read More)

Citi REMIC Classes Downgraded

Classes A-4 and A-7 of Citicorp Mortgage Securities Inc.'s real estate mortgage investment conduit pass-through certificates series 1990-5 have been downgraded from BB to CCC by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

PMI Names New Board Member

L. Stephen Smith, president and chief operating officer of The PMI Group Inc., San Francisco, has been elected to a newly created seat on PMI's board of directors. (Read More)

GMACCM Names SVP of RE Debt Group

Brian R. DiDonato has been named senior vice president and managing director of the Real Estate Debt Investment Group of GMAC Commercial Mortgage, Horsham, Pa. (Read More)

MI Firm Teams Up With Magazine

GE Mortgage Insurance, Raleigh, N.C., has announced a joint initiative with Black Enterprise magazine to help close the homeownership gap between minorities and white Americans. (Read More)

Feedback

Are HUD's predatory lending rules just liberal hogwash? (Read More)

January Resales Break Record

Homebuyers pushed seasonally adjusted annualized sales of previously owned homes over the 6 million mark in January -- smashing the previous one-month record of 5.5 million set in August 2001. (Read More)

Florida Resales Rise 11%

Meanwhile, Florida followed the national pattern as single-family resales rose 11% in January, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. (Read More)

InterFirst to Survey Brokers

In an effort to find out what its mortgage broker customers are thinking, InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending, Ann Arbor, Mich., has contracted with another Ann Arbor firm, eePulse Inc., to send InterFirst employees and mortgage brokers specific e-mail questions. (Read More)

Salomon CMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of Salomon Brothers Mortgage Securities VII Inc.'s series 2001-CDC commercial mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

ASC CMBS Classes Under Review

Classes B-1 and B-1H of Asset Securitization Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1996-MDVI have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

CharterMac Announces Public Offering

Charter Municipal Mortgage Acceptance Co., New York, has announced a public offering of 5.5 million common shares of CharterMac stock at $15.47 per share. (Read More)

MuniMae Cites 4Q MF Financings

Municipal Mortgage & Equity LLC, Baltimore, has reported that it structured $484 million of financing for multifamily housing during the fourth quarter. (Read More)

Moody's Adopts New Japanese Issuer Guideline

Moody's Investors Service has reported that it will conditionally allow Aaa or Aa rated issuers of Japanese structured transactions -- including mortgage securitizations -- to open deposit accounts at Prime-2 rated major Japanese banks. (Read More)

Bear/EMC Wins Bid for Alliance MSRs

The Bear Stearns-owned EMC Mortgage, Irving, Texas, has acquired $3.7 billion in subprime servicing rights and related residuals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for $471 million. (Read More)

Alliance Mortgage Buys OnePipeline

Alliance Mortgage, Jacksonville, Fla., has confirmed rumors that it has purchased the assets of Salt Lake City-based OnePipeline.com, a provider of automated compliance technology for the mortgage industry. (Read More)

GAO: Congress Should Act on Terror Insurance

If Congress fails to intervene to ensure the availability of terrorism insurance, it could have "debilitating financial consequences" for businesses that might slow economic recovery, according to the General Accounting Office. (Read More)

Fannie Closes Thrift Gap, ACB Says

Fannie Mae has closed the gap with Freddie Mac in terms of establishing business relationships with small and midsize thrifts, according to America's Community Bankers. (Read More)

NCRC Slates Ginnie Choice Debate

Intense lobbying over Ginnie Mae Choice has prompted the National Community Reinvestment Coalition to schedule an off-the-record debate about the merits and risks of the proposal, which would allow Ginnie Mae to securitize conventional high-LTV loans for the first time. (Read More)

American Home Allies With Amicus

American Home Mortgage Holding Inc., New York, will provide private-label mortgage banking services through its MortgageSelect.com service for two joint ventures of Amicus Holdings Inc., the electronic banking division of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. (Read More)

Cohen & Steers REIT Fund Prices IPO

Cohen & Steers Quality Income Realty Fund Inc., New York, has priced its initial public offering of common shares and expects to raise about $510 million in assets, according to the fund's investment manager. (Read More)

ARM Securities Hit $90B in '01

The issuance of adjustable-rate mortgage securities reached $90 billion in 2001 -- the highest level since 1984, but only 9% of the total securitized market, according to Bear Stearns. (Read More)

DDR Selling 1.7MM Shares

Developers Diversified Realty Corp., Cleveland, has agreed to sell 1.7 million shares of its common stock based on a closing price of $20.03 per share on Feb. 25. (Read More)

America's Senior Gets $15MM LOC

America's Senior Financial Services, Miami Lakes, Fla., has obtained a three-year, $15 million line of credit. (Read More)

New-Home Sales Dive

New-home sales fell a surprising 14.8% in January after posting strong numbers in November and December. (Read More)

Household Updates Best Practices

Household International, Prospect Heights, Ill., has updated the "best lending practices" standards it first introduced in July 2001. (Read More)

Regulators Eyeing MSR Valuations

The valuation of mortgage servicing rights is attracting more attention from banking regulators, according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers update on the mortgage banking industry. (Read More)

Net-Lease Venture Launched

Prudential Real Estate Investors, Parsippany, N.J., and Boston-based Corporate Realty Investment Co. LLC have announced the formation of a new net-leasing company. (Read More)

Reverses Popular in Texas

Reverse mortgage loans have seen great popularity among Texans, even though 2001 was the first full year the product has been available in the state. (Read More)

Freddie Prices Subs Issue

Freddie Mac has priced a $1.5 billion 10-year callable issue of subordinated debt securities. (Read More)

Jamaican Agency Sells $400MM Portfolio

Finsac Ltd., a Jamaican government agency, has sold a $400 million loan portfolio that included real estate-secured assets to Beal Bank, according to Ocwen Financial Corp., West Palm Beach, Fla. (Read More)

Argentine Mortgage Bonds Downgraded

Standard & Poor's has downgraded classes A1 and A2 of Argentina's BHN II Mortgage Trust bonds, series 1997-1, from CC to D (default) due to the conversion of the bonds' U.S. dollar-denominated payments to pesos at a one-to-one parity rate. (Read More)

Westin Board: Reject Tender Offer

The board of directors of Westin Realty Corp., White Plains, N.Y., the general partner of Westin Hotels LP, has recommended the rejection of an unsolicited tender offer by MacKenzie Patterson Inc. and certain affiliates to buy approximately 2.8% of the limited partnership units of WHLP. (Read More)

REITs Sell Stock to Cohen & Steers Fund

Two real estate investment trusts have reported sales of common stock to the Cohen & Steers Quality Income Realty Fund Inc., and a third has announced plans for such a sale. (Read More)

Terror Issue Hindering Commercial Financings

Commercial mortgage lenders are holding back on financing large properties that could be subject to a terrorist attack, witnesses told a congressional panel Feb. 27. (Read More)

GSEs Get A- Strength Ratings

Moody's Investors Service has assigned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac financial strength ratings of A-minus, the second-highest rating of its kind available from Moody's. (Read More)

GEMI Mulling Double-A Option

G.E. Mortgage Insurance, Raleigh, N.C., is considering splitting its risk coverage in two, operating both triple-A and double-A rated MI units. (Read More)

MBS Yield Hits 3-Month Low

The yield on the benchmark current coupon in the agency mortgage pass-through market fell to its lowest point since Nov. 14 after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's congressional testimony Wednesday, which gave a boost to bonds. (Read More)

Banks Continue Love Affair With MBS

Commercial banks boosted their mortgage-backed securities holdings by a record amount for the second consecutive quarter, according to preliminary figures compiled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (Read More)

Rates Hold Steady

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate drifted down to 6.80% for the week ending March 1 from 6.81% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Adjusted Apps Rise

Mortgage applications rose 3.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Feb. 22, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Wells Tops $500B in Servicing

Wells Fargo has become the second mortgage servicer to top the $500 billion mark, according to the chief financial officer of the San Francisco-based bank. (Read More)

Andersen Audit Confirms Household Refunds

Arthur Andersen has performed an independent audit of Household Finance Corp.'s and Beneficial California Inc.'s consumer loans and found that all appropriate refunds have been made to overcharged customers, according to California's Department of Corporations. (Read More)

Prentiss Issuing Stock to Fund Office Buy

Prentiss Properties Trust, Dallas, is issuing 613,750 shares of its common stock to Salomon Smith Barney for $28.35 per share to help finance the acquisition of a Fort Worth, Texas, office property. (Read More)

Proctor Financial Alive & Well

Responding to "a flurry of inquiries," Proctor Financial Insurance, Troy, Mich., says it is "business as usual" at the company in the wake of the recently announced sale of the unaffiliated Proctor & Associates. (Read More)

Glaser: Abandon YSPs

It is time for lenders to abandon yield-spread premiums and find some other way to compensate mortgage brokers, according Howard Glaser, a former HUD official who is now a mortgage industry consultant and lobbyist. (Read More)

Fannie Dominant in Subprime Purchases

Fannie Mae bought $13.3 billion in subprime loans last year, making it the largest buyer of these nonconforming loans, according to figures compiled by National Mortgage News and its Quarterly Data Report affiliate. (Read More)

Countrywide Drops Talks on Bank Deal

Countrywide Credit Industries, Calabasas, has dropped its plans to purchase a California bank. (Read More)

Ginnie Choice Backers Find Resistance

Proponents of Ginnie Mae Choice encountered rough waters when they could not explain to members of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition how the program would provide lower-cost loans for minorities and lower-income urban and rural families. (Read More)

FDIC Eyes BIF Assessment Hike

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is getting edgy about the rise in the number of problem banks and is considering a small increase in deposit insurance premiums, possibly in May. (Read More)

COFI Falls Below 3%

For the first time ever, the Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index has dipped below the 3% mark. (Read More)

New MI Drops 24%

Primary new insurance written by the eight private mortgage insurance companies during January fell by 24% when compared with December's volume, the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America has reported. (Read More)

Home Prices Rose at 1.3% Rate in 4Q

Home prices increased at an annualized rate of 1.3% nationwide in the fourth quarter of 2001, down from an upwardly revised rate of 7.7% in the third quarter, according to the Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index released by Freddie Mac. (Read More)

MBS Issuance Set Record in '01

Last year's low interest rates and investors' increased interest in the bond market boosted issuance of mortgage-related debt to new highs in 2001, according to new figures released by The Bond Market Association. (Read More)

Delta Reports '01 Loss, but 4Q Profits

Delta Financial Corp., Woodbury, N.Y., has reported a return to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2001, but it recorded a net loss of $99.8 million ($6.28 per share) for the year, compared with a net loss of $49.4 million ($3.11 per share) in 2000. (Read More)

MF Absorption Turns Negative

The multifamily sector has started to experience the impact of the current economic downturn, with absorption in the sector turning negative for the first time in more than 10 years, according to Wachovia Securities' real estate capital markets group. (Read More)

Apex Announces Public Offering

Apex Mortgage Capital Inc., Los Angeles, has announced a public offering of 8 million shares of common stock at $10.60 per share. (Read More)

NHP Sells 1.87MM Shares

Nationwide Health Properties Inc., Newport Beach, Calif., has sold approximately 1.87 million shares of its common stock to two institutional investors based on NHP's closing price of $19.58 per share on Feb. 25. (Read More)

Feedback

Over the past month, responses to our survey question on whether the Treasury Department should develop "best practices" for subprime lending shifted from about 4-3 against the idea to nearly 2-1 in favor. (Read More)

Freddie Changing Policy on Prepay Penalties

Starting Oct. 1, Freddie Mac will no longer purchase subprime loans with prepayment penalties that are enforceable for more than three years. (Read More)

GGP to Buy JP Realty

General Growth Properties Inc., Chicago, has executed a merger agreement under which it will acquire JP Realty Inc., Salt Lake City, for approximately $1.1 billion, including about $440 million in cash. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Join in Upswing

Friday's stock rally continued Monday morning, and mortgage stocks kept pace with the broad increase in prices. (Read More)

Delinquencies Down, Foreclosures Up

Residential mortgage delinquencies fell 22 basis points during the fourth quarter to 4.65%, although the percentage of loans in foreclosure at the end of the quarter rose 9 basis points to 1.04%, according to a quarterly survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. (Read More)

ACB: Multi-FHLBank Memberships OK, If...

America's Community Bankers supports the approval of multiple Federal Home Loan Bank memberships, provided that it does not require Congress to pass legislation. (Read More)

BridgeSpan Releases eMortgageAxis

BridgeSpan, Mountain View, Calif., has announced the release of eMortgageAxis, which the company touts as the nation's most advanced electronic mortgage platform. (Read More)

Homes Appreciated 6.92% in '01

Average home prices appreciated at an annual rate of 6.92% from the fourth quarter of 2000 to the fourth quarter of 2001, according to a quarterly report by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. (Read More)

Alltel Launches 1st UK Web Service

Alltel Mortgage Solutions, Bingley, U.K., has reported the introduction of its first Web-based origination service within the United Kingdom's mortgage market. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Taubman Stock Rating

The BB rating on Taubman Centers' preferred stock has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings, affecting approximately $300 million of outstanding securities. (Read More)

Big RMBS Deals Reported

Several sizable transactions have been reported recently in the residential mortgage-backed securities market, among them Westpac's $1 billion Australian MBS deal and a couple of billion-dollar subprime/home equity transactions securitized by U.S. Wall Street conduits. (Read More)

Freddie Declares 1Q Dividends

Freddie Mac's board of directors has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share on the corporation's voting common stock. (Read More)

LaSalle Announces $87MM Offering

LaSalle Hotel Properties, Bethesda, Md., has announced a public offering of $87 million of series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares. (Read More)

MBA Wants More GSE Disclosure

The nation's top mortgage trade group thinks Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be required to disclose their nonmortgage investments and the identities of their derivative counterparties. (Read More)

GMACCM Buys Westco

GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., Horsham, Pa., has acquired the commercial mortgage banking assets of Westco Real Estate Finance Corp., Costa Mesa, Calif. (Read More)

XtraNet, FirstAm Join Forces

XtraNet Lending Solutions, Orange, Calif., has formed a strategic partnership with First American Real Estate Information Services Inc., a subsidiary of The First American Corp. (Read More)

Financial Circuit, New Century Form Alliance

Financial Circuit, Campbell, Calif., has agreed to provide customer acquisition services for New Century Mortgage Corp., Irvine, Calif., which will become a provider of home mortgage loans on the Financial Circuit electronic business platform. (Read More)

FASI MBS Class Downgraded

Class B5 of Financial Asset Securitization Inc.'s mortgage pass-through certificates 1997-NAMC2 has been downgraded from B to CCC by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes Ratings of GGP, JP Realty

Following General Growth Properties' announcement that it is acquiring JP Realty for approximately $1.1 billion, Moody's Investors Service has placed some of the two companies' securities ratings under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes PNC MBS Classes

Four classes of PNC Mortgage Securities Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

REIT Cites Exercise of Overallotment Option

Corporate Office Properties Trust, Columbia, Md., has announced that its underwriters have exercised their overallotment option to purchase approximately 1.26 million additional shares of the company's common stock in connection with its current offering of 9.7 million shares. (Read More)

Freddie Fires Arthur Andersen

Freddie Mac has fired the accounting firm Arthur Andersen & Co. as its auditor, while retaining it as a consultant. (Read More)

Activists Question CRA Status of Subprime Loans

Federal banking agencies should take a closer look at the subprime loans banks are counting toward their Community Reinvestment Act goals, according to community activists meeting in Washington this week. (Read More)

Applications Rise

Mortgage applications rose 14.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended March 1, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

HomeBanc Picks Dorado PriceMaster

Dorado Corp., San Mateo, Calif., has signed a product licensing and service agreement to provide its PriceMaster Web-based product and pricing engine to HomeBanc Mortgage Corp., a leading online lender. (Read More)

Near-Record Resales Seen for '02

Sales of existing homes will remain at near-record levels this year, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

KPMG: RE Execs Positive About '02

Real estate executives are expecting their firms to perform better in 2002, according to a survey conducted by KPMG, a professional services firm. (Read More)

PREI, Rio Firm Close Investment

Prudential Real Estate Investors, Newark, N.J., and Icatu, a holding company based in Rio de Janeiro, have closed an investment by a consortium of international institutional investors in Atlantica Residencial S.A., a builder of low- and moderate- income housing in Brazil. (Read More)

BRE Prices $150MM of Notes

BRE Properties Inc., San Francisco, has priced a $150 million offering of five-year, 5.95% senior unsecured notes at 99.982. (Read More)

Deutsche Bank Acquiring RREEF

Deutsche Bank is acquiring RREEF, a real estate investment manager, for approximately $440 million from a group of European companies. (Read More)

BB&T to Buy Pfefferkorn

Branch Banking and Trust Co., Winston-Salem, N.C., has agreed to acquire The Pfefferkorn Co., a mortgage banking firm based in Winston-Salem. (Read More)

Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.87% for the week ending March 8 from 6.80% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Fed: Housing Market Weak in Texas

Economic activity in Texas remains weak, and this is taking its toll on the housing market, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes JP Realty Debt Rating

Fitch Ratings has placed its BBB rating on $100 million of JP Realty's senior unsecured notes under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

Freddie Prices $7B of RefNotes

Freddie Mac has priced $7 billion of 4.875%, five-year Reference Notes due March 15, 2007. (Read More)

MART Prices Stock Offering

Mid-Atlantic Realty Trust, Lutherville, Md., has priced a public offering of 2.0 million shares of its common stock at $15.10 per share. (Read More)

CharterMac Snags 'Outperform' Rating

Charter Municipal Mortgage Acceptance Co., New York, has received an Outperform rating from RBC Capital Markets, Minneapolis, which initiated coverage of the company on March 6. (Read More)

Mortgage Jobs Increase

Employment in the mortgage industry edged up 0.6% in February, while the nation's unemployment rate declined to 5.5%. (Read More)

Thrifts Post Record SF Originations

The thrift industry posted record single-family originations as well as record earnings in the fourth quarter, according to the Office of Thrift Supervision. (Read More)

OFHEO: Defaults Far Likelier for Subprime Loans

The probability of a subprime loan default in the first 28 months is eight times as high as that of a prime loan default, according to the first research paper published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. (Read More)

CWMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of CWMBS (IndyMac) Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Securitization Forum Names Officers

The new American Securitization Forum, a group that plans to represent the interests of the domestic securitization industry, has elected its executive leaders. (Read More)

Homeownership Key to Closing Wealth Gap?

Promoting homeownership among African-Americans is the key to narrowing the wealth gap between African-American families and white families, according to Fannie Mae chairman and chief executive Franklin D. Raines. (Read More)

RAIT Prices Stock Offering

RAIT Investment Trust, Philadelphia, has priced an offering of 1.2 million shares of common stock at $18.05 per share. (Read More)

Overallotment Option Exercised

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., has announced that underwriters have exercised their overallotment option to buy 810,000 additional shares of common stock in connection with a recent offering. (Read More)

Feedback

Early responses to our survey question on whether the Federal Housing Administration should impose limits on fees FHA lenders can charge are running more than 20-1 in favor of the idea. (Read More)

Citi Has Dropped 70% of Associates Brokers

CitiFinancial has stopped doing business with 70% of the mortgage brokers that Associates First Capital Corp. had on its buy list, according to CitiFinancial general counsel Carl Howard. (Read More)

Treasury: Lenders Should Monitor Brokers

Treasury Department officials now believe that a code of best practices for subprime lending should provide for careful monitoring of mortgage brokers by lenders. (Read More)

FHA Loans Going Sour

The performance of Federal Housing Administration one- to four-family loans continued to sour in the fourth quarter as more borrowers became seriously delinquent and more loans fell into foreclosure, according to Department of Housing and Urban Development data. (Read More)

Lahaina Selling Accent Mortgage

Lahaina Acquisitions Inc., Atlanta, has announced that it expects to complete the sale of its independent mortgage brokerage division, Accent Mortgage Services Inc., to Accent Management Group LLC, Atlanta, within 45 days. (Read More)

Fitch Sees Rise in CMBS Downgrades

Commercial mortgage-backed securitizations with retail, hotel, or health care collateral are projected to have rising delinquencies this year that may lead to downgrades, according to Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Freddie: 'Recessionette' Over, GDP to Grow 3.3%

The "recessionette" appears to be over, according to Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft, and he is now forecasting 3.3% growth in Gross Domestic Product for the year. (Read More)

Equity Residential Ratings Lowered

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Equity Residential Properties Trust's senior unsecured debt from A3 to Baa1 and its preferred stock from Baa1 to Baa2, as well as some of the real estate investment trust's subsidiaries. (Read More)

ASC CMBS Classes Downgraded

Nine classes of Asset Securitization Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1997-D5 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

GMAC Units Buy French RE Info Firm

GMAC Institutional Advisors LLC and its subsidiary, GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., Horsham, Pa., have acquired GRECAM, a French provider of market surveys and information for real estate professionals. (Read More)

New Century Boosts EPS Target

New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., has increased its earnings-per-share target for fiscal year 2002 to between $3.90 and $4.10, citing the company's current production levels and the strong secondary market for its loans. (Read More)

Grubb & Ellis Revamps Credit

Grubb & Ellis Co., New York, has restructured the credit arrangements with its banking syndicate and withdrawn a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in which it sought to raise up to $11 million in a rights offering. (Read More)

RBS Adds Homebuyer Tools to Website

The United Kingdom-based Royal Bank of Scotland has added homebuyer tools to its website, including two mortgage calculators. (Read More)

HUD Says It Can't Require Broker Disclosure

Department of Housing and Urban Development officials do not believe HUD has the authority to require mortgage brokers to disclose their total compensation to prospective borrowers. (Read More)

MBA Launches Anti-Fraud Campaign

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America is launching a public information campaign to alert consumers about mortgage fraud and predatory lending. (Read More)

CitiMortgage Prez Leaves

Tom Wind, president and chief operating officer of CitiMortgage, St. Louis, has left the company, sources have told MortgageWire. (Read More)

FHFB Chair Open to FHLBank Securitization

The new chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board is open to the idea of allowing the Federal Home Loan Banks to securitize mortgages. (Read More)

Federal Realty Adopts New Biz Plan

The board of trustees of Federal Realty Investment Trust, Rockville, Md., has adopted a new business plan focused on community shopping centers and announced planned changes in management and capital allocation. (Read More)

Chateau Communities' Debt Downgraded

Moody's Investors Service has lowered Chateau Communities' senior unsecured debt rating from Baa2 to Baa3, affecting approximately $500 million of securities. (Read More)

Delta Prices $175MM ABS Deal

Delta Financial Corp., Woodbury, N.Y., has priced a $175 million securitization of residential closed-end home equity loans through a subsidiary. (Read More)

CBL Prices Stock Offering

CBL & Associates Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Chattanooga, Tenn., has priced a follow-on offering of approximately 3.35 million shares of common stock. (Read More)

Principal Enhances Web Refi Service

Principal Residential Mortgage Inc., Des Moines, Iowa, has announced "extensive enhancements" to its customized online refinancing service for current loan customers. (Read More)

Wulf to Fund Housing in Pakistan

Wulf International Ltd., Scottsdale, Ariz., has signed a joint venture agreement involving the construction of at least 1 million low-income houses in Pakistan. (Read More)

OTS to Review Parity Act Regs

At the suggestion of a key Senate leader, the Office of Thrift Supervision has agreed to make it harder for state-chartered lenders to piggy-back on OTS lending regulations and avoid compliance with state consumer protection laws. (Read More)

ACB: Stop GSE $1K Note Sales

America's Community Bankers is asking the Treasury Department to stop Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from selling $1,000 notes to retail investors and competing for bank deposits. (Read More)

MBA Not Backing Ginnie Choice, But _

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America said Wednesday that it will not back Ginnie Mae Choice legislation as currently written, but wants more competition in the secondary market. (Read More)

MISMO Releases Data Dictionary 2.1

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization has released version 2.1 of its Logical Data Dictionary and Document Type Definitions for electronic mortgage transactions. (Read More)

Freddie Announces 'Home Value Calibrator'

Freddie Mac has announced the forthcoming release of Home Value Calibrator, an automated quality-control tool designed to identify inflated property valuations. (Read More)

Applications Drop

Mortgage applications fell 16.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended March 8, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Servicing on $652MM of Alt-A Loans for Sale

Interactive Mortgage Advisors, Denver, is brokering the sale of servicing rights on $652 million of Fannie Mae alternative-A home loans. (Read More)

DebtX to Sell $70MM of Loans for FDIC

DebtX, a Boston-based loan sale adviser, has been selected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to conduct an online auction of $70 million of residential mortgages managed by the Residential Trust Corp. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes 8 DLJ CMBS Classes

The ratings on eight classes of DLJ Commercial Mortgage Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1998-STF2 are being reviewed for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

United Dominion Closes on LOC

United Dominion Realty Trust Inc., Richmond, Va., has closed on a $72 million Freddie Mac revolving credit facility through GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp. (Read More)

REIT Expands Credit Facility

Corporate Office Properties Trust, Columbia, Md., has announced the expansion of its secured revolving credit facility from $125 million to $150 million. (Read More)

Criimi Mae Sub Sells Servicing Contracts

Criimi Mae Services LP, Criimi Mae's commercial mortgage servicing subsidiary, sold nine master and primary servicing contracts in February to an undisclosed buyer for $11.3 million in cash, including reimbursement for advances. (Read More)

Hearings Sought on GSE Accounting

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., is calling for hearings on the accounting practices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

FHA to Track Servicing Performance

The Federal Housing Administration is working on a system to track servicer performance, according to FHA Commissioner John Weicher. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Jump

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 7.08% for the week ending March 15 from 6.87% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

CSFB Cites Billions in Recent Mortgage Deals

Billions of dollars worth of sizable mortgage-related securities transactions from various countries have poured into the primary market in the past week, including a multicurrency United Kingdom deal worth about $3.4 billion, Credit Suisse First Boston has reported. (Read More)

Radian Invests in Primus Guaranty

Radian Group Inc., Philadelphia, the parent company of mortgage insurer Radian Guaranty Inc., has reported a $20 million investment in Primus Guaranty Ltd. (Read More)

Moody's Sees CRE Rebound in '03

The U.S. commercial real estate market will rebound in 2003 after bottoming out later this year, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Household Drops Arthur Andersen

Household International, Prospect Heights, Ill., has announced that its board of directors has appointed KPMG LLP as the company's independent auditor, replacing the beleaguered Arthur Andersen accounting firm. (Read More)

Bear Stearns Class Downgraded

Class B-5 of Bear Stearns Mortgage Securities Inc. series 1993-6 has been downgraded from CCC to D (default) by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

S&P Eyes Kmart-Linked GMAC Classes

The ratings on classes K and L of GMAC Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 2000-C2 have been placed on CreditWatch with negative implications by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Liberty Property Names New Prez

William P. Hankowsky has been promoted from executive vice president and chief investment officer to president of Liberty Property Trust, Malvern, Pa. (Read More)

DDR Prices Stock, Issues Notes

Developers Diversified Realty Corp., Cleveland, has announced the pricing of $150 million of preferred stock and the issuance of $100 million of medium-term notes. (Read More)

Request for GSE Hearings Nixed

The chairman of the Senate subcommittee on housing and transportation has turned down a colleague's request for hearings on the accounting practices and risk exposure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Baker Plans Summer Hearing on GSEs

Meanwhile, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., wants to hold a hearing on government-sponsored enterprise issues this summer, when he expects that Treasury Department officials will be ready to present the Bush administration's GSE policy. (Read More)

S&P IDs 29 Kmart-Linked CMBS Deals...

Standard & Poor's has identified 40 loans in 29 commercial mortgage-backed securities deals rated by S&P that are secured by stores Kmart Corp. plans to close. (Read More)

...While Fitch Cites 34 Deals

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings has identified 34 Fitch-rated CMBS deals containing loans secured by 45 stores on Kmart's lease rejection list. (Read More)

Konover Reports M&A Suitors

Konover Property Trust Inc., Raleigh, N.C., has reported the receipt of several nonbinding expressions of interest in acquiring the company. (Read More)

Apartment Sector Consolidation Continues

The apartment industry continued its trend toward consolidation last year, according to a survey by the National Multi Housing Council. (Read More)

Servicing on Ginnie Loans for Sale

Hamilton, Carter, Smith & Co., Beverly Hills, Calif., is brokering the sale of servicing rights on three portfolios of Ginnie Mae loans. (Read More)

Equity Residential Names Prez

Bruce W. Duncan has been named president of Equity Residential Properties Trust, Chicago, in connection with a previously announced succession plan. (Read More)

Feedback

What are the qualities of a great mortgage broker? (Read More)

Independent Mortgage Buys Saginaw Assets

Independent Bank Corp., Ionia, Mich., has announced that its subsidiary Independent Mortgage Co. Central Michigan has acquired substantially all the assets of Saginaw Bay Mortgage. (Read More)

Lahaina Reports Stock Purchases

Lahaina Acquisitions Inc., Atlanta, has reported that Mortgage Loan Specialists Inc., a large mortgage broker, and the SDDC Group Inc., a mortgage industry consultant, have purchased 1 million shares of Lahaina common stock from a shareholder. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades 74 Conseco Classes

The limited guarantee classes of 48 securitizations of manufactured housing contracts and 26 home equity and home improvement loan deals by Conseco Finance Corp. and Green Tree Financial Corp. have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Conseco Corporate Ratings

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings has placed all its Conseco-related corporate ratings on Rating Watch Negative, citing Conseco's announcement that it is offering a debt exchange for substantially all its public debt issues. (Read More)

Amresco MBS Class Downgraded

Class B-1F of Amresco Residential Securities Corp. Mortgage Loan Trust 1998-1 has been downgraded from CCC to D by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

RE Stock EPS Rose 4% in 4Q

The earnings per share of real estate stocks (measured by income from continuing operations) rose an average of 4.0% in the fourth quarter from the levels recorded a year earlier, according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. (Read More)

Irwin Mortgage Names SVP

Judson H. Croom Jr. has been named senior vice president of retail production at Irwin Mortgage Corp., Indianapolis. (Read More)

2 SVPs Appointed at GMACCM

Steven Doherty and Warren Higgins have been named senior vice presidents by GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., Horsham, Pa. (Read More)

FASB Goes Easy on Derivatives Rule

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has decided to make life easy for the mortgage industry by treating loan commitments as derivatives if the lender intends to sell the loan. (Read More)

Freddie: Ginnie Choice Could Cost $1.9B

Freddie Mac says Ginnie Mae Choice legislation could cost taxpayers $1.9 billion over 10 years. (Read More)

Cities Urge HUD to Rescind YSP Policy

The National League of Cities is urging HUD Secretary Mel Martinez to rescind an October policy statement on mortgage broker fees known as yield-spread premiums. (Read More)

GreenPoint Sells $843MM of MH Loans

GreenPoint Financial Corp., New York, has announced the sale of $843 million of manufactured housing loans to EMC Mortgage Corp., an affiliate of Bear Stearns. (Read More)

Fiserv, Mortgagebot Join Forces

Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., and Mortgagebot, Cedarburg, Wis., have announced a strategic alliance that they say will provide lenders with a fully integrated, Internet-based loan origination channel. (Read More)

MBA Backs Repeal of Ginnie Fee Hike

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America has expressed its strong support for H.R. 3926, a bill introduced recently by Rep. John LaFalce, D-N.Y., that would repeal the proposed increase in the Ginnie Mae guarantee fee. (Read More)

Homestore to Sell Consumer Credit Unit

Homestore, the Westlake Village, Calif.-based Internet company, has agreed to sell its ConsumerInfo.com division, which provides online consumer credit reporting and monitoring services, to Experian for $130 million in cash. (Read More)

Bombardier MH Deals Downgraded

All classes of Bombardier Capital Mortgage Securitization Corp.'s senior/subordinated pass-through certificates series 1998-C and 1999-A have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Forms Int'l Group

Residential Funding Corp. is forming a "core international team" that will be based in Bethesda, Md., and has appointed Christopher Nordeen, who was previously president of the company's European Group, to serve as president of the International Business Group. (Read More)

Survey Finds 'Tighter' CRE Lending

Lending conditions in the commercial real estate sector are tighter this year, according to a nationwide survey of bank CRE lending officers by Bridger Commercial Funding, San Francisco. (Read More)

Fannie Reports $581MM Benchmark Repo

Fannie Mae has repurchased $581 million of outstanding noncallable Benchmark Securities, according to the government-sponsored enterprise. (Read More)

Kilroy Obtains $425MM LOC

Kilroy Realty Corp., Los Angeles, has obtained a new $425 million unsecured revolving credit facility to replace its $400 million credit line. (Read More)

United Dominion Reports Stock Sale

United Dominion Realty Trust Inc., Richmond, Va., has reported the sale of 3 million shares of common stock to Cohen & Steers Capital Management Inc., which bought the shares on behalf of its investment advisory clients. (Read More)

Housing Starts Jump

Single-family housing starts jumped 7.3% in February as builders raced to meet demand with the spring homebuying season drawing near. (Read More)

Long-Awaited Housing Bill Unveiled

Rep. Marge Roukema, R-N.J., has introduced a long-awaited housing bill that includes several Federal Housing Administration provisions, plus a provision that would keep the Ginnie Mae guarantee fee at 6 basis points. (Read More)

SEC: GSEs Should Disclose as Others Do

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt reiterated to lawmakers Wednesday the agency's long-held view that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should face the same registration requirements as other publicly traded firms. (Read More)

Exec Calls for 'United Front' in DC

It will take a "united front" from the mortgage finance industry to deal with the upcoming examination of the industry in Washington, according to Joseph Reppert, vice chairman of First American Real Estate Information Services. (Read More)

Brendsel Sees Continued Housing Strength

Housing will continue to be a source of economic strength in the coming decade, Freddie Mac chairman Leland Brendsel told the Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations. (Read More)

Applications Fall

Mortgage applications fell 11.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended March 15, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Housing Index Rises

The NAHB Housing Market Index rose two points to 60 in March, indicating "strong and stable builder confidence" in the market for new single-family homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)

Feds Issue Guidance on Andersen

Federal regulators have issued special guidance to depository institutions and publicly traded companies that rely on Arthur Andersen for audited financial statements. (Read More)

Fannie Termed Top Mortgage Provider to Minorities

As a result of congressionally mandated lending requirements, and its own $2 trillion American Dream Commitment, Fannie Mae has become the largest single provider of mortgage funds to minority and low-income families, its chairman proclaimed March 20. (Read More)

Malan Board Recommends Liquidation

The board of directors of Malan Realty Investors Inc., Bingham Farms, Mich., has recommended a plan of liquidation to the shareholders of the real estate investment trust. (Read More)

Hawthorne to Buy 1st Fidelity

Hawthorne Financial Corp., El Segundo, Calif., has agreed to acquire First Fidelity Bancorp Inc., a privately owned multifamily and commercial real estate lender based in Tustin, Calif., in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $68 million. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Enters Resort Finance

GMAC Residential Funding Corp., Minneapolis, is entering the resort finance business through its Business Capital Group and will offer loans secured by real estate or timeshares to resort developers. (Read More)

E-Loan Offers IO Loan Products

Online lender E-Loan is making interest-only mortgage products available to first-time homebuyers through its website. (Read More)

S&P Eyes Spike in 'Specially Serviced' CMBS Loans

Standard & Poor's has raised questions about a sharp increase in "specially serviced but current loans" from commercial mortgage-backed securities transactions. (Read More)

Freddie Purchases Strong in February

Freddie Mac purchased $51 billion worth of mortgages in February, a slight decline from January's level but a 111% increase from the level of a year earlier. (Read More)

Flow Servicing for Sale

Servicing rights on an estimated $360 million to $840 million of future Fannie Mae loans are going on sale. (Read More)

AIMCO to Redeem Preferred Stock

Apartment Investment and Management Co., Denver, has announced that it will redeem all outstanding shares of its class K convertible cumulative preferred stock for AIMCO class A common stock on April 18 at $27.2125 per preferred share. (Read More)

GMACCM Names SVP

Jeffery M. Heath has been named senior vice president in the Philadelphia-area production office by GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., Horsham, Pa. (Read More)

Under Pressure, GSEs to Disclose More

Under pressure from their critics, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have agreed to make additional disclosures about their investments in derivatives and insider sales of company stock. (Read More)

Bill Would Junk GSEs' SEC Exemption

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., have introduced a bill that would repeal Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's exemption from Securities and Exchange Commission registration requirements. (Read More)

Mortgage Fraud Linked to Money Laundering

Money launderers have been "very successful" using mortgage fraud to cover their tracks, according to Arthur Prieston, an attorney who is an expert on the subject. (Read More)

Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 7.14% for the week ending March 22 from 7.08% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Houston Tops Office Investment Market

A study by New York-based Integra Realty Resources has identified Houston, New York, and Washington, D.C., as the top three cities for investment in office space. (Read More)

3 Merrill Lynch MBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes of Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Inc.'s mortgage pass-through certificates Series 1999-C1 have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

SAMI MBS Class Downgraded

Class B-5 of Structured Asset Mortgage Investments mortgage pass-through certificates Series 1999-4 has been downgraded from CCC to D (default) by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Criimi Mae Cites $31MM 4Q Charge

Criimi Mae Inc., Rockville, Md., has announced that it will report a noncash impairment charge of about $31 million for the fourth quarter of 2001 and a net loss of approximately $24.2 million for the year. (Read More)

Tech Firm Names New Prez

Noel M. Webster has been named president of McCracken Financial Software, Billerica, Mass., which specializes in software for commercial mortgage servicers. (Read More)

Mortgage Banker Names CFO, 2 Execs

American Home Mortgage Holdings, an online and offline retail mortgage banker based in Melville, N.Y., has announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer and two other executives. (Read More)

1st Alliance to Pay $60MM Settlement

First Alliance Mortgage Co. and its owners have agreed to pay $60 million to settle allegations of deceptive lending practices by federal and state agencies and private plaintiffs. (Read More)

Class Cert Reversed in Standard Fed Case

A U.S. appeals court has reversed class certification in a lawsuit against Standard Federal Mortgage, Troy, Mich., after relying on HUD's policy statement on yield-spread premiums. (Read More)

Bill Doesn't Require GSEs to Pay SEC Fees

More details of the Shays-Markey bill have emerged, and it does not require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pay Securities and Exchange Commission registration fees. (Read More)

Merrill Expanding Subprime Unit

Merrill Lynch Mortgage Capital is expanding its subprime business and has hired three industry veterans to lead the charge. (Read More)

Criimi Mae Settles Last Ch. 11 Claim

Criimi Mae Inc., Rockville, Md., has announced the settlement of the last claim in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. (Read More)

GEMI Releases 1st Earnings Report

For the first time, General Electric Mortgage Insurance, Raleigh, N.C., has released its annual earnings to the outside world. (Read More)

CWBC Exceeds $50B in Online Fundings

Countrywide Home Loans Inc., Calabasas, Calif., has funded $50 billion worth of mortgage loans online through its business-to-business website, the Countrywide Wholesale Business Channel. (Read More)

Moody's Unveils CMBS Reporting System

Moody's has introduced a reporting system that will help commercial mortgage-backed securities investors monitor the credit performance of CMBS deals and collateral. (Read More)

Merrill Lynch CMBS Class Downgraded

Class F of Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1995-C2 has been downgraded from B2 to B3 by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

ABFS Closes $320MM Deal

American Business Financial Services Inc., Bala Cynwyd, Pa., has closed a $320 million fixed-rate mortgage loan securitization via three subsidiaries. (Read More)

N. Ireland's Homeowner Rate Hits 72.5%

Homeownership in Northern Ireland has reached a record level of 72.5%, higher than anywhere else in the United Kingdom, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders Northern Ireland. (Read More)

Amex Lists LendingTree Options

The American Stock Exchange has initiated trading in options on the stock of LendingTree Inc., Charlotte, N.C. (Read More)

Feedback

What is the best course to follow for a wholesale lender who discovers fraud committed by a broker? (Read More)

Resales Fall, But Still Near Record

Sales of existing single-family homes fell in February from their record pace in January, but remained at a historically high level, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Hibernia, Fannie Unveil $5B Initiative

Hibernia National Bank, Baton Rouge, La., and Fannie Mae have announced a $5 billion initiative offering mortgage loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers in Louisiana and the Texarkana and Dallas-Fort Worth markets. (Read More)

Mortech: Digital Divide Growing

The just-released 2001 Mortech study shows a growing "digital divide" between technology haves and have-nots in the mortgage industry, according to Jeff Lebowitz, president of Mortech LLC, Silver Springs, Md. (Read More)

Moody's Reviews GMAC CMBS

The ratings on six classes of GMAC Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2002-LT are being reviewed for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes RALI MBS

The B-2 classes of five series of Residential Accredit Loans Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Sunrise Sells 12 Communities

Sunrise Assisted Living, McLean, Va., has completed the sale of 12 assisted-living communities in six states to an international investor group for $197 million. (Read More)

Tenants With 55% of 9/11 CRE Staying

Tenants representing 55% of the office space destroyed or damaged on Sept. 11 plan to remain in or relocate to Lower Manhattan, according to TenantWise.com, a lease transaction website. (Read More)

MBA Names Vice Chair-Elect

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America has announced the nomination of Michael F. Petrie, president of P/R Mortgage & Investment Corp., Indianapolis, as its vice chairman-elect. (Read More)

Equity One Prices Stock

Equity One Inc., North Miami Beach, Fla., has priced a follow-on public offering of 3 million shares of common stock at $13.25 per share. (Read More)

Ellie Mae Adds 1st Franklin to ePASS

Mortgage technology provider Ellie Mae, Pleasanton, Calif., has announced the addition of subprime lender First Franklin Financial Corp., San Jose, Calif., as a partner on its ePASS Business Center. (Read More)

TradeWeb Adds to TBA MBS Group

Greenwich Capital has joined TradeWeb LLC's to-be-announced mortgage-backed securities dealer group, bringing the total number of dealers using the fixed-income trading platform to 10. (Read More)

ABFS Stock Hits '02 Low

The stock price of American Business Financial Services Inc., Bala Cynwyd, Pa., was on the rise again Tuesday after dropping nearly $2 per share to its lowest level all year on Monday. (Read More)

Criimi Mae Reports Smaller '01 Loss

Criimi Mae Inc., Rockville, Md., has reported a net loss to common shareholders of $24.2 million ($2.18 per share) for 2001, compared with a net loss of $155.5 million ($25.02 per share) the year before. (Read More)

Centex Replaces Andersen

Builder and mortgage lender Centex Corp., Dallas, has appointed Ernst & Young as the company's outside auditor, replacing the beleaguered Arthur Andersen accounting firm. (Read More)

RI Homeownership Initiative Launched

Freddie Mac, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Sovereign Bank, and Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Southern New England have launched a $25 million homeownership initiative in Rhode Island. (Read More)

Equity Inns Prices Stock Offering

Equity Inns Inc., Germantown, Tenn., has priced a follow-on common stock offering of 3.1 million shares at $8 per share. (Read More)

Post Properties Names New CEO

David P. Stockert, president of Post Properties, has been named to succeed company founder and chairman John A. Williams as chief executive officer, effective July 2002. (Read More)

IndyMac Hires New CFO

Scott Keys has been named chief financial officer of IndyMac Bancorp Inc., Pasadena, Calif., the holding company for IndyMac Bank. (Read More)

Interlinq Names New CFO

Michael Castle has been named chief financial officer of Interlinq Software Corp., Bellevue, Wash. (Read More)

Late Pays Rising in Spanish RMBS

Delinquencies in Spain's residential mortgage-backed securities are lower than those elsewhere in Europe, but they have gradually increased over the past two years, according to Moody's Investors Service's new arrears index for Spanish MBS. (Read More)

CoStar Signs Fannie, GMACCM Pacts

CoStar Group Inc., Bethesda, Md., has announced the signing of national multiyear agreements to provide data and technology to Fannie Mae and GMAC Commercial Mortgage. (Read More)

New-Home Sales Rise

New-home sales rose 5.3% in February after dropping a revised 15.8% in January, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. (Read More)

Key GOP Senator Questions Bush OFHEO Plan

A key Republican senator with oversight jurisdiction over HUD is questioning the Bush administration's recommendation to take the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "off budget." (Read More)

Applications Rise

Mortgage applications rose 4.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended March 22, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Identrus Buying Digital Signature Trust

Digital trust services provider Identrus LLC, New York, has announced that it is acquiring Digital Signature Trust from Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorporation and the American Bankers Association. (Read More)

SL Green Buys Trophy Tower

SL Green Realty, New York, is acquiring 1515 Broadway, a "trophy" office property in New York City's Times Square area, for approximately $480 million through a joint venture with SITQ Immobilier, a Canadian real estate company. (Read More)

Grubb & Ellis Buys Site Selection Firm

Real estate advisory firm Grubb & Ellis, New York, has completed the acquisition of Wadley-Donovan Group, a consulting firm specializing in corporate site selection. (Read More)

UK Finds Mortgage Firm in Default

The United Kingdom's Financial Services Compensation Scheme has officially declared nine firms -- among them H Moss Insurance & Mortgage Services, Portsmouth -- to be in default. (Read More)

Fannie Adjusts Stock Dividend Rate

Fannie Mae has announced the first dividend rate adjustment for its variable-rate noncumulative preferred stock, series F. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Rise Again

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 7.18% for the week ending March 29 from 7.14% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Ocwen, Merrill Lynch Form Joint Venture

Ocwen Financial Corp., West Palm Beach, Fla., has announced the formation of Global Servicing Solutions LLC, a joint venture with Merrill Lynch. (Read More)

Simon Buys Terror Policies

Simon Property Group, Indianapolis, has purchased two stand-alone terrorism insurance policies from Lexington Insurance Co., each with an aggregate limit of $100 million. (Read More)

Hotel Companies to Merge

Crestline Capital Corp., the Bethesda, Md.-based parent company of Crestline Hotels & Resorts, has agreed to be acquired by a wholly owned subsidiary of Barcelo Hotels & Resorts, Palma De Mallorca, Spain. (Read More)

Fitch Survey Raps Other Raters' Practices

Most senior executive in the structured finance arena believe Moody's and Standard & Poor's are using their dominant market share to suppress competition in the rating of structured finance bonds, according to a survey sponsored by the two rating agencies' chief competitor, Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Immigrants Seen Boosting Housing Demand

Immigrants already in the United States could create the demand for four million or more new homes in the next 10-20 years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. (Read More)

Davidson Unveils Updated Prepay Model

Andrew Davidson & Co. Inc., New York, has released a new version of its prepayment model for mortgage-backed securities that produces "a significantly improved fit" to the prepayment experience of 2001. (Read More)

LendingTree Confirms Stock Sales

LendingTree Inc., Charlotte, N.C., has confirmed that two of its early investors have sold portions of their holdings, totaling 2.75 million common shares, to several institutional investors. (Read More)

Conseco to Form Title, Settlement Unit

Conseco Finance Corp., St. Paul, Minn., has announced plans to form a subsidiary to provide title-related products and appraisal and settlement services for its home equity, home improvement, and manufactured housing lending businesses. (Read More)

New MI Drops 11%

Primary new insurance written by the eight private mortgage insurance companies fell 11.2% in February compared with January's volume, the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America has reported. (Read More)

RBC Sub Buying Eagle Bancshares

A subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada is acquiring Eagle Bancshares Inc., Atlanta -- a thrift holding company that was once a notable player in the mortgage market but has since scaled back to being a relatively small local lender. (Read More)

Amresco Cap Reports Assets in Liquidation

Amresco Capital Trust, Dallas, has reported that its net assets in liquidation declined by $1.6 million to $15.6 million ($1.55 per share) in the fourth quarter of 2001. (Read More)

Developer Buys Out Partner in LA Tower

MaguirePartners, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate developer, has acquired its partner's interest in downtown LA's 73-story Library Tower, the tallest building on the West Coast. (Read More)

LandSafe Reports Record Earnings

LandSafe Inc., a provider of real estate information and closing services based in Plano, Texas, has reported record net income before taxes of $55 million for the 10-month period ended Dec. 31, up 62% from $34 million for the 12-month fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2001. (Read More)

Moody's: Canadian CRE Strong

Canadian commercial real estate remains strong, with a national average composite score of 82 out of 100, according to a Moody's Investors Service report on Canadian commercial mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)

Feedback

Responses to our survey question on Federal Housing Administration limits on FHA lender fees are still running heavily in favor of the idea, though not at the 20-1 ratio of the early responses. (Read More)

LaFalce Cautions HUD on RESPA

The Department of Housing and Urban Development may be on shaky legal ground, according to Rep. John LaFalce, D-N.Y., if it grants a blanket exemption from RESPA anti-kickback provisions for lenders offering guaranteed closing costs. (Read More)

Freddie Expands Disclosures

Freddie Mac has announced that its latest financial Information Statement includes new disclosures about the company's use of derivatives and other risk management practices. (Read More)

NetBank Completes RBMG Acquisition

NetBank Inc., an Atlanta-based Internet bank, has completed the acquisition of Resource Bancshares Mortgage Group Inc., a wholesale mortgage lender based in Columbia, S.C. (Read More)

FHLBank Earnings Dip in '01

The Federal Home Loan Banks reported a slight drop in earnings in 2001, although advances outstanding grew by 7.9% during the year. (Read More)

Downpay Aid Group Forms Spanish Unit

Futures Home Assistance Program, Stockbridge, Ga., has announced the formation of a department aimed at meeting the linguistic and financial needs of Hispanics in all 50 states. (Read More)

Taubman Buying 50% of Retail Property

Taubman Centers, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., is acquiring a 50% interest in Sunvalley, a 1.3 million-square-foot retail property in Concord, Calif., for $88 million. (Read More)

Freddie Names VP of MF Risk

Paul McDermott has been named vice president of Freddie Mac's Multifamily Risk Management Department. (Read More)

Kramont Closes New LOC

Kramont Realty Trust, Plymouth Meeting, Pa., has closed an $18.5 million revolving line of credit with GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp. (Read More)

Freddie Forms Community Lending Unit

Freddie Mac has created a community lending department with a dedicated staff of 140 to market and tailor its products and services to midsize and small depository institutions that hold nearly $865 billion in mortgages on their books. (Read More)

Fannie Expands Disclosures

Fannie Mae has expanded disclosures about its use of derivatives and its counterparty exposure. (Read More)

ICNB Financial Buys Austin Mortgage

ICNB Financial Corp., Ionia, Mich., has acquired Austin Mortgage Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., for an undisclosed sum. (Read More)

Web Tool for Title Firms Unveiled

Three California title companies will begin using ClosingPoint, a new Web-based transaction management tool developed by Nation's Holding Group that will facilitate the ordering of title insurance services for their customers. (Read More)

Moody's Launches RE Fund Ratings

Moody's Investors Service has launched Moody's Real Estate Fund Ratings, a rating system for private and public real estate funds worldwide. (Read More)

Hilton CMBS Classes Downgraded

Five classes of Hilton Hotels Pool Trust's commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-HLT have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Crescent Ratings Off CreditWatch

Standard & Poor's has affirmed its ratings on Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. and Crescent Real Estate Equities LP and removed them from CreditWatch with negative implications. (Read More)

Home123 Hires Prez/COO

Daniel L. Rich has been hired as president and chief operating officer of Home123 Loans Direct!, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (Read More)

Trade Groups Seek HMDA Delay

Major banking, thrift, and mortgage lending trade groups are asking the Federal Reserve Board to postpone scheduled changes in Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements until Jan. 1, 2004. (Read More)

Applications Decline

Mortgage applications fell 1.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended March 29, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Reid Got Buyout From MBA

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America provided a former chief executive with a $1 million buyout when he agreed to step down in June 2000. (Read More)

Hearing Set on FHLBank Cap Plans

The Federal Housing Finance Board has announced that it will hold an April 11 public hearing on the capital plans of the Federal Home Loan Banks. (Read More)

Salomon CMBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes of Salomon Brothers Mortgage Securities VII Inc., CDC Securitization Corp., commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2001-CDC have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Old Republic Unit Goes Paperless

Old Republic National Title's Residential Information Services division, Fairlawn, Ohio, has completed implementation of a paperless initiative that allows the company to accept orders electronically and then complete and return them online. (Read More)

E-Loan Renews Warehouse Lines

E-Loan Inc., Dublin, Calif., has announced the renewal of two warehouse lines of credit totaling $350 million. (Read More)

Kramont Files for $150MM Shelf

Kramont Realty Trust, Plymouth Meeting, Pa., has filed a shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell up to $150 million of its common shares, preferred shares, debt, and other securities. (Read More)

Wulf Touts Philippine, Pakistani Projects

Wulf International Ltd., Frisco, Texas, has reported progress in its efforts to finance low-income housing projects in the Philippines and Pakistan. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Stops Buying HOEPA Loans

Residential Funding Corp. is no longer purchasing Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act loans, MortgageWire has learned. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Enters Canadian Market

GMAC Residential Funding of Canada has purchased Mortgage Intelligence, the largest independent residential mortgage brokerage in Canada, marking the U.S.-based Residential Funding Corp.'s first move into the Canadian market. (Read More)

Rates Decline

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate declined to 7.13% for the week ending April 5 from 7.18% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Imperial Sells SF Loan Portfolio

Imperial Capital Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of ITLA Capital Corp., La Jolla, Calif., has sold its entire portfolio of nonconforming residential loans to ITLA and filed an application to convert to a state-chartered commercial bank. (Read More)

MDC Subs to Buy Homebuilder

M.D.C. Holdings Inc., Denver, has announced that two subsidiaries have agreed to acquire substantially all the homebuilding operations of W. L. Homes LLC (d/b/a John Laing Homes) in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. (Read More)

Fed Clarifies TILA Requirements

The Federal Reserve Board has clarified its Truth in Lending Act requirements regarding the three-day right of rescission and the disclosure of monthly credit insurance premiums. (Read More)

TCN Releases Archiving Tool

The Credit Network, Framingham, Mass., has released ArcSafe, a tool that automatically archives credit reports ordered by a mortgage lender and facilitates compliance with federal regulations. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes 7WTC-Linked Deal

Nine classes of Banc of America Large Loan Inc. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2001-7WTC, have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Banknorth, Fannie Unveil SimplyHome

Banknorth Mortgage Group, Portland, Maine, and Fannie Mae have introduced SimplyHome, a fixed-rate mortgage product for low- to moderate-income homebuyers. (Read More)

Fitch Launches REIT Scorecard

Fitch Ratings has launched a scorecard for real estate investment trusts based on the rating agency's analysis of the major real estate sectors and their "fundamental rating drivers." (Read More)

NAHB: Housing Affordability Rose in 4Q

Housing became significantly more affordable in the United States in the fourth quarter as low interest rates helped offset the effects of the economic downturn, according to the National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)

Has Mortgage Hiring Peaked?

Employment in the mortgage industry remained largely unchanged in March even though mortgage rates rose above 7% and refinancing activity slowed during the month. (Read More)

Economists Forecast Modest Recovery

Two housing economists expect a modest economic recovery that will keep mortgages rates at or below 7.5% this year and housing sales and construction on track. (Read More)

Investco Buying Resort Developer

Investco, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based financial services company, is acquiring American Leisure, a holding company of travel, hotel, and resort development companies based in Orlando, Fla. (Read More)

Salomon MBS Class Downgraded

Class B4 of Salomon Brothers Mortgage Securities VII Inc.'s mortgage pass-through certificates 1997 HUD-2 has been downgraded from CCC to D (default) by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

AmNet Opens San Diego Broker Center

American Mortgage Network, San Diego, has opened a regional center in San Diego and a satellite office in Mission Viejo, Calif., to begin broker originations. (Read More)

Median Home Price Hits Record in California

Housing affordability in California declined in February on a year-to-year basis as the median home price rose to a record level, according to the California Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Freddie Seeks Nominations for LP Award

Freddie Mac is accepting nominations for the 2002 Loan Prospector Service Award, which will go to eight lenders and eight brokers who use technology to improve mortgage loan originations and provide outstanding service. (Read More)

1st Industrial Prices Senior Notes

First Industrial Realty Trust Inc., Chicago, has announced that its operating partnership, First Industrial LP, has priced offerings for $250 million of senior unsecured notes. (Read More)

Feedback

A posting on the Grapevine lamenting the hassles involved with conforming loans and swearing to "stick to subprime loans" has drawn considerable comment. (Read More)

OFHEO Enlisting SEC for GSE Review

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight -- with the assistance of the Securities and Exchange Commission -- will launch what it calls a "comprehensive" review of the financial disclosure policies and practices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Panel Backs YSPs at MBA Conference

A panel of mortgage industry leaders all expressed support for the payment of yield-spread premiums to mortgage brokers when responding to an audience query at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's National Secondary Market Conference in Chicago. (Read More)

Fannie to Offer Real-Time Pricing

Lenders selling mortgage to Fannie Mae for cash will soon have access to real-time pricing. Currently, lenders selling individual loans are bound by strict pricing periods that range from one to 90 days. (Read More)

Fannie Won't Seek Exemption in Georgia

It appears that Fannie Mae will not seek a last-minute exemption from an anti-predatory-lending bill that some Georgia legislators are trying to pass in the final days of the session. (Read More)

Freddie Expects $10-15B in Subprime Deals

Freddie Mac expects to securitize $10 billion to $15 billion in subprime loans this year, following better-than-expected volume in 2001. (Read More)

Certain Fannie Speeds Skyrocket

Prepayment rates for most agency mortgage-backed securities rose modestly in the March reporting period, while the speeds of seasoned Fannie Mae super-premium issues skyrocketed, according to the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary. (Read More)

Lone Star Closes 2 RE-Related Funds

Lone Star Funds, Hamilton, Bermuda, has completed the final closing of two funds that are slated to make various international investments, among them investments in secured debt and real estate. (Read More)

NAREIT Affirms GAAP Net Income

Net income computed under generally accepted accounting principles has been affirmed as the primary earnings measure for real estate companies by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. (Read More)

$144MM of Servicing for Sale

Matrix Capital Markets, Denver, is brokering the sale of servicing rights on $144 million of conventional mortgage loans. (Read More)

MBA/Freddie Program Awards Scholarships

Path to Diversity, a program developed jointly by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and Freddie Mac, has awarded scholarships to the MBA's School of Mortgage Banking to 29 minority professionals. (Read More)

AmNet Gets New Funding Facility

American Residential Investment Trust Inc., San Diego, and its mortgage banking subsidiary, American Mortgage Network , have announced that AmNet has secured a $150 million mortgage loan funding facility with UBS Warburg Real Estate Securities Inc. (Read More)

Prism Changes Name

Prism Mortgage Co., Chicago, has officially changed its name to RBC Mortgage Co., reflecting the fact that it is part of the Royal Bank of Canada's financial group. (Read More)

Bush Urges Action on Terror Insurance

Flanked by business and union leaders, President Bush urged the Senate Monday to pass a bill that would provide federal backing for terrorism insurance to boost commercial real estate construction. (Read More)

Fed: Word on HMDA Delay Coming Soon

Mortgage lenders should get an answer soon on whether the Federal Reserve Board is going to postpone the effective date of its new Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rules for 12 months. (Read More)

MBS Investors Protest Fannie Clean-Up Call

Some mortgage-backed securities investors are protesting Fannie Mae's first-time-ever decision to exercise its right to a clean-up call of seasoned pools, saying it has been "hugely disruptive" to the market. (Read More)

Ginnie Cites Cost Savings

Ginnie Mae has instituted a second round of cost-saving measures that it estimates will save issuers about $8 million annually. (Read More)

CBOT Touts Rate Swap Futures

The Chicago Board of Trade's new 10-year interest rate swap futures contract "has gotten off to a promising start," CBOT chairman Nickolas Neubauer has told the MBA's National Secondary Market Conference. (Read More)

Countrywide Has 3rd-Best Month Ever

Countrywide Credit Industries, Calabasas, Calif., originated $15.2 billion in mortgages during March, its third-best funding month ever. (Read More)

Community Banks Buys 100% of Title Agency

Community Banks Inc., Millersburg, Pa., has acquired 100% ownership of Community Settlement Co., a real estate settlement and title services agency based in Hanover, Pa. (Read More)

Fitch: CMBS Defaults 'Remarkably' Low

Commercial mortgage-backed securities have maintained a "remarkably low" default rate of 0.34% (by number of classes) and 0.17% (by initial issuance amount), according to new research published by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

S&P: RMBS Buck Negative Trend

Despite a record level of downgrades in the asset-backed securities sector, residential mortgage bonds performed extremely well in the first quarter, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Fitch to Evaluate Franchise Loan Servicers

Fitch Ratings has announced that it will begin evaluating the servicers of franchise loan securitizations. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes Japanese CMBS

Moody's Investors Services is keeping a close eye on Japanese commercial mortgage-backed securities transactions, anticipating that terrorism coverage on underlying assets will soon become excluded, limited, or extremely expensive. (Read More)

Counsel, Affordable Programs Usually Linked

Most banks and thrifts offer financial counseling in connection with their affordable mortgage programs, according to a Consumer Banker's Association survey. (Read More)

Freddie Prices $6B of RefNotes

Freddie Mac has priced $6 billion of 3.75% two-year Reference Notes due April 15, 2004. (Read More)

No Housing Bubble, Economists Say

There is no national housing price bubble, according to a pair of economists who spoke at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's National Secondary Market Conference in Chicago. (Read More)

GMAC Exec Says CRE Crisis Brewing

A lack of terrorism insurance is interrupting sales and refinancings of commercial real estate and could lead to a drop in property values, according to David Creamer, chairman and chief executive of GMAC Commercial Holding Corp. (Read More)

Will HUD Seek OK on RESPA Bundling?

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will probably seek congressional approval before it moves forward with a provision that allows lenders and others to "bundle" settlement services, according to a former HUD attorney. (Read More)

Applications Decline

Mortgage applications fell 4.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended April 5, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

CSFB CMBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1997-C1, have been downgraded and removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Ocwen Launches Investor Reporting Website

Ocwen Financial Corp., West Palm Beach, FL, has launched a website that will give the company's servicing clients and investors online access to loan portfolio performance information. (Read More)

Impac Unveils Interest-Only Loan

Impac Funding Corp., Newport Beach, Calif., has introduced an adjustable-rate "interest only" loan program. (Read More)

Tower Bought Near Ground Zero

GMAC Commercial Mortgage and Amalgamated Bank are co-lending $54 million for the acquisition of 50 Broadway in Lower Manhattan by the United Federation of Teachers. (Read More)

Household Files $10B Shelf

Household International Inc., Prospect Heights, Ill., has reported that its Household Finance Corp. subsidiary has filed a $10 billion shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Read More)

Pru Servicer Rated by Fitch

Prudential Asset Resources, Dallas, has received a commercial special servicer rating of CSS3+ from Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

REIT Stock Begins Trading on NYSE

The stock of FBR Asset Investment Corp., a real estate investment trust based in Arlington, Va., has begun trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FB. (Read More)

OTS Seeks Staff Cutback

The Office of Thrift Supervision has proposed a restructuring plan calling for an 18.7% reduction in staffing and a realignment of its five regions into four. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Drop

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to 6.99% for the week ending April 12 from 7.13% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Freddie Sees Faster Growth

Freddie Mac has revised its economic projections, forecasting real gross domestic product growth of 3.4% for 2002, up from the 2.9% predicted in January. (Read More)

Prime Group Execs Resign

Following a call for their ouster by a group of shareholders, Prime Group Realty Trust has reported that Michael W. Reschke has resigned as chairman of the real estate investment trust and Richard S. Curto has resigned as chief executive officer to "pursue other business interests." (Read More)

ALTA: Title Insurers Paid $350MM in '00

Challenging the perception that title insurers pay little in claims, the American Land Title Association has reported survey results indicating that title insurers paid approximately $350 million in claims in 2000. (Read More)

RESPRO: Homebuyers Prefer 1-Stop Shopping

Homebuyers overwhelmingly prefer one-stop shopping, according to a consumer survey released by the Real Estate Service Providers Council Inc. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Names Resort Finance Execs

Jeff Owings and Teresa Mortenson have been named to management positions in the recently formed resort finance division of Residential Funding Corp., Minneapolis. (Read More)

Freddie Prices $3B of RefNotes

Freddie Mac has priced $3 billion of 5.75%, 10-year Reference Notes due Jan. 15, 2012. (Read More)

Crescent Prices Senior Notes

Crescent Real Estate Equities Co., Fort Worth, Texas, has announced that its operating partnership has priced a private offering of $375 million of 9.25% senior unsecured notes. (Read More)

UBS, Wells Form Mortgage Venture

UBS PaineWebber has reported the formation of a joint venture mortgage company, UBS PaineWebber Mortgage LLC, with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc. (Read More)

Would Stock-Buy Mandate Cripple MPF?

Imposing a stock purchase requirement on the Mortgage Partnership Finance program would cripple its growth and development, according to the founder of the Federal Home Loan Bank program. (Read More)

Ranieri Re-Enters Thrift Arena

Lewis Ranieri, the man considered to be the father of the mortgage-backed security, has reentered the thrift business through an investment in a Texas state-chartered savings bank, Franklin Bank SSB of Austin. (Read More)

Option One Plans Fla. Servicing Ops

Option One Mortgage Corp., Irvine, Calif., plans to open a large servicing operation in Jacksonville, Fla., a city that is quickly becoming a mecca for financial service firms looking for reasonably priced call center labor. (Read More)

Fannie Posts Clean-Up Call Policy

Fannie Mae has posted its policy on mortgage-backed securities clean-up calls on its website in response to concerns caused by Fannie's recent first-time exercise of such a call. (Read More)

Levitt Buys Stake in Bluegreen

Levitt Cos., a builder based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has acquired a 40% interest in the outstanding common stock of vacation and residential housing company Bluegreen Corp., Boca Raton, Fla., in a transaction valued at about $57 million. (Read More)

Merrill MBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes of Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Inc.'s mortgage pass-through certificates series 1999-C1 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Stars No. 1 Class Downgraded

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded approximately £57.8 million (about $83.0 million) of mortgage-backed securities issued under the Stars No. 1 plc program, citing insurance claim settlements that have been below expectations. (Read More)

Glimcher Selling Retail Portfolio

Glimcher Realty Trust, Columbus, Ohio, is selling a portfolio of 44 single-tenant and community center assets to a group of private investors for approximately $300 million. (Read More)

National City Hits Servicing Milestone

National City Mortgage, Miamisburg, Ohio, has announced that it now services $100 billion in home loans. (Read More)

Shell Backs Miami Affordable Housing

Shell Community Financing Co., Miami, has announced its participation in a lending consortium aimed at financing multifamily affordable housing projects in Miami-Dade County. (Read More)

Feedback

Are you interested in participating in a survey of mortgage bankers on loan origination software? (Read More)

Fannie Rescinds Clean-Up Calls

Responding to investor complaints, Fannie Mae has reported that it will rescind the company's recent first time ever mortgage-backed security cleanup calls and remove language it has long had in its prospectuses allowing the government-sponsored enterprise to exercise those calls. (Read More)

HUD Putting $15 Million into RESPA Probe

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is in the processing of awarding a $1.5 million contract to a private investigative service in an effort to uncover violations of the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act. (Read More)

Countrywide Calls for Uniformity in Regs

Countrywide Home Loans' top legal officer has called for federal legislation that would establish uniform predatory lending protections and preempt the proliferation of state and local statutes that address abusive lending practices. (Read More)

NACA Refuses to Reimburse 'Predatory' Fees

A Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America's program for refinancing predatory loans has taken an aggressive turn and it will no longer reimburse lenders for excessive fees and points. (Read More)

MGIC Indicator Inches Down

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp.'s Market Trend Index for the first quarter of 2002 dipped to 6.81. (Read More)

Fannie's Net Income Rises 22.7%

Fannie Mae, Washington, D.C., has reported an operating net income of $1.519 billion for the first quarter of 2002 ó a 22.7% increase compared with the first quarter of 2001. (Read More)

Lahaina to Do Wholesale Via UCMC

Lahaina Acquisitions Inc., the Denver based-holding company, will begin making wholesale mortgage originations in California through its United Capital Mortgage Corp. subsidiary. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Three CMBS Classes

Fitch Ratings has downgraded three classes of COMM 2000-F2's commercial mortgage pass-through certificates. (Read More)

PMI's European Sub in $1.4 Billion Deal

The Dublin, Ireland-based PMI Mortgage Insurance Ltd. has reported that it has participated in a $1.4 billion mortgage credit enhancement transaction. (Read More)

Venta Prices Note Offerings

Ventas, a healthcare real estate investment trust, has priced two senior note offerings totaling $400 million, the sale of which is expected to close on April 17. (Read More)

Conseco Lengthens Debt Exchange Deadline

Conseco Inc., Carmel, Ind., has extended the deadline of public debt exchange offer from last Friday, April 12 to Wednesday, April 17. (Read More)

Single-Family Starts Fall 11%+

Single-family housing starts fell 11.3% in March from the previous month, according to figures released this morning by the Commerce Department, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Read More)

Former CFO Buys Invvision Mortgage

Invvision Capital Inc., Dallas, has sold its mortgage company, Invvision Mortgage Inc. to the unit's former chief financial officer, Malcolm McAlpine. (Read More)

Commercial Insurance Premiums Up on Index

Premiums for all types of commercial insurance are increasing while coverage limits are dropping, according to the Commercial Insurance Market Index compiled by Washington-based Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers. (Read More)

ABC Virtual: MI Interface A MISMO 1st

ABC Virtual, Des Moines, Iowa, announced that is the first to embed a mortgage insurance order/delivery interface in an loan origination system using MISMO's XML 1.1 data standards. (Read More)

Wells Earnings Rise 19%

Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, reported record diluted earnings per share of $.80 in the first quarter 2002, up 19% from prior year's $.67 diluted earnings per share. (Read More)

Golden State Sees $0.85 EPS in 1Q

Golden State Bancorp Inc., San Francisco, announced first-quarter 2002 earnings of $122.5 million, or $0.85 per diluted share. (Read More)

Golden West EPS Up 37% in Quarter

Golden West Financial Corp., Oakland, Calif., has announced diluted earnings per share for the first three months of 2002 of $1.51, up 37% from the $1.10 reported for the same period in 2001. (Read More)

Allied Mortgage & Financial Gets LOC

Allied Mortgage & Financial Corp., Hollywood, Fla., has received an $8 million line of credit from City National Bank of Florida. (Read More)

Conseco Debt Holders Tender to Exchange Offer

A majority of debt holders of Conseco Finance 6.5% notes due Sept. 26, 2002 have tendered to the subprime and manufactured housing company's exchange offer. (Read More)

Brendsel Earns $8.2 Million

Freddie Mac's chairman and chief executive, Leland Brendsel, had total compensation -- including restricted stock awards -- of $8.28 million last year, according the company's just released proxy statement. (Read More)

Loan Applications Rise

Lenders reported a slight increase in home loan applications for the week ending April 12, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. (Read More)

Fannie Loan Purchases Off 19%

Fannie Mae saw its loan purchase volume fall by almost 19% in March compared to the previous month, according to figures released by the company. (Read More)

WaMu Posts Strong Earnings Gain

Washington Mutual, Inc., Seattle, announced quarterly earnings of $950 million, compared to $641 million during the same period in 2001. (Read More)

Saxon Licenses LoanRover's AU Technology

Saxon Mortgage Inc., Glen Allen, Virginia, has struck a deal with Silver Spring, Maryland-based LoanRover Decision Systems, formerly known as Subprimex, a provider of subprime automated underwriting technology, that will see the LoanRover AU source code embedded in Saxon's proprietary loan origination system. (Read More)

CharterMac's Hires Financial Advisor

Charter Municipal Mortgage Acceptance Company, or Charter Mac, has hired the investment banking firm of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein as its financial advisor in connection with the company's "exploration of a potential management internalization." (Read More)

Hochfelder Buys Out Partner

Adam C. Hochfelder, president and CEO of Max Capital Management has bought out his partner Richard Kalikow to acquire full ownership of Max Capital. (Read More)

Australian CMBS Notes Planned

The largest commercial mortgage-backed security transaction in Australia will be issuing two additional classes of notes, Standard & Poor's has reported. (Read More)

Mortgage Rates Drop Again

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed rate mortgages is 6.94% for the week ending April 19, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey. (Read More)

Commission Seeks FHA Reforms

A congressionally chartered housing commission is close to recommending ways to revitalize the Federal Housing Administration so that its single family and multifamily insurance programs can do a better job of serving the low-income homebuyers and renters. (Read More)

Less Red Tape for Ginnie Mae Issuers?

The Department of Housing and Urban Development says it is cutting red tape for FHA lenders and Ginnie Mae issuers by allowing issuers to provide evidence of insurance using online data from the FHA Connection website. (Read More)

Lending Tree Issues $5.9 Million of Stock

LendingTree, Charlotte, N.C., has completed the sale of 500,000 newly issued shares of common stock valued at $5.9 million in a private placement to three institutional investors. (Read More)

National City Earns $446 Million

National city Corporation reported first quarter net income of $446.1 million in the first quarter, up from $335.4 million in the first quarter of last year. (Read More)

GreenPoint Financial Earns $120 Million

GreenPoint Financial, New York, reported record net income from continuing operations of $120 million in the first quarter. (Read More)

Terrorism Risk Raises Insurance Premiums

A "tangible negative effect" on the economy is emerging, particularly in the real estate and construction sectors, as an after-effect of last September's terrorist attacks, according to a report put out by the Extreme Events Committee of the American Academy of Actuaries. (Read More)

Fannie Seasoned MBS Speeds Slow

The revised prepayment speeds for seasoned, premium mortgage-backed securities on which Fannie Mae had rescinded its previously controversial clean-up calls came in as expected Wednesday night, returning that sector of the market to normal. (Read More)

Sovereign Recognized by Freddie Mac

Sovereign Bank, Wyomissing, Penn., has received a Tier One ranking from Freddie Mac for managing both performing and non-performing loans. (Read More)

$15 Billion of Ginnie Mae Rights for Sale

Cohane Rafferty Securities, White Plains, N.Y., plans to offer a $15 billion bulk package of Government National Mortgage Association receivables, sources told MortgageWire. (Read More)

MPF Originations Doubled in Q1

Mortgage Partnership Finance program originations "more than doubled" in the first quarter compared to a year ago, according to Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank. (Read More)

Farmer Mac Sets Another Record

The government-sponsored enterprise established to facilitate a secondary market in agricultural real estate and rural housing loans earned net income of $7.2 million in the first quarter, a new record. (Read More)

Advocates Want Fed to Track Prices

Public interest groups that represent minorities want the Federal Reserve to collect loan pricing data from lenders as a way to fight discrimination. (Read More)

Astoria Will Be Listed On NYSE

Astoria Financial has announced that it has begun the process of listing its common stock on the NYSE under the new ticker symbol "AF." (Read More)

BMA Supports Terrorism Legislation

The Bond Market Association is putting its weight behind the call for government action in the matter of terrorism insurance. (Read More)

CEO Resigns at Equity Office Properties

The board of Equity Office Properties Trust announced that President and CEO Timothy Callahan has resigned "for personal reasons." (Read More)

Servicing Rights for Sale

The Prestwick Mortgage Group, Alexandria, Va., is brokering the sale of servicing rights on two annual flow deals. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades a GMACCM Deal

Five classes of a GMAC Commercial Mortgage Securities transaction have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Feedback

The National Association of Home Builders is sponsoring a "Building for Boomers and Beyond" conference in May. (Read More)

OTS Again Seeks Parity Act Changes

The Office of Thrift Supervision is proposing once again to amend its Parity Act regulations because of concerns that the rules facilitate predatory lending by state-chartered lenders and mortgage brokers. (Read More)

Colliers: Office Markets Still Weakening

Office markets are still weakening nationwide despite signs of improvement in the overall economy during the first quarter, according to a survey by Colliers International. (Read More)

Rotterdam Named Top Euro Office Market

Moody's Investors Service has named Rotterdam the strongest office market in Europe in a recent report on the commercial mortgage-backed securities market. (Read More)

Hotel Trust Rating Off CreditWatch

The BBB-minus rating of the Times Square Hotel Trust's mortgage and lease amortizing certificates has been affirmed and removed from CreditWatch with negative implications by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

ABN AMRO Funds $24.6B in 1Q

ABN AMRO Mortgage Group Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich., has reported production of $24.62 billion in the first quarter, with 154,832 units funded, an increase of 83% from first-quarter 2001 totals. (Read More)

Hammons Makes Tender Offer

John Q. Hammons Hotels LP, Springfield, Mo., has announced a cash tender offer to purchase its outstanding 8 7/8% First Mortgage Notes due 2004 and its 9 3/4% First Mortgage Notes due 2005. (Read More)

AmeriVest Files for Stock Offering

AmeriVest Properties Inc., Denver, has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer 3.0 million shares of its common stock. (Read More)

GoLoan Unveils New 2nd Program

GoLoan, Beverly Hills, Calif., has introduced new second trust-deed programs under which buyers with good credit and undisclosed income can qualify with no money down. (Read More)

Aussie Debt Hits Record High

Household debt in Australia has reached a record level, with mortgage loans and credit card balances increasing by double-digit percentages in 2001, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Greenspan Cautions GSE Counterparties

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan continues to raise concerns about the federal subsidies and implicit government guarantees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enjoy and investors take for granted. (Read More)

Treasury Delays RE Brokerage Decision

The Treasury Department has decided to put off making a final decision on whether financial services companies and national banks should be able to engage in the real estate brokerage business until next year. (Read More)

Charter One Conversion OK'd

Charter One Financial Inc., Cleveland, has announced that the application of its principal subsidiary, Charter One Bank FSB, to convert from a thrift charter to a national bank charter has been approved by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Board. (Read More)

ABC Virtual, RealEC Form Alliance

A network licensing agreement between ABC Virtual, Des Moines, Iowa, makers of the ECLoanPro loan origination system, and RealEC Technologies will allow users of the LOS to access title products through the RealEC network without leaving the system or opening another application. (Read More)

Greatland, vLoanPort Strike Deal

Greatland Corp., Grand Rapids, Mich., has struck a deal with vLoanPort, Redmond, Wash., that the companies say will offer mortgage lenders enhanced, intelligent documents and provide for product co-marketing by the two companies. (Read More)

Freddie Reports Record Earnings

Freddie Mac has reported record operating earnings of $893 million ($1.19 per share) for the first quarter, up from $719 million ($0.96 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

Freddie Purchases Drop Slightly in March

Freddie Mac saw its loan purchases slip by 5.4% in March compared with those of the previous month, a better showing than that of its chief competitor, Fannie Mae. (Read More)

Countrywide Touts Record Earnings

Countrywide Credit Industries Inc., Calabasas, Calif., has reported record unaudited earnings of $168 million ($1.32 per share) for the first quarter, up 61% from $104 million ($0.85 per share) in the comparable fiscal quarter of last year, which ended Feb. 28 rather than March 31. (Read More)

Fiserv Reports 1Q Earnings

Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., has reported earnings of $559.8 million ($0.33 per share) for the first quarter, up 21% from $462.2 million ($0.26 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

Post Sells 3 Properties

Post Properties, an Atlanta-based multifamily real estate investment trust, has reported the sale of three properties in Texas and Florida for total gross proceeds of $86 million. (Read More)

Sarbanes to Unveil Anti-Predatory Bill May 1

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., has announced that he will unveil the latest version of his anti-predatory-lending bill at a news conference on May 1. (Read More)

Bill to Repeal GSE Exemption Stirs Opposition

A bill to repeal Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's exemption from Securities and Exchange Commission registration requirements was introduced only a month ago, but it has already sparked a letter-writing campaign in opposition to repeal. (Read More)

New-Home Sales Down 3%

Sales of new single-family homes fell 3% in March, but sales continue to be moving at a healthy clip. (Read More)

Applications Rise

Mortgage applications rose 4.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended April 19, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Global RE Marketplace Launched

International Real Estate Securities Exchange, Atlanta, has launched the Real Estate Marketplace, which it says will enable investors to buy and sell equity interests in commercial real estate properties worldwide. (Read More)

Deutsche Bank Buys RREEF

Deutsche Bank has closed its acquisition of RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., a holding company for RREEF, a real estate investment manager based in the United States. (Read More)

TrizecHahn Revamp Okayed

TrizecHahn Corp., Toronto, has announced shareholder approval of its reorganization plan, under which it will launch Trizec Properties Inc. as a publicly traded office real estate investment trust based in the United States. (Read More)

S&P Lowers Merrill MBS Ratings

Three classes of Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Inc.'s mortgage pass-through certificates Series 1997-C1 have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's and removed from CreditWatch with negative implications. (Read More)

Captec Franchise Deal Classes Downgraded

Classes C, D, E, and F of Captec Franchise Trust 1999-1 have been downgraded to D (default) by Standard & Poor's, and class B has been downgraded from AA to A and placed on CreditWatch with negative implications. (Read More)

Atherton Franchise Deal Ratings Lowered

Two classes of Atherton Franchise Loan Funding 1999-A LLC have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's, a third has been downgraded and placed on CreditWatch with negative implications, and two others have been placed on CreditWatch negative. (Read More)

Freddie, Cenlar Offer New Options for ACB

Freddie Mac and Cenlar FSB have announced two new private-label servicing options for members of America's Community Bankers that enable them to originate mortgages without a costly servicing infrastructure. (Read More)

MBA Cancels Commercial Summit

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America has canceled its Global Commercial Mortgage Markets Summit, which had been scheduled for May 6-7 in Toronto. (Read More)

Belize's 1st Rated MBS Deal Completed

The first-ever rated mortgage securitization in Belize has been completed, according to Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Thornburg's 1Q Earnings Rise

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., has announced earnings of $24.2 million ($0.62 per share) for the first quarter, compared with $10.7 million ($0.42 per share) for the same period in 2001. (Read More)

1st Eastern Announces Promotions

First Eastern Mortgage, Andover, Mass., has announced the promotions of three employees to executive positions. (Read More)

Freddie Prices EuroRef Note

Freddie Mac has priced a euro five billion (about $4.46 billion) three-year EuroReference Note due May 15, 2005. (Read More)

Resales Drop

Existing-home sales fell 8.3% in March as the best-ever three-month period for resales came to an end. (Read More)

NAHB: Housing Starts 'Flat' Thru '03

Questioning the viability of the current economic recovery and the lack of pent-up demand that normally follows a recession, the chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders has predicted that housing starts are likely to remain "fairly flat" into next year. (Read More)

House Prices Most Affordable Since '70s?

Discounting the possibility that the air will soon come out of rising house prices, the chief economist at Standard & Poor's has told a National Association of Home Builders conference that prices are not out of whack, but more affordable than at any time since the early 1970s. (Read More)

MBA May Boost Origination Forecast

The chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America says home lending volume this year may exceed the $1.4 trillion estimate that he and other housing industry economists have made. (Read More)

MBS Industry Urged to Fight Predatory Lending

Underwriters and broker-dealers in the mortgage-backed securities market need to join the fight against predatory lending, but advocates of regulation should realize that there are limits to what secondary-market participants can do, according to an official of The Bond Market Association. (Read More)

Securitization Forum Open to GSEs

The American Securitization Forum has opened its membership to government-sponsored enterprises for the first time, George P. Miller, vice president and deputy general counsel of The Bond Market Association, told attendees at the association's annual meeting. (Read More)

Ney Seeks to Kill Repeal of GSE Exemption

Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, is circulating a "dear colleague" letter in an effort to smother a newly introduced bill that would repeal Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's exemption from Securities and Exchange Commission registration and disclosure requirements. (Read More)

Rates Drop Further

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to 6.88% for the week ending April 26 from 6.94% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

MBA Hires Senate Staffer for Gov't Affairs Job

After months of searching, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America has hired Senate staffer Kurt Pfotenhauer as its new senior vice president of government affairs. (Read More)

Co-op Bank to Buy Lumina Mortgage

Cooperative Bank, Wilmington, N.C., has agreed to acquire Wilmington-based Lumina Mortgage Co. (Read More)

Redwood Prices Stock Offering

Redwood Trust Inc., Mill Valley, Calif., has priced an offering of 500,000 shares of common stock at $27.01 per share. (Read More)

Shidler Buys San Diego Complex

The Shidler Group, in partnership with Angelo, Gordon & Co., has bought a 353,067-square-foot San Diego office complex for $62.5 million from an associate of Lennar Corp. (Read More)

Essex REIT Added to S&P 600

Essex Property Trust, Palo Alto, Calif., has been added to the Standard & Poor's Small Cap 600 Index, becoming the first multifamily real estate investment trust in the index. (Read More)

SEC Wants 'Principle-Based' SPE Rules

The regulation of special-purpose entities used to securitize mortgages should move away from precise, detailed rules and toward "principle-based rules," according to the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Read More)

MPF May Escape Stock-Buy Mandate

It appears that the Federal Housing Finance Board will allow the Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank to continue operating its Mortgage Partnership Finance program without imposing a stock purchase requirement. (Read More)

Will FHA Downpay Formula Be Permanent?

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., has introduced a bill that provides for a permanent extension of a Federal Housing Administration simplified downpayment formula, which is due to expire at the end of this year. (Read More)

HomeGold Enters 2nd Title Venture

HomeGold Inc., Columbia, S.C., has entered into its second joint venture with a title company in two weeks, having signed an agreement with Nations Title. (Read More)

eLocity Plans to Buy Financial Consultant

Coronado, Calif.-based eLocity Networks Corp. has signed a letter of intent to acquire Family Financial Solutions LLC, a Utah-based consulting firm that specializes in mortgages, insurance, and other financial services. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Touts Record Deal Volume

Residential Funding Corp., Minneapolis, has announced that its total mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities issuance in the United States reached a GMAC-RFC record of $10.2 billion in the first quarter. (Read More)

SFSG Hires Financial, M&A Adviser

Success Financial Services Group Inc., Round Rock, Texas, has retained vFinance Investments as a financial adviser in connection with a $5 million private placement and with acquisition plans involving mortgage banking firms. (Read More)

Harbourton Mortgage Sub Records Loss

Harbourton Financial Corp., McLean, Va., has reported a pretax loss of $321,797 in the first quarter for its new mortgage banking subsidiary, Harbourton Mortgage Investment Corp., Santa Rosa, Calif. (Read More)

RAIT Prices Stock Offering

RAIT Investment Trust, Philadelphia, has priced an offering of one million of its common shares at $20.50 per share. (Read More)

IRET Reports Stock Offering

Investors Real Estate Trust, Minot, N.D., has announced a best-efforts offering of up to 3.6 million shares of beneficial interest at $9.50 per share. (Read More)

Feedback

The 2002 Mortgage Industry Buyer's Guide, which contains contact information on over 3,000 companies providing products and services to the mortgage industry, is now available online. (Read More)

FDIC Sells Last Superior B&C Pool

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has sold a $267 million pool of performing and nonperforming subprime loans to an undisclosed buyer. (Read More)

Lobbyists Press for MF Trust Fund

A grassroots lobbying effort to create a national trust fund to fund production of low-income multifamily housing is putting a lot of pressure on lawmakers to come up with more funding for production this year. (Read More)

Fair Isaac, HNC Plan Merger

Fair, Isaac and Co. Inc., San Rafael, Calif., and HNC Software Inc., San Diego, have announced plans to merge and operate under the Fair Isaac name in a deal valued at over $800 million. (Read More)

2 ASC CMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of Asset Securitization Corp.'s 1995-D1 commercial mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's, and ratings were upgraded on three other classes and affirmed on one. (Read More)

Rate Scenario May Hurt Mortgage Market

The end of the easing of short-term interest rates by the Federal Reserve and the tightening predicted for this year may be tough on some mortgage market participants, according to Duncan Goldie-Morrison, head of the Global Markets Group and Asia at Bank of America's securities unit. (Read More)

Prime Group Reports M&A Proposal

Prime Group Realty Trust has reported the receipt of an unsolicited proposal from American Realty Investors Inc. to acquire the company, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust. (Read More)

EOP Reports 1Q Rise in FFO

Equity Office Properties Trust, Chicago, has reported funds from operations of $410.6 million ($0.87 per share) for the first quarter, up from $272.6 million ($0.78 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

Bridger Brokers Portfolio Sale

Bridger Commercial Funding, San Francisco, has sold a $22 million loan portfolio on behalf of a commercial bank through its BankExchange program, which matches qualified commercial mortgage buyers and sellers. (Read More)

O'Neill Pooh-Poohs Shays Bill

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has thrown cold water on a bill that would repeal Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's exemption from Securities and Exchange Commission registration and disclosure requirements. (Read More)

FNIS Makes Tender Offer for Micro General

Fidelity National Information Solutions Inc., Santa Barbara, Calif., has made a stock-for-stock tender offer for all outstanding shares of Micro General Corp., Santa Ana, Calif. (Read More)

New MI Surges

Aided by a huge increase in the amount of bulk transactions insured, the amount of primary mortgage insurance written in March increased by 43% over February's total, according to data collected by the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America. (Read More)

Weiss: Chargeoffs Hit Record Level

Weiss Ratings, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., says the U.S. banking industry's net loan chargeoffs grew by "an alarming 55%" in 2001. (Read More)

Charter One to Realign Near-Prime Unit

Charter One Financial Inc., Cleveland, has announced that it will incorporate Charter One Credit Corp., its near-prime mortgage lending unit, into the operations of Charter One Bank. (Read More)

2 Merrill MBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Inc.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates Series 1996-C2 have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Fleet Expands Alliance With Fannie

FleetBoston Financial, Boston, has announced an expanded partnership with Fannie Mae under which the government-sponsored enterprise will buy eligible mortgage loans originated by Fleet and targeted at low- and moderate-income buyers. (Read More)

RBC Offers Streamlined Refi

RBC Mortgage, Chicago, has launched a new streamlined refinance product called "Starting with Yes." (Read More)

FHA MF Servicing for Sale

The Prestwick Mortgage Group, Alexandria, Va., is brokering the sale of mortgage servicing rights on $98 million of Federal Housing Administration multifamily mortgage loans. (Read More)

PREI Names CEO of Singapore Unit

Prudential Real Estate Investors has promoted Josephine Au Yeong to chief executive officer of GRA (Singapore) Private Ltd., the company's Singapore-based real estate investment unit. (Read More)

ABFS Renews $100MM LOC

American Business Financial Services Inc., Bala Cynwyd, Pa., has renewed for one year a $100 million credit line issued jointly by MBIA Insurance Corp. and Bear Stearns & Co. (Read More)

Acadia Sells 17 Shopping Centers

Acadia Realty Trust, New York, has completed the sale of 17 "non-core" shopping centers to the Lightstone Group for $52.7 million. (Read More)

IRT Prices Stock Offering

IRT Property Co., Atlanta, has priced a public offering of 3.0 million shares of its common stock at $11.79 per share. (Read More)

Raines Was Fannie's $10MM Man in '01

Fannie Mae chairman Franklin Raines had total compensation -- including deferred stock awards -- of $10.8 million in 2001, according to the company's just-released proxy statement. (Read More)

Applications Rise

Mortgage applications rose 9.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended April 26, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Info1 Buys Business Units

Info1 Holding Co. Inc., Atlanta, which operates a nationwide consumer credit reporting agency and an information technology firm, has acquired several regional credit reporting firms that it once served. (Read More)

Subprime Study Cites Racial Disparities

A study that raises concerns about the high concentration of subprime lending in minority neighborhoods was released at a news conference Wednesday with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., who just introduced his anti-predatory-lending bill. (Read More)

FHFB Names Chief Examiner

The Federal Housing Finance Board has appointed veteran banking regulator Stephen M. Cross to be its chief examiner and supervisor of the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks. (Read More)

COFI Decline Slowing

The rapid decline of the Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index seems to be slowing, which could be a sign that the index is bottoming out. (Read More)

Equity-Tapping Refis Rose in 1Q

More than 60% of the homeowners who refinanced their homes in the first quarter dipped into their equity by getting a mortgage at least 5% larger than the original loan, according to Freddie Mac's quarterly refinance review. (Read More)

New Escrow Tech Unveiled

Oversight International, Salt Lake City, has announced a new Web-based process for administering mortgage escrows. (Read More)

REIT Buying Out Venture Partner

The Mills Corp., Arlington, Va., is purchasing the joint venture interests in five retail properties from its partner Simon Property Group for $430 million. (Read More)

Conseco Reports Big Loss

Conseco Inc., Carmel, Ind., has reported a net loss of $96.9 million for the first quarter due to a charge of $136.8 million for various items. (Read More)

Neuberger Berman Launches RE Fund

Neuberger Berman Inc., a New York-based investment advisory firm, has launched a mutual fund that seeks capital growth and current income by investing in real estate securities. (Read More)

Fannie Taps Board Nominee

Former presidential adviser Frederic V. Malek has been nominated for election to Fannie Mae's board of directors at the company's 2002 annual meeting on May 21. (Read More)

Aames Plans Exchange Offer

Aames Financial Corp., Los Angeles, has announced plans to offer to exchange its outstanding 5.5% convertible subordinated debentures due 2006 for a new issue of 4% convertible subordinated debentures due 2012. (Read More)

Sarbanes Dangles Pre-emption Bait

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., is holding out the possibility of a federal pre-emption of state anti-predatory-lending laws if lenders will agree to tough federal standards in his bill. (Read More)

Fannie Won't Lobby States

Fannie Mae has announced that it will no longer lobby state legislatures to get an exemption from pending anti-predatory lending laws. (Read More)

Sheehy Leaving Freddie

Pat Sheehy, a senior vice president in charge of national sales at Freddie Mac, is leaving the secondary market giant, sources have told MortgageWire. (Read More)

Rates Still Falling

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.78% for the week ending May 3 from 6.88% the previous week, hitting its lowest level since the 6.75% recorded in the week ended Nov. 23, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Navy Federal Starts Settlement Unit

Navy Federal Credit Union, the nation's largest mortgage lender in the credit union industry, has announced that it is setting up a real estate settlement services unit. (Read More)

MeriStar, Interstate to Merge

MeriStar Hotels & Resorts and Interstate Hotels Corp., two hotel management companies, are merging in a transaction valued at approximately $68 million. (Read More)

NAR: Housing Affordability Declines

The affordability of a median-priced existing home decreased in the first quarter for the typical American family, as the National Association of Realtors' Housing Affordability Index fell from 141.0 to 137.2. (Read More)

CBA: Banks Addressing Predatory Loan Issues

Mortgage and homeownership counseling programs are being offered by 97% of larger banks, and 60% sponsor financial literacy programs aimed at protecting consumers from predatory lending practices, according to the Consumer Bankers Association. (Read More)

Strong Management Termed Key for Analysts

Among the factors analysts look for in specialty finance companies is strong management with a proven track record during difficult times, according to Robert P. Napoli, managing director and senior research analyst for U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, Chicago. (Read More)

Mortgage Jobs Fall Slightly

The mortgage industry lost 1,900 jobs in April, but employment in the residential finance niche remained strong at 344,600 positions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Read More)

CSFB Restructuring B&C Conduit?

Credit Suisse First Boston is planning to restructure its nonconforming mortgage conduit, industry sources have told MortgageWire, but the Wall Street firm is keeping tight-lipped about exactly what those changes will be. (Read More)

Fed Postpones HMDA Rules

Federal Reserve Board has postponed implementation of its new Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting rules for 12 months, until Jan. 1, 2004. (Read More)

DoJ Initiated 10 Fair-Lending Probes

The U.S. Department of Justice has initiated 10 fair-lending investigations in the past two years, according to an attorney with the civil rights division. (Read More)

New Century Does Record $1B in April

New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., originated a record $1 billion in subprime mortgages during April. (Read More)

Household Hit With Class Action

Three borrowers have brought a class action complaint against Household International Inc., Prospect Heights, Ill. (and two subsidiaries) alleging misleading sales practices. (Read More)

Fitch: Lenders Failed in MH Servicing

Many lenders who entered the manufactured housing business in recent years did not understand the servicing requirements of the asset, says a new report from Fitch Ratings on the rise and fall of MH lending. (Read More)

CWMBS Class Downgraded

Class B-5 of CWMBS Inc.'s mortgage pass-through certificates series 1995-M has been downgraded from CC to D by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

REIT Taps CFO as Prez

Raymond W. Braun, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Health Care REIT Inc., Toledo, Ohio, has been promoted to president of the real estate investment trust. (Read More)

Apartment REIT's Earnings Slide

Equity Residential Properties Trust, the largest apartment real estate investment trust, has reported earnings per share of $0.28 in the first quarter, down from $0.40 for the comparable period of last year. (Read More)

Feedback

The final tally of responses to our survey question on limiting FHA lender fees ran more than 4-to-1 in favor of the idea, after starting out in the range of 20-1 in favor. (Read More)

HUD Eyes GSEs' 1st-Timer Market Share

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase only 11% of the mortgage loans made to first-time minority homebuyers and more than half of their affordable housing loans have downpayments of more than 20%, according to a Department of Housing and Urban Development working paper. (Read More)

Taylor, Bean Switches to Freddie

Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, a $7 billion-a-year producer based in Ocala, Fla., is switching from Fannie Mae to Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Downtown Vacancies Highest in 5 Years

Vacancy rates for downtown office markets, or central business districts, reached their highest level in five years during the first quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield. (Read More)

Condo, Co-op Sales Set Record

Sales of existing condominiums and cooperatives surged to a new record in the first quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

C-BASS Completes REMIC

C-BASS, New York, has completed a real estate mortgage investment conduit deal backed by approximately $270 million of residential mortgages. (Read More)

Key Investors Plan Boardwalk Share Sale

The controlling shareholders of Boardwalk Equities Inc., a Canadian real estate company based in Calgary, Alberta, have announced that they intend to sell up to 350,000 common shares of the company. (Read More)

Ex-MBA Prez Named to FirstAm Board

Herbert B. Tasker, a former president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, has been appointed to the board of directors of The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif. (Read More)

Moody's Spotlights Danish Mortgage Bonds

Denmark's realkreditobligationer market has grown to 165 billion euros (about $151 billion), making it one of the largest mortgage bond markets in Europe, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Correction

On Friday, May 3, MortgageWire published an item concerning possible plans by Credit Suisse First Boston to restructure the operations of its nonconforming mortgage unit. On Friday afternoon -- after the story ran -- CSFB managing director Jeff Detweiler told MW that no restructuring was in the works. He also said there are no plans to close the Princeton, N.J., operation of CSFB Mortgage. Prior to Mr. Detweiler's comments, CSFB officials had not returned several telephone calls about the matter. We apologize for any confusion the item may have caused. (Read More)

Delta Settles Class Action Suit

Delta Financial Corp., Woodbury, N.Y., has entered into a settlement agreement with the attorneys for consumers who filed a class action lawsuit against the subprime lender alleging abusive practices. (Read More)

HUD: Where Are Settlement Cost Savings?

With all the technological innovations in the mortgage business, Department of Housing and Urban Development officials are wondering why the touted cost savings are not showing up on settlement sheets. (Read More)

NY Comptroller Raps Household

Citing concerns about Household International's lending practices, New York State Comptroller H. Carl McCall has hinted at possible action to safeguard the state's investment in the company. (Read More)

Rumors Fly on Changes at IMX

Rumors are flying that major changes are afoot at Houston-based mortgage technology firm IMX.com, operator of the IMX Exchange linking brokers and lenders. (Read More)

Treasury Creates Financial Ed Office

The Treasury Department has created an Office of Financial Education to coordinate government efforts to improve financial literacy in the United States. (Read More)

MERS Previews Version 5.0

As part of its mission to release regular biannual updates, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems has previewed its version 5.0, due to be released May 20. (Read More)

Slow Recovery Seen Aiding Mortgage Banking

Mortgage banking is the one area where commercial banks are "ideally situated to benefit from a slower-growth economic recovery in 2002," according to Andrew B. Collins, a senior research analyst at US Bancorp Piper Jaffray. (Read More)

Farmer Mac Issues Preferred Stock

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., Washington, has issued $35 million of 6.40% fixed-rate perpetual preferred stock, its first issuance of preferred stock. (Read More)

Colliers: Office Occupancy, Rents Falling

Occupancy levels and rents are continuing to fall in most office markets nationwide, according to Boston-based Colliers International. (Read More)

Archstone-Smith Reports 1Q EPS

Archstone-Smith, the real estate investment trust formed by the merger of Archstone Communities and Charles E. Smith, has reported net earnings per share of $0.29 for the first quarter, compared with $0.52 per share a year earlier. (Read More)

Argentine Crisis Highlights Insurance Product

The financial crisis in Argentina has highlighted the use of an insurance product designed to protect foreign lenders in circumstances where certain currency exchange and monetary transfer controls have been imposed, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

#3 at HUD Resigns

Robert L. Woodson Jr., the third-highest-ranking official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is leaving the department, MortgageWire has learned. (Read More)

ALTA/Radian Range War Heats Up

The American Land Title Association is urging the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight to make a ruling that would ban Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lenders from using alternative title insurance products. (Read More)

IMX Forms Alliance With LION

Confirming a May 7 MortgageWire item about a rumored major strategic change at IMX.com, the Houston-based company has just entered into an alliance with LION Inc., another veteran technology player serving mortgage brokers and wholesale lenders. (Read More)

Apps Rise; Purchase Index Hits Record

Mortgage applications rose 8.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended May 3 as the Purchase Index hit a record high, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Key Mortgage Stocks Lag in Rally

The stock market enjoyed a broad rally Wednesday morning, but the biggest mortgage stocks saw their value decline slightly. (Read More)

Agency MBS Speeds Slow

Prepayment rates for most agency mortgage-backed securities slowed in the April reporting period, according to the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary. (Read More)

NAR Sees Resales Record This Year

Sales of existing homes will reach a record high this year, although they will slow from the first quarter's unprecedented levels, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Bombardier MH Deals Downgraded

Three classes of Bombardier Capital Manufactured Housing Contracts series 1999-B and series 2000-A have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

WaMu Unveils Teacher Mortgage Program

Washington Mutual, Seattle, has introduced a program that allows state-certified teachers and administrators employed at accredited K-12 schools to receive a 0.5% discount on loan origination points when buying a home. (Read More)

Delta Reports Profit -- Again

For the second consecutive quarter, Delta Financial Corp., Woodbury, N.Y. -- which incurred losses of nearly $50 million in 2000 and nearly $100 million in 2001 -- has reported a profit. (Read More)

REIT Announces Stock Offering

Health Care REIT Inc., Toledo, Ohio, has announced a public offering of 3.0 million shares of common stock. (Read More)

REIT Boosts Fannie Credit Facility

The Town and Country Trust, a Baltimore-based multifamily real estate investment trust, has increased the size of its Fannie Mae credit facility, through Prudential Mortgage Capital, to $439 million. (Read More)

9/11 Scholarship Fund 1/3 of Way to Goal

The MBS Mega Scholarship Fund, created to benefit 135 children of mortgage industry professionals who lost parents in last September's terrorist attacks, is about one-third of the way to its goal. (Read More)

HUD Probing FHA MF Lenders

The Federal Housing Administration multifamily program is on pace to have a record year, but agency officials are stepping up their policing of the FHA's MAP (multifamily accelerated processing) program because of kickbacks and other violations. (Read More)

Rates Creep Up

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate inched up to 6.79% for the week ending May 10 from 6.78% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

DLJ, Fairbanks Propose Servicing Pact

DLJ Mortgage Capital, New York, and Fairbanks Capital Corp., Salt Lake City, have signed a letter of intent to enter into a broad servicing agreement that is expected to include the merger of a special servicing platform affiliated with DLJ into Fairbanks. (Read More)

RALI MBS Class Downgraded

Class B-2 of Residential Accredit Loans Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates series 1999-QS14 has been downgraded from B to CCC by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Freddie Veep to Head 2nd Unit

David H. Stevens, a senior vice president at Freddie Mac and general manager of its Community Lending division, has been given the additional responsibility of heading Freddie Mac's National Lending division. (Read More)

Fannie Prices Callable BenchNotes

Fannie Mae has priced a $1.5 billion issue of five-year Callable Benchmark Notes due May 14, 2007 and a $750 million reopening of 10-year Callable Benchmark Notes due Jan. 18, 2012. (Read More)

Freddie Prices RefNote Reopening

Freddie Mac has priced a $500 million reopening of its 6.25% 30-year Reference Note due July 15, 2032. (Read More)

Coalition: Study Backs Housing Reforms

A new study by an independent agency in California has "underscored the need for many of the statewide housing policy reforms" sought by the Job-Center Housing Coalition, according to the Sacramento-based coalition. (Read More)

Trizec REIT Listed on NYSE

Trizec Properties, a New York City-based office real estate investment trust formed by the reorganization of the Toronto-based TrizecHahn Corp., has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange. (Read More)

Mortgage Banker Gets 97 Months for Scam

The owner of American Mortgage Industries, Las Vegas, has been sentenced to 97 months in prison for wire fraud and money laundering. (Read More)

Hellams Out at BofA Mortgage

As part of a continuing effort to downsize its mortgage operations, Bank of America Mortgage, Charlotte, N.C., has downsized its president -- Danny Hellams. (Read More)

MBA Opposes Shays Bill

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America has decided to oppose legislation that would repeal the exemption of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Securities and Exchange Commission registration and disclosure requirements. (Read More)

Metrociti Allies With Chicanos

Metrociti Mortgage, Los Angeles, has allied with Chicanos Por La Causa, an Arizona-based community development corporation, to form a new in-house lending joint venture called CPLC Mortgage. (Read More)

Criimi Mae Dumps Andersen

Criimi Mae Inc., Rockville, Md., has announced the dismissal of beleaguered Arthur Andersen LLP as its independent auditor. (Read More)

Sizeler Closes Securities Offerings

Sizeler Property Investors Inc., New Orleans, has closed the sale of $29.3 million of 9.0% convertible subordinated debentures and 305,320 shares of 9.75% cumulative redeemable preferred stock. (Read More)

PMI Euro Unit Enters Swap Pact

PMI Mortgage Insurance Ltd., Dublin, Ireland, has completed a German mortgage credit default swap agreement with investment banker Commerzbank Securities. (Read More)

Feedback

Early responses to our new survey question on repealing the exemption of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Securities and Exchange Commission registration requirements are running almost neck-and-neck. (Read More)

Bair to Step Down

The Treasury Department has announced that Sheila Bair is stepping down as assistant secretary for financial institutions in mid-June to take a teaching position at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. (Read More)

Key to Expand Commercial Mortgage Ops

KeyCorp, Cleveland, has agreed to acquire substantially all the mortgage loan and real estate business of Conning Asset Management, Hartford, Conn. (Read More)

NAR: Resales Break 1Q Record

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing-home sales totaled a record 6.54 million units in the first quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

13 UCFC MH Classes Downgraded

Thirteen classes of United Companies Financial Corp.'s manufactured housing deals have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, which cited poor performance and "considerable interest shortfalls." (Read More)

NationsLink CMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of NationsLink Funding Corp.'s commercial loan pass-through certificates, series 1999-LTL-1, have been downgraded and removed from Credit Watch with negative implications by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Fitch: MF REITs Face Challenge

The multifamily real estate investment trust sector faces a "challenging environment" in 2002 in the wake of a "dramatic, recession-driven slowdown," according to Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Column's Canadian Sub Expands

The Canadian subsidiary of United States commercial mortgage conduit Column Financial Inc. has expanded into Western Canada and opened a new office in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Read More)

Kramont to Sell 2.3MM Shares

Kramont Realty Trust, Plymouth Meeting, Pa., has agreed to sell 2.3 million shares of its common shares to clients of Cohen & Steers Capital Management Inc. (Read More)

CBL Replaces Andersen

CBL & Associates Properties Inc., Chattanooga, Tenn., has announced the replacement of the embattled Arthur Andersen LLP accounting firm by Deloitte & Touche LLP as its independent auditor. (Read More)

Treasury Dubious of Multi-FHLBank Membership

The Treasury Department does not believe that the Federal Housing Finance Board has the statutory authority to permit a single depository institution to become a voting member of two or more Federal Home Loan Banks. (Read More)

Could Ginnie Grab 20% of High-LTV Market?

Proponents of a program that would allow Ginnie Mae to securitize privately insured conventional mortgages believe it could capture up to 20% of the high-LTV market now controlled by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Criimi Mae Reports M&A Offer

Criimi Mae Inc., Rockville, Md., has reported the receipt of an offer from an unnamed company to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of its common stock for $7 a share. (Read More)

Alltel to Link With RealEC

Alltel, Little Rock, Ark., and RealEC Technologies, Houston, have agreed to form an integrated link between Alltel's Mortgage PhD and InterChange and RealEC to provide service to both originators and servicers. (Read More)

Metrociti, Fidelity Join Forces

Metrociti Mortgage, Los Angeles, has joined forces with Fidelity National Asset Management Solutions to form an in-house lending joint venture called MetroNational Mortgage. (Read More)

Fed Cites Terror Insurance Findings

A Federal Reserve Board survey of senior loan officers has found that 75% of U.S. banks do not require terrorism insurance on high-profile or heavy-traffic commercial real estate properties. (Read More)

Commercial Originations Fell in 1Q

Commitments for new commercial mortgages declined to $12.4 billion in the first quarter from $22.5 billion in the fourth quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. (Read More)

Median Resale Prices Rose in 1Q

The median prices of existing homes made moderate to strong gains in the first quarter in most metropolitan areas, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Dallas Elected Affinity's Chair, CEO

Mortgage industry veteran William D. Dallas has been elected chairman and chief executive officer of Affinity Corp., a provider of fraud prevention and data quality services based in West Hills, Calif. (Read More)

8 FMAC Classes Downgraded

Eight classes of two FMAC Loan Receivables Trust transactions have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Black & Veatch Lease Bonds Downgraded

Classes A and B of Black & Veatch's series 1995 taxable lease-backed revenue bonds have been downgraded from BBB-minus to BB-plus by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Freddie Plans 1st Singapore-Dollar Note

Freddie Mac plans to price its first-ever Singapore dollar-denominated note this Thursday, the government-sponsored enterprise has told MortgageWire. (Read More)

S&P Cites New HK Deal Structures

New securitization structures in Hong Kong may help the many mortgage borrowers there who have negative equity, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Freddie Prices $5B of RefNotes

Freddie Mac has priced $5 billion of 4.25%, three-year Reference Notes due June 15, 2005. (Read More)

Convert FHA Into Corporation?

To revitalize the Federal Housing Administrations single-family and multifamily programs, a congressionally chartered housing commission wants to remake the FHA into a public corporation, MortgageWire has learned. (Read More)

Fiserv Buys AVM Provider

Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., has acquired Case Shiller Weiss Inc., a provider of automated valuation models based in Cambridge, Mass. (Read More)

Applications Fall

Mortgage applications fell 8.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended May 10, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

CUs Boost Share of Mortgage Market

A survey of credit unions finds that they increased the dollar volume of mortgage originations by 154% last year, compared to an overall 128% increase in mortgage lending. (Read More)

Fitch: CMBS Interest Shortfalls Rising

The commercial mortgage-backed securities sector is experiencing "an increase in interest shortfalls within transactions" following the downturn in the real estate market, and more rated classes are experiencing such shortfalls, according to Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Ibbotson: REITs Boost Portfolio Returns

Adding real estate investment trusts to diversified portfolios in the period 1972-2001 increased the compound annual total returns of the portfolios by as much as eight-tenths of a percentage point, according to Chicago-based Ibbotson Associates. (Read More)

Prime Group Rejects M&A Offer

The board of directors of Prime Group Realty Trust, Chicago, has unanimously rejected an unsolicited proposal from American Realty Investors Inc. to acquire all of Prime Group's outstanding common equity. (Read More)

G&E Closes $15.4MM Financing

Grubb & Ellis Co., New York, has closed a transaction with Kojaian Ventures, a G&E stockholder based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., under which Kojaian invested $15.4 million in the real estate services firm. (Read More)

Deutsche Bank Leads CRE Firm Acquisition

Deutsche Bank AG, Five Mounts Properties Europe B.V., and Highridge Partners Inc. have acquired the privately held shares of Guiraudie Auffeve S.A., a Toulouse-based French commercial real estate investment, construction, and development company. (Read More)

Housing Starts Fall 2%

Single-family housing starts fell 2% in April to a level that economists believe may be more sustainable for the rest of year. (Read More)

Housing Index Holds Steady

The NAHB Housing Market Index held steady at a "healthy" level of 61 in May, according to the National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)

Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.89% for the week ending May 17 from 6.79% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

FNIS Buys 55% of 'Collateral Score' Provider

Fidelity National Information Solutions Inc., Santa Barbara, Calif., has agreed to acquire a 55% interest in Hansen Quality Loan Services Inc., a provider of collateral score products and automated valuation models to the mortgage and investment banking industries. (Read More)

Fog Cutter Buys 51% of George Elkins

Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc., a Portland, Ore.-based investment group specializing in mortgage and real estate-related assets, has acquired a 51% stake in the mortgage banking operations of George Elkins Mortgage Banking Co. (Read More)

Major iStar Stockholder Selling Shares

New York-based iStar Financial has reported that one of its major stockholders is selling 10 million shares of iStar common stock in a fully underwritten offering. (Read More)

Kramont Reports Buyback

Kramont Realty Trust, Plymouth Meeting, Pa., has repurchased all the company's outstanding shares of series A-1 increasing rate cumulative preferred stock for $6.04 million. (Read More)

RFS Affiliates Plan Note Offering

RFS Hotel Investors Inc., Memphis, has announced an exchange offer by affiliates RFS Partnership LP and RFS 2002 Financing Inc. for all their outstanding 9.75% senior notes due 2012. (Read More)

NYSE to Delist Laser

Laser Mortgage Management Inc., New York, has announced that, as a result of its adoption of a liquidation plan, the New York Stock Exchange will delist its stock as of May 24. (Read More)

GAO Raps FHA's REO Process

It takes the Federal Housing Administration 100 days longer to sell foreclosed single-family properties than Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a report by the General Accounting Office. (Read More)

FNIS to Buy Factual Data

Fidelity National Information Solutions Inc., Santa Barbara, Calif., has agreed to acquire Factual Data Corp., a Loveland, Colo.-based provider of information to the mortgage and consumer lending industries. (Read More)

Consumer Direct to Buy Vegas Mortgage

Consumer Direct of America, Santa Ana, Calif., has agreed to acquire Lending Services Corp., Las Vegas, the parent company of Las Vegas Mortgage. (Read More)

New Century Cites $2.8B in Forward Sales

New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., has reported $2.8 billion in forward loan sale commitments by its secondary marketing subsidiary, NC Capital Corp. (Read More)

FHLBanks Issue 1st MPF/MPP Bond

The Federal Home Loan Banks have issued its first 10-year bond to specially fund their mortgage programs. (Read More)

GE Home Equity Classes Downgraded

Six classes of GE Home Equity mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, and three classes have been placed on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Flow Servicing for Sale

Prestwick Mortgage Group, Alexandria, Va., is brokering the sale of servicing rights on an estimated $240 million to $480 million of mortgage loans that will be originated over a 12-month period. (Read More)

Top Thrift Earnings Surge

Earnings at the nation's 10 largest thrifts jumped 83% in the first quarter to $1.8 billion from $982 million in the fourth quarter, according to a report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (Read More)

Mack-Cali Sells Dallas Properties

Mack-Cali Realty Corp., Cranford, N.J., has sold four Dallas office properties totaling approximately 489,000 square feet for about $34 million. (Read More)

Criimi Mae Defers Dividends

Criimi Mae Inc., Rockville, Md., has announced that it will defer the payment of second-quarter dividends on Criimi Mae's series B, series F, and series G preferred stock. (Read More)

Feedback

As a possible alternative to the banning of yield-spread premiums, should brokers support a practice whereby a lender pays the YSP to escrow to be paid to the borrower, who then advises escrow to disburse the funds to the broker? (Read More)

NAR Gives Thumbs-Down to Ginnie Choice

The National Association of Realtors has given the Ginnie Mae Choice initiative a thumbs-down due to concerns that the public/private risk-sharing program might weaken the Federal Housing Administration and take business away from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Criimi Mae Hires Financial Adviser

Criimi Mae has hired investment banking firm Friedman, Billings, Ramsey and Co. to assist the company with an evaluation of strategic alternatives. (Read More)

3 CMBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes of Ten Affiliates of Strategic Hotel Capital LLC's SHC floating-rate commercial mortgage-backed securities series 2001-SHC1 have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Index of Nonprime Default Risk Rising

The weak economy is causing the risk of default on newly originated nonprime mortgages to rise again, according to the latest Nonprime Mortgage Report by University Financial Associates of Ann Arbor, Mich. (Read More)

Survey: Lenders Confident Despite Refi Decline

Leading mortgage lenders are confident that they can offset declining refinancings by expanding home-purchase business, improving customer retention, and penetrating underserved market sectors, according to a survey commissioned by Campbell Lewis Communications. (Read More)

NAR Unveils Housing Opportunity Program

The National Association of Realtors has introduced a new Housing Opportunity Program aimed at improving the availability and affordability of housing. (Read More)

New Century Boosts Credit Lines

New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., has announced an increase in its total credit facilities from $1.8 billion to $2.55 billion to fund loan production and aggregate loans pending sale. (Read More)

Banyan Appeals Nasdaq Delisting

Banyan Strategic Realty Trust, Oak Brook, Ill., has requested a hearing on a delisting notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market. (Read More)

Astoria Trading on NYSE

Astoria Financial Corp., Lake Success, N.Y., the holding company for Astoria Federal Savings and Loan Association, has begun trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AF. (Read More)

Freddie Sees Portfolio Decline -- a First?

Freddie Mac saw its retained portfolio fall by just shy of 1% (0.85%) from March to April, according to figures released by the company Tuesday morning. (Read More)

FHA Pressed to Step Up Enforcement

National People's Action is pressing the Federal Housing Administration to step up its enforcement actions against lenders with high default rates in minority and low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. (Read More)

Citi REMIC Classes Downgraded

Classes A-4 and A-7 of Citicorp Mortgage Securities Inc.'s REMIC pass-through certificates series 1990-5 have been downgraded from CCC to CC by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

BNY Unveils Commercial CML Services

The Bank of New York has begun offering cash management services for commercial mortgage loans. (Read More)

Pru Mortgage Closes $246MM Loan Package

Prudential Mortgage Capital, the commercial mortgage lending arm of Prudential Financial, has closed a $246.5 million commercial mortgage loan package for General Motors Investment Corp. (Read More)

Allied Launches Spanish Websites

Allied Mortgage Capital Corp., Houston, has announced the launching of a Spanish-language website that is tightly integrated with its corporate English-language site, as well as Spanish-language websites for each of its 700 branch offices. (Read More)

Japanese Plan for Home Inspections

University officials and entrepreneurs in Japan are laying the groundwork for the creation of a home inspection business in that country, an American Society of Home Inspectors official has told MortgageWire. (Read More)

REIT Redeems 1.2MM Preferred Shares

Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust, Southfield, Mich., has redeemed the 1.2 million of its series A convertible preferred shares held by Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc., MS Real Estate Special Situations Inc., and their clients. (Read More)

GSB Deal Will Boost Citi to #6 in Mortgages

Once its parent company swallows Golden State Bancorp, San Francisco, CitiMortgage will become the number-six player in both residential lending and servicing. (Read More)

Martinez: RESPA Reform Proposal Near

Housing Secretary Mel Martinez says he is very close to completing a "pro-consumer" proposal that would reform the mortgage application process. (Read More)

Mayors Back Housing Trust Fund

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has endorsed the concept of a national housing trust fund that would provide a steady stream of funding for the production and preservation of affordable rental housing. (Read More)

Applications Decline

Mortgage applications fell 5.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended May 17, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

FHA-Insured Loans at Record Pace

The Federal Housing Administration has insured $88.6 billion in one- to four-family loans through the first seven-and-a-half months of this fiscal year. (Read More)

Moody's Warns of Rising CRE Concentration

Commercial real estate concentration risk is becoming more evident in loan portfolios and may carry increasingly negative rating implications for banks in the United States, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Household Hires Compliance Chief

Household International, the Prospect Heights, Ill.-based subprime lender that is being bombarded by consumer groups with accusations of abusive practices, has hired a former banking regulator as its new vice president/director of compliance. (Read More)

Mortgage Complaints Go Online in NY

Consumers in New York with complaints about banks, mortgage companies, or other financial service providers can now file them online, the New York State Banking Department has announced. (Read More)

Freddie Prices Callable Notes

Freddie Mac has priced a $2 billion issue of 10-year callable notes due May 25, 2012. (Read More)

TransUnion Unveils Risk Tech for Canada

TransUnion, Chicago, has released a new version of its loss mitigation and risk assessment technology for the Canadian market. (Read More)

Bingham Delisted by Nasdaq

Bingham Financial Services Corp., Birmingham, Mich., has reported that its stock has been delisted from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market. (Read More)

NAA Urges Backing for Terror Insurance Bill

Following recent warnings from the Federal Bureau of Investigation about possible terrorist attacks on apartment properties, the National Apartment Association has urged members to contact their senators in support of a bill that would provide a federal backstop for terrorism insurance coverage. (Read More)

NMHC Offers Anti-Terror Guidance

Meanwhile, the National Multifamily Housing Council is providing guidance to all apartment owners and managers on how to protect residents in response to the FBI warnings. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Decline

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.81% for the week ending May 24 from 6.89% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

FNF Buys Stake in Homebuilders Financial

Fidelity National Financial, Irvine, Calif., has acquired a 75% interest in Homebuilders Financial Network, a Miami Lakes, Fla., firm that helps builders create and operate in-house mortgage operations. (Read More)

WaMu to Sell First Community

Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, has agreed to sell Denver-based First Community Industrial Bank to First State Bancorp., Albuquerque, N.M., for $67 million in cash. (Read More)

LendingTree Gets Patent on Web Tech

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has issued a patent to LendingTree Inc., Charlotte, N.C., for the company's online lending process. (Read More)

Pioneer Cites Court Victory

A defunct mortgage warehouse lender says it has won the latest appeal of its long-running case against First Union Corp., now Wachovia Bank. (Read More)

OFHEO Hires Counsel to Director

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has hired Stephen A. Blumenthal to serve as counsel to the director, Armando Falcon Jr. (Read More)

12 Vanderbilt MH Classes Downgraded

Twelve limited-guarantee classes of Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance Corp. manufactured housing securitizations have been downgraded from BBB to BB-plus by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Freddie Adds Fixed-to-Float MF Option

Freddie Mac has added a Fixed-to-Float Option for newly originated fixed-rate multifamily mortgages with terms of 5-15 years. (Read More)

Year-Over-Year MBS Issuance Doubles

New issuance of mortgage-related securities has been stronger than expected through the first quarter of this year, according to The Bond Market Association. (Read More)

Prentiss Renews $300MM LOC

Prentiss Properties Trust, Dallas, has renewed its $300 million corporate line of credit and extended its maturity date to May 23, 2005. (Read More)

Apex Announces Public Offering

Apex Mortgage Capital Inc., Los Angeles, has announced a public offering of 4.4 million shares of common stock at $13 per share. (Read More)

Northwest Picks US Bank Mortgage Sub

U.S. Bank Home Mortgage, Minneapolis, has been chosen by Northwest Airlines to offer home mortgages via its WorldPerks Free Travel Program. (Read More)

New-Home Sales Rise

Sales of newly constructed single-family homes rose nearly 1% in April as the traditional spring homebuying season got under way. (Read More)

Court Rules Against HUD on Markups

Another U.S. appeals court has ruled that the Department of Housing and Urban Development cannot stop lenders from charging markups on settlement services such as appraisals or credit reports. (Read More)

Bill Aims to Clarify App Process

Rep. John LaFalce, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill to clarify the mortgage application process so that borrowers receive a settlement sheet that clearly spells out costs and charges two days before closing. (Read More)

Feds Caution Against Deal Covenants

Banks should not agree to covenants in securitizations of home equity lines of credit and credit card receivables that allow for early amortization or servicing transfers based on supervisory downgrades or enforcement actions, according to federal regulators. (Read More)

Countrywide Not Fazed by Citi-GSB Deal

Countrywide Home Loans, Calabasas, Calif., is none too worried about Citigroup's recently announced purchase of Golden State Bancorp, San Francisco, a deal that will make CitiMortgage a major player in the state as well as nationally. (Read More)

Basis100 Buys MRAC

Basis100 Inc., Toronto, a major player in the Canadian financial services technology industry and the market for automated valuation models in the United States, has agreed to acquire 100% of the shares of Mortgage Risk Assessment Corp., subject to regulatory approval. (Read More)

Freddie Makes Cash Prices Available Via Web

Freddie Mac is making cash prices available via the Internet to mortgage lenders that want to sell loans to the government-sponsored enterprise for cash. (Read More)

FHLBank-SF Gets New Director

Scott C. Syphax, president and chief executive officer of the Nehemiah Corp. of California, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. (Read More)

UK Home Market 'Buoyant'

Applications to build new homes in the United Kingdom increased 46% in April from the level recorded a year earlier, the National House-Building Council has reported. (Read More)

Essex Expands Credit Facility

Essex Property Trust, Palo Alto, Calif., has renewed its unsecured revolving credit facility and expanded it from $120 million to $165 million. (Read More)

Fitch Hikes Pru Servicer Ratings

Fitch Ratings has upgraded the commercial mortgage servicer ratings on Prudential Asset Resources. (Read More)

IRT Replaces Andersen

IRT Property Co., Atlanta, has announced the replacement of the Arthur Andersen LLP accounting firm by Deloitte & Touche LLP as its independent auditor. (Read More)

Feedback

The issue of prepayment penalties and the "loopholes" in the Parity Act recently stirred an interesting exchange on the Grapevine. (Read More)

Existing Home Sales Up 7%

Sales of existing single family homes appear to be on track for another record year as resales jumped 7% in April.The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales rose from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.41 million units in March to 5.79 million in April. NAR chief economist David Lereah told the reporters that sales of new and existing single family homes is "on pace for an all-time record this year." He noted that Realtors and homebuilders are confident about home sales and the Mortgage Bankers Association's mortgage application index shows that demand for purchase mortgage is at record highs. In addition, more homeowners put up For Sales signs and the inventory of unsold homes rose 11% from March to a 4.8 month supply in April -- which is the highest level since July 1998. "Despite brisk sales, the good news is that inventory levels are recovering. We now have a better balance between buyers and sellers," Mr. Lereah told reporters. NAR also reported that the national median home price increased to $153,300 in April, up 7.1% over the past 12 months. Statistics from the NAR can be found at http://realtor.org/research.Grubb & Ellis Ends Merger TalksGrubb & Ellis, a real estate services company here, announced that it has terminated discussions with an unrelated third party "that had made an unsolicited merger proposal" to the firm. (Read More)

REIT Earnings Edge Up from Last Year

The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts has reported that on a funds from operations basis, earnings for reporting equity REITs were up 1% on average for the first quarter compared to the year earlier period. (Read More)

REITs 'Are not Bargains'

Discounting those who predict a significant rise in real estate values, analysts at Lehman Brothers say that Real Estate Investment Trusts "are not bargains trading at a small premium" to net asset value. (Read More)

Shays, Markey Critical of OFHEO

Two congressmen are questioning the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's competence, authority and resources to review the adequacy of securities disclosures provided by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Bush Names Two Picks for Housing Posts

President George Bush has announced is intention to nominate Diana E. Furchtgott-Roth be a director on the Federal Housing Finance Board, replacing Timothy O'Neill whose term has expired. (Read More)

Banks Taking on More Rate Risk?

Banking institutions may be outbidding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for mortgage loans, but they are doing so at a price, according to one analyst's report this morning. (Read More)

Member Mortgage Helps Credit Union

Gas and Electric Employees Credit Union, Melrose, Mass., will offer products from Members Mortgage Co. Inc., Woburn, Mass., to its own members. (Read More)

Kennedy Wilson Sells Real Estate in Japan

Kennedy Wilson, Beverly Hills, Calif. has reported that one of its overseas subsidiaries has sold three office buildings in Japan for over $85 million. (Read More)

S&P Lowers Rating on an RFC Deal

Rating agency Standard & Poor's lowered its rating on the class B-2 mortgage pass-through certificates of series 1992-J9 issued by Residential Fnding Mortgage Securities I Inc. to 'triple-B' from 'single-A.' (Read More)

Freddie Redefines Callables, Ref Note Repos

Freddie Mac, McLean, Va. has redefined its callable note offerings and, separately, has modified eligible amounts for its periodic repurchase operations (Read More)

Short Seller Criticizes Farmer Mac Finances

Gotham Partners Management, which acknowledges that it and its affiliates "own investments that are bearish on Farmer Mac," says the government-sponsored enterprise is "precarious financial condition." (Read More)

Applications Regain Some Ground

Mortgage applications rose 2.8% on a seasonally-adjusted basis during the week ended May 28, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Subprime Servicer Seeks Sr. Exec.

Altegra Credit Co., Pittsburgh, a top 15 servicer of subprime residential mortgages, is searching for a senior executive to manage its fast growing operations. (Read More)

Conseco Objects to Moody's Downgrade

Conseco chairman and chief executive Gary Wendt sought to "set the record straight" in objecting to the actions of Moody's Investors Service when it downgraded the company's credit ratings. (Read More)

Cost Savings Seen as RE Execs' Challenge

One of the top challenges facing real estate executives this year is identifying and implementing cost savings to retain investor confidence, according to a report from Deloitte & Touche. (Read More)

Global RE Investing Forecast Mixed

The global real estate outlook presented at an Information Management Network conference in New York was a mixed, cautious and selective one centering on the United States, Europe and Japan. (Read More)

Commission Urges Revamping of FHA

A bipartisan commission today formally recommended that the Federal Housing Administration be restructured into a wholly-owned government corporation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Read More)

Thrift Industry Sets Earnings Record

Thrifts posted record earnings of $3.05 billion in the first quarter as a result of strong origination volume and a return to positive servicing fee income, according to the Office of Thrift Supervision. (Read More)

OMB Asks for More GSE Disclosure

The President's budget office has instructed the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight to start a rulemaking process that would subject Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae to the same securities disclosures as other publicly traded companies. "While the enterprises now voluntarily comply with many of these [Securities and Exchange Commission] disclosures, they are not required to do so. Such voluntary compliance might be abandoned at a time when it is most needed," according to John Graham of the Office of Management and Budget. (Read More)

Glitch Delays Benchmark Buyback

Fannie Mae's scheduled Benchmark Securities buyback on May 29 was delayed by a few hours due to technical difficulties with new Web-based technology. (Read More)

Forum Unveils Real-Time Website

The American Securitization Forum, New York has launched a new website designed to provide information and real-time updates about forum developments to its members and the broader securitization community. (Read More)

Citi Seeks Emerging Market Consumers

Citigroup has formed a new Consumer Products unit in its Emerging Markets business and named a CitiMortgage, Inc. board member to lead the effort. (Read More)

E*Trade Veterans Launch Conduit

A trio of former executives from E*Trade have formed a new company, Emerge Financial Corp., that will create a conduit to purchase residential mortgage loans and other consumer assets. (Read More)

NovaStar Hires Correspondent Team

NovaStar Financial Inc., Westwood, Kans., is expanding its correspondent lending program by hiring a dedicated sales team to support this channel. The company will be purchasing both bulk packages and flow production of non-conforming mortgages. (Read More)

Perl Joins Platinum Capital

Dan Perl, the former chairman and chief executive of Life Financial Corp. and Life Bank, Riverside, Calif., has been named president of Platinum Capital Group, Irvine, Calif. (Read More)

Analyst Downgrades Apartments

Lehman Brothers, concerned that demand for rental housing could slip, has advised REIT investors to "underweight apartments." (Read More)

FHFB Chair Pulls Back Controversial Proposal

Federal Housing Finance Board chairman John Korsmo has pulled back a controversial proposal that would have expanded the governing board of the Office of Finance, which coordinates the issuance of debt for the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks. (Read More)

HUD Names Chief of Staff

Housing secretary Mel Martinez has announced that Frank R. Jimenez will be his chief of staff and help him manage the Department of Housing and Urban Development starting June 10. (Read More)

Long-Term Rates Hits 6-Mo. Lows

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached a six-month low during the week ended May 31 as it slid to 6.76% from 6.81% the previous week in Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Rate Drop Sparks MBS Sell-Off

Long-term mortgage rates have fallen to the point at which they have renewed prepayment concerns, sparking a sell-off in certain sectors of the securitized market. (Read More)

Primary New MI Falls Off by 20%

The amount of primary new insurance written by the eight private mortgage insurance companies decreased by 20% between March and April. (Read More)

U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Move Targets MBS

U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray has reported that it is launching a new effort in New York that will initially focus on mortgage-backed securities and has hired two former J.P. Morgan Chase traders. (Read More)

Title Insurers Merge RE Valuation Units

A pair of the nation's largest title insurance companies, LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Richmond, Va., and First American Corp., Irvine, Calif., have agreed to merge their real estate valuation operations. (Read More)

Volt Buys First Wash. Financial Corp.

Volt Inc., a publicly traded power provider and marketer of financial services based in Catheys Valley, Calif., has acquired mortgage company First Washington Financial Corp., Bethesda, Md., for an undisclosed amount of cash. (Read More)

S&P: Banks Need More Risk Data

The banking industry's ability to effectively manage risk continues to be hampered by the ongoing need for more data, according to a report from Standard & Poors. (Read More)

Gladstone Denies S&P Report

Gladstone Capital Corp., a McLean, Va.-based company that invests in senior and subordinate commercial mortgage debt, has reported that contrary to a Standard & Poor's report, Gladstone has not filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Read More)

Fitch Puts RALI Bonds on Watch Negative

Fitch Ratings has placed two Residential Accredit Loans Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates on Rating Watch Negative status. (Read More)

Bear, Stearns Expands RE/ABS Unit in Japan

Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. has hired a five-person mortgage- and asset-backed securitization team which will focus on originating and structuring residential and commercial real estate, consumer finance and whole business transactions. (Read More)

Feedback

Responses to our survey on whether or not the exemption of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Securities and Exchange Commission registration requirements should be repealed were more than 2-to-1 for keeping the exemption intact. (Read More)

OFHEO Issues GSE Governance Standards

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has issued a final rule that spells out minimum standards for corporate governance practices and procedures at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Is Citi Steering Borrowers to High-Cost Loans?

Citigroup's mortgage lending operation may be steering lower-income persons into higher-cost subprime loans, according a study by the National Training and Information Center. (Read More)

Terror Issue Spurs CMBS Review at Moody's

Moody's Investors Service has placed the ratings of 55 classes from 14 commercial mortgage-backed securities deals on review for possible downgrade due to concerns about terrorism insurance coverage. (Read More)

COFI Dive Ends With Uptick

The sharpest, quickest drop in the history of the Eleventh District Cost of Funds Index has ended. (Read More)

Macerich Buying Westcor

The Macerich Co., Santa Monica, Calif., is acquiring Westcor Realty, an owner and operator of retail properties in the Phoenix area, in a transaction valued at $1.475 billion. (Read More)

Cooperative Bank Buys Lumina Mortgage

Cooperative Bank, Wilmington, N.C., has closed on its acquisition of Lumina Mortgage Co., also of Wilmington. (Read More)

FDIC: Banks Stopped Net Mortgage Buys in 1Q

Commercial banks stopped their net acquisitions of single-family mortgages and mortgage-backed securities in the first quarter, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (Read More)

2nd-Home Sales Off in '01

Sales of second homes were lower last year than in the record year of 1999, the last previous year for which data are available, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Wells Passes $100B in Originations

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Des Moines, Iowa, has reported surpassing $100 billion in year-to-date originations, a mark it did not reach in 2001 until late August. (Read More)

Fitch Upgrades Subservicer, Co-op Servicer

Fitch Ratings has raised its residential mortgage servicer ratings on Provident Consumer Financial Services, Atlanta, and National Cooperative Bank, Washington. (Read More)

No Safe Haven for Mortgage Stocks

The stock market continued sliding Tuesday morning, and mortgage stocks were among the casualties. (Read More)

NAR Predicts Record Home Sales

Sales of both new and existing homes are now expected to reach record levels this year, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Citing Terror Issue, Fitch Eyes CMBS

Fitch Ratings has placed the ratings of 29 classes from 13 single-asset commercial mortgage-backed securities deals on Rating Watch Negative due to concerns about terrorism insurance. (Read More)

S&P: No Broad Terror-Linked CMBS Action

While Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings have put commercial mortgage-backed securities on review for possible downgrade, citing concerns about terrorism insurance, Standard & Poor's is not contemplating such action. (Read More)

FHA Delinquencies Rise Again

While the overall delinquency rate remained almost flat, late payments on loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration increased 20 basis points to 11.23% during the first quarter of this year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. (Read More)

Home Prices Rose Briskly in 1Q

Home prices increased at an annualized rate of 5.7% nationwide in the first quarter, more than double the revised rate of 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index released by Freddie Mac. (Read More)

First Horizon Buys REFS

First Horizon Home Loans, Irving, Texas, has acquired the operations of Real Estate Financial Services, a mortgage lender based in Alpharetta, Ga. (Read More)

HUD: Lenders Must Give Counseling Notice

All mortgage lenders are required to notify delinquent borrowers about the availability of homeownership counseling, according to a Department of Housing and Urban Development letter. (Read More)

Chase MBS Class Downgraded

Class B4 of Chase Mortgage Finance Trust mortgage pass-through certificates series 1999-S15 has been downgraded from B to CCC by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

BankUnited Names Residential EVP

John Kuczwanski has been named senior executive vice president of residential lending at BankUnited FSB, Coral Gables, Fla. (Read More)

S&P Adds Mex, UK Servicers to List

Standard & Poor's has added Mexican residential mortgage servicer Metrofinanciera and United Kingdom commercial servicer Hatfield Philips LLC to its select servicer list. (Read More)

REIT Prices Public Offering

Crown American Realty Trust, Johnstown, Pa., has priced a public offering of 5 million common shares of beneficial interest at $8.75 per share. (Read More)

Here's Something New

Starting June 4, additional items will be posted to the National Mortgage News website around 9:30 each morning to update the news. Sometimes the top story will change, and other times the new items will be found further down the line. The new items will be flagged to indicate that they are recent postings. Check for the new stories at http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com. (Read More)

HomeSide Sells $13.3B in Servicing

National Australia Bank, Melbourne, has sold $13.3 billion in residential servicing rights that belonged to its HomeSide Lending unit in Jacksonville, Fla. (Read More)

Near-Record Home Sales Thru '09?

Economist Mark Zandi is projecting that home sales will remain at near-record levels for the rest of this decade. (Read More)

Fog Cutter Forms MBS/ABS Sub

Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc., Portland, Ore., has announced the formation of Fog Cutter Capital Markets Inc., a New York-based subsidiary specializing in mortgage- and asset-backed securities. (Read More)

Raines: Plenty of Room to Grow

Fannie Mae has a substantial opportunity to continue its double-digit pace of earnings growth, company chairman and chief executive Franklin Raines told investors at a conference in New York Wednesday. (Read More)

Banyan Reports Payments by Denholtz

Banyan Strategic Realty Trust, Oak Brook, Ill., has announced the receipt of principal and interest payments totaling approximately $2 million from affiliates of Denholtz Management Corp. in connection with the sale of the bulk of Banyan's portfolio last year. (Read More)

Martinez Kicks Off Homeownership Month

Housing Secretary Mel Martinez has kicked off Homeownership Month by handing the keys of a Habitat for Humanity home to Vernetta Young in Washington, D.C. (Read More)

DebtX Expanding Middle-Market Biz

DebtX, a Boston-based loan sale adviser for commercial real estate debt, is expanding its middle-market business and has appointed Patrick Blount director of sales to oversee its growth. (Read More)

CharterMac Sub Completes $55MM Offering

Charter Mac Equity Issuer Trust, New York, has completed a $55 million preferred equity offering to institutional investors. (Read More)

Federal Realty Replaces Andersen

Federal Realty Investment Trust, Rockville, Md., has announced the replacement of the embattled Arthur Andersen LLP accounting firm by Grant Thornton LLP as its independent auditor. (Read More)

Criimi Mae Hires Ernst & Young

Meanwhile, Criimi Mae Inc., Rockville, Md., which recently dismissed Arthur Andersen, has announced the hiring of Ernst & Young LLP as its independent auditor. (Read More)

SEC Review of GSE Debt Marketing Sought

Treasury Assistant Secretary Sheila Bair is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to review the marketing of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's small-dominated debt securities by registered broker/dealers. (Read More)

VA Launches Instant Eligibility System

The Department of Veterans Affairs went live June 6 with an automated system that will allow lenders to instantly determine the eligibility of borrowers for VA financing. (Read More)

Rates Decline

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.71% for the week ending June 7 from 6.76% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

NetBank to Offer Insurance Via Mortgage Units

NetBank Inc., Atlanta, will offer property and casualty insurance through its various subsidiaries, including mortgage banking units RBMG Inc., Market Street Mortgage Corp., and Meritage Mortgage Corp. (Read More)

Sun Outsources Mortgage Processing

Sun Bancorp Inc., Selinsgrove, Pa., has announced agreements with two companies to outsource its mortgage and consumer loan processing. (Read More)

S&P Downgrades 1st Union-Lehman CMBS

Three classes of First Union-Lehman Brothers Commercial Mortgage Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1997-C2 have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades CWMBS Class

Fitch Ratings has downgraded one class of CWMBS (IndyMac) Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates and placed two other classes on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Names Euro Chief

Dennis Sheehan has been named managing director of Continental Europe for the International Business Group of Residential Funding Corp., Minneapolis. (Read More)

Freddie's Servicing Portfolio Hits 10MM Loans

Freddie Mac has announced that its total mortgage servicing portfolio has reached the 10 million-loan mark. (Read More)

Countrywide Offers Added Financial Info

Countrywide Credit Industries Inc., Calabasas, Calif., has posted supplemental information regarding interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities as of March 31 to its website. (Read More)

Moody's Introduces Aussie MBS Index

Moody's Investors Service has introduced an Australian Mortgage Credit Index that can be used to track and analyze securitized residential mortgages in that country. (Read More)

Freddie Prices RefNote Reopening

Freddie Mac has priced a $2 billion reopening of its 4.875%, five-year Reference Note due March 15, 2007. (Read More)

Mack-Cali Sells 7 Office Properties

Mack-Cali Realty Corp., a Cranford, N.J.-based office real estate investment trust, has sold seven office properties in the West and Southwest for approximately $80 million as part of a plan to exit "noncore" markets. (Read More)

Equity REIT Sells $50MM of Notes

Commercial Net Lease Realty Inc., an equity real estate investment trust based in Orlando, Fla., has sold $50 million of 7.75% senior unsecured notes. (Read More)

ITLA Replaces Andersen

ITLA Capital Corp., La Jolla, Calif., has announced the replacement of the Arthur Andersen LLP accounting firm by Ernst & Young LLP as its independent auditor. (Read More)

Mortgage Jobs Increase

Employment in the mortgage industry rose by 2,200 in May as demand for purchase mortgages hit record levels and refinancing activity remained strong, but at lower levels than last year. (Read More)

Anti-Flipping Rule, AU Delayed at FHA

The Federal Housing Administration's attempt to curb property flipping by denying mortgage insurance for houses that have been sold in the previous six months has been put on the back burner. (Read More)

Puerto Rican Lender Buys Crown Group

Puerto Rico's second-largest mortgage lender, R&G Financial Corp., San Juan, has acquired The Crown Group Inc., Orlando, Fla., the parent company of Florida thrift Crown Bank FSB, for $100 million in cash. (Read More)

FHLBank Membership for Privately Insured CUs?

The House Financial Services Committee has approved a regulatory relief bill that would allow privately insured credit unions to join a Federal Home Loan Bank. (Read More)

Study: Lender's Race No Factor in Nixed Apps

The mortgage applications of minorities with marginal credit ratings are just as likely to be rejected by minority-owned banks as by white-owned banks, according to a study by the University of Southern California Lusk Center. (Read More)

Fog Cutter Sells Wilshire Holdings

Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc., Portland, Ore., has sold its entire holdings of approximately 2.9 million shares of the common stock of Wilshire Financial Services Group Inc. (Read More)

Crocker to Sell Remaining Assets

Crocker Realty Trust, a private real estate investment trust based in Boca Raton, Fla., has announced an agreement whereby SCH Corp. will acquire its remaining assets for an undisclosed price. (Read More)

Poll: Consumers Back Bankruptcy Reform

More than two-thirds of Americans support proposed changes that would make it more difficult for consumers to discharge debt through bankruptcy proceedings, according to a survey by the Cambridge Consumer Credit Index. (Read More)

Housing's Share of NY Growth Surges

Housing's contribution to the growth of New York's economy was 69.7% in 2001, up from only about 11% in 2000, according to a study commissioned by the Homeownership Alliance. (Read More)

S&P Rates 1st Japanese REIT Bond

Standard & Poor's has rated its first Japanese real estate investment trust bond issuance. (Read More)

Ocwen Offers Reassurance Re India Ops

In response to inquiries sparked by the current conflict between India and Pakistan, Ocwen Financial Corp. has reported that less than 15% of its servicing activity is performed in India and that all collections and customer service functions are performed in the United States. (Read More)

New Century Ups EPS Estimate

New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., has increased its earnings per share estimate for 2002 to $5.25-$5.45 from $4.35-$4.55. (Read More)

IRT Renews $100MM Credit Line

IRT Property Co., Atlanta, has amended and renewed its $100 million unsecured revolving credit facility with a five-bank syndicate. (Read More)

Feedback

"Ethics Question: What criteria do you use to recommend one product over another?" (Read More)

Net Branch Operators Form Trade Group

Facing increased scrutiny from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, net branch operators are forming a new trade group to represent them in Washington. (Read More)

Pressure Building for Terror Insurance Bill

Pressure is building in the Senate to pass a terrorism insurance bill by the July Fourth recess. (Read More)

Agency MBS Speeds Slow Further

Prepayment rates for most agency mortgage-backed securities slowed in the May reporting period, though the declines were generally smaller than in the previous report, according to the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary. (Read More)

Columbia Bank to Buy Title Agency

Columbia Bank, Fair Lawn, N.J., has agreed to buy First Jersey Title Services, an agency based in Paramus, N.J. (Read More)

LSI Adds Senior Execs

Lender's Service Inc., Pittsburgh, a provider of collateral assessment, title, and closing services to the mortgage industry, has announced the appointment of three new executives. (Read More)

Corporations' COO Adds Title of Prez

Thomas F. Costa, chief operating officer of the Mortgage-Backed Securities Clearing Corp. and the Government Securities Clearing Corp., is taking on the additional role of president of the two organizations. (Read More)

Freddie Won't Reopen Euro Notes This Week

Freddie Mac has reported that it will not reopen any EuroReference Notes this week, following up on a previous announcement indicating that it might have done so if market conditions had been more conducive to such a move. (Read More)

1st Defiance Lowers Gain Estimate

First Defiance Financial Corp., a community bank based in Defiance, Ohio, has lowered the estimated after-tax gain it expects to realize on the recent sale of its Leader Mortgage Co. subsidiary to Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Hotel 1st Mortgage CMBS

The Hotel First Mortgage Trust series 1993-A commercial mortgage pass-through certificates have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Cendant Sub to Launch InterNote Program

PHH, a subsidiary of Cendant Corp. based in Parsippany, N.J., has filed a prospectus supplement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue up to $500 million of medium-term notes through the InterNotes Medium-Term Note program. (Read More)

REIT Selling 1.9MM Shares to Wachovia

Federal Realty Investment Trust, Rockville, Md., is selling 1.9 million common shares to Wachovia Securities, resulting in net proceeds to the real estate investment trust of $49.36 million. (Read More)

Freddie's LP Passes 20MM Mortgage Mark

Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector automated underwriting service has evaluated its 20 millionth mortgage loan. (Read More)

Soccer Mania Spurs UK Property Search Dive

England's World Cup soccer win against Argentina on June 7 caused property searches in the United Kingdom to drop to levels even lower than those seen on Christmas Day, according to Fish4Homes, a U.K. property search firm. (Read More)

AmeriDream Cites Downpayment Gift Record

Noting that June is National Homeownership Month, The AmeriDream Charity Inc., Gaithersburg, Md., has announced that it set a record in May by giving 4,554 downpayment gifts. (Read More)

FHLBank-SF Buys 1st MPF Loans

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco has entered into a $50 million commitment to purchase mortgage loans from Gateway Bank FSB through the Mortgage Partnership Finance program, the first time the FHLBank has invested in individual mortgage loans. (Read More)

Pru CMBS Classes Downgraded

Classes G and H of Prudential Securities Secured Financing Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1995-MCF-2 have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

SAMI MBS Class Downgraded

Class B-4 of Structured Asset Mortgage Investments Inc.'s mortgage pass-through certificates series 1999-4 has been downgraded from BB to B by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Conseco Ratings Off Rating Watch

Fitch Ratings has removed the ratings of Conseco Inc. and its Conseco Finance subsidiary from Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Fannie Foundation Fellows Named at Harvard

The Fannie Mae Foundation and Harvard University have announced the 2002 Fannie Mae Foundation Fellows at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government. (Read More)

Bank Cites REIT-Linked Tax Notice

Hingham Institution for Savings, Hingham, Mass., has announced the receipt of a notice of intent to assess approximately $500,000 in state taxes relating to the denial of a claimed deduction involving a real estate investment trust 99% owned by the savings bank. (Read More)

Abbey Nat'l Sees Profit Falloff

United Kingdom lending giant Abbey National saw a 10% drop in its share price after announcing that it expected its pretax profit to be "substantially lower than current market expectations and last year," according to Credit Suisse First Boston. (Read More)

CBL Prices Stock Offering

CBL & Associates Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Chattanooga, Tenn., has priced an offering of 2.0 million shares of preferred stock at $50 per share. (Read More)

GMACCM Finances Sheraton Hotel

GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., Horsham, Pa., has provided $65 million in floating-rate financing for the Sheraton World Resort hotel in Orlando, Fla. (Read More)

Amex to Trade Farmer Mac Options

The American Stock Exchange was scheduled to launch trading in options June 11 on the New York Stock Exchange-listed stock of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. (Read More)

PMI Touts Contribution to Hispanic Group

The PMI Group, San Francisco, has announced a $1 million contribution to the National Council of La Raza to assist the nonprofit Hispanic group in creating a permanent endowment fund. (Read More)

MH Builder Partners With Mortgage Banker

Palm Harbor Homes, a Dallas-based builder of manufactured housing, has become the limited partner in BSM Financial Inc., a mortgage banking firm also located in Dallas. (Read More)

RE Fund, RE Firm Launch Joint Venture

Charlesbank Realty Fund V, a $495 million Boston-based real estate investment fund, and McCarthy Cook & Co., a Los Angeles-based real estate investment and management company, have formed a joint venture to invest in office properties in the Western United States. (Read More)

Applications Decline

Mortgage applications fell 5.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended June 7, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

GreenPoint Snags Tech Award

GreenPoint Mortgage, New York, has won the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award, which recognizes companies that have revolutionized their business or industry through the creative use of technology. (Read More)

REIT Prices Note Offering

New Plan Excel Realty Trust, New York, has priced a public offering of $250 million of 5.875% senior unsecured notes at 99.66 to yield 5.955%. (Read More)

AvalonBay to Redeem Preferred Stock

AvalonBay Communities Inc., Alexandria, Va., has announced that it will redeem all outstanding shares of its 8.50% series C cumulative redeemable preferred stock on July 12 at $25.1417 per share. (Read More)

Housing Coalition Opposes Estate Tax Repeal

The National Low Income Housing Coalition is urging senators to vote against repealing the estate tax, which it says would "severely limit" Congress's ability to address other priorities such as affordable housing. (Read More)

Talx Added to S&P SmallCap 600

Talx Corp., the St. Louis-based provider of automated employment and income verification, is being added to the Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 Index. (Read More)

Atlanta REIT Replaces Andersen

Cousins Properties Inc., Atlanta, has announced the replacement of the Arthur Andersen LLP accounting firm by Deloitte & Touche LLP as its independent auditor. (Read More)

Goleta Bank to Exit Subprime, HLTV Lending

Community West Bancshares, Goleta, Calif., has announced that the mortgage lending division of its subsidiary Goleta National Bank will exit the nationwide subprime and high loan-to-value lending markets by July 31. (Read More)

BofA Mortgage Beefs Up Wholesale Ops

Bank of America Mortgage, Charlotte, N.C., the nation's ninth-largest wholesaler at the end of the first quarter, has beefed up its management in an effort to regain its prominence in that channel. (Read More)

Finance Board OKs Capital Plans

The Federal Housing Finance Board has approved the capital plans for the Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, and San Francisco. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Hold Steady

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was unchanged at 6.71% for the week ending June 14, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Countrywide Covets #1 Spot

Countrywide Credit Industries, once the top originator and servicer of mortgage loans in the nation, would like to regain the top spot, the company's chief executive officer said at an annual shareholders' meeting on June 12. (Read More)

Fed: Housing Strong, CRE Weak

Residential real estate markets remain strong and commercial real estate markets are weak in most of the country, according to the Federal Reserve Board's Beige Book on current economic conditions. (Read More)

FDIC to Expand Financial Ed

In an effort to increase low-income homeownership opportunities and combat lending abuses, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans to expand its financial education program. (Read More)

MBA Names Research Veep

Jay Brinkmann has been appointed vice president of research and economics at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. (Read More)

Earnings Jump for H&R Block Mortgage Ops

H&R Block Inc., Kansas City, Mo., has reported that its mortgage operations recorded pretax earnings of $339.4 million for fiscal year 2002 (ended April 30), up 146% from $138.0 million the year before. (Read More)

Most Home, Mortgage Centre Join Forces

Most Home Corp., Vancouver, Canada, has entered a technology-based strategic marketing arrangement with a mortgage unit of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. (Read More)

nBank Licenses London Bridge LOS

Atlanta-based nBank, which maintains branches in cities across northeast Georgia, has licensed London Bridge Group's Diamond origination system for use in its mortgage and commercial lending division. (Read More)

Seminoles Close Resort Financing

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has announced the closing of $315 million in bond financing for the construction of the tribe's Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Resort projects on its Hollywood and Tampa reservations. (Read More)

REIT Announces Stock Offering

Urstadt Biddle Properties, a Greenwich, Conn.-based real estate investment trust, has announced an offering of 7.0 million shares of its Class A common stock. (Read More)

GSE Non-Mortgage Investments Surge

Fannie Mae's non-mortgage investments increased by almost 30% in 2001 and Freddie Mac's by 26%, according to figures released June 14 by their regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. (Read More)

Did Aurora Win HomeSide Servicing?

Is the Lehman Brothers-owned Aurora Loan Services the "secret" winning bidder for HomeSide's $13 billion servicing portfolio? (Read More)

American Home to Buy Maryland Lender

American Home Mortgage Holdings, Melville, N.Y., the parent company of MortgageSelect.com, has agreed to acquire Columbia National Inc., Columbia, Md., for $37 million in cash and has announced a delay in the approval of its proposed acquisition of Valley Bancorp. (Read More)

NY Mortgage Buys Buffalo Wholesaler

The New York Mortgage Co. LLC, New York, has acquired the assets and the staff of Reeves Mortgage Bankers Inc., a wholesaler based in Getzville, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo. (Read More)

Industry Urged to Lobby for Terror Backstop

Participants in the commercial mortgage securities industry should be lobbying for passage of a Senate bill (S. 2600) that would provide a federal backstop for terrorism insurance, according to a speaker at the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association's eighth annual convention. (Read More)

Conti HEL Classes Downgraded

Four classes of ContiMortgage Corp. home equity loan pass-through certificates have been downgraded to default status by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Chase CMBS Classes

Classes C, D, E, and F of Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp. series 2001-245 Park Avenue have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings in connection with concerns about terrorism insurance. (Read More)

Aames Extends Exchange Offer

Aames Financial Corp., Los Angeles, has extended the deadline for its debt exchange offer until 5 p.m. Friday, June 21. (Read More)

REIT: Pact Will Ease Liquidity Woes

Prime Group Realty Trust, a troubled real estate investment trust based in Chicago, has entered into an agreement with Security Capital Preferred Growth Inc. that the REIT says will enable it to resolve its short-term liquidity problems. (Read More)

Freddie Unveils Spanish Homebuyer Ed Site

Freddie Mac, with the support of several Hispanic associations, has launched El Camino a su Propria Casa, the Spanish language version of its homebuyer education website. (Read More)

REIT Files Universal Shelf

Correctional Properties Trust, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., has filed a universal shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission under which it could offer up to $250 million of debt and equity securities. (Read More)

REIT Affiliate Prices Notes

CPG Partners LP, the chief operating partnership of Chelsea Property Group Inc., Roseland, N.J., has priced $100 million of 6-7/8% senior unsecured notes at 99.815 to yield 6.901%. (Read More)

BRE Prices $75MM of Preferred Stock

BRE Properties Inc., San Francisco, has priced 3.0 million shares of 8.08% series B cumulative redeemable preferred stock at $25 per share. (Read More)

Farmer Mac Declares Dividend

The board of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., Washington, has declared a dividend on the corporation's 6.40% cumulative preferred stock, series A, issued on May 6, 2002. (Read More)

Feedback

If you're a mortgage broker, how would you define being "busy"? (Read More)

NAMB Unveils Model Licensing Law

Anyone who takes a mortgage application from a potential borrower would have to be licensed under a four-part model state statute unveiled by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers at its annual meeting in Cleveland. (Read More)

NAMB to Go on the Offensive, New Prez Says

Maintaining that "it's time everyone hears our side of the story," the new president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers says he plans to take the organization on the offensive. (Read More)

NovaStar to Roll Out Direct Sales Channel

NovaStar Mortgage Inc., Westwood, Kan., will roll out its new direct sales channel for brokers during the third quarter, according to NovaStar president Lance Anderson. (Read More)

Brokers Are Biggest LP Users

Mortgage brokers are by far the largest users of Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector. (Read More)

Freddie Touts Int'l Market for Its Debt

Freddie Mac sells more than one-third of its new debt to investors overseas, according to the government-sponsored enterprise. (Read More)

Bush Proposes Homeownership Assistance

Noting that fewer than half of all African-Americans and Hispanic Americans are homeowners, President Bush has proposed an ambitious plan to dismantle "the barriers that prevent minorities from owning a piece of the American dream." (Read More)

Lahaina to Buy Colorado Mortgage Banker

Lahaina Acquisitions Inc., Denver, has executed a letter of intent to acquire Stonecreek Funding Corp., a Colorado-based mortgage banker. (Read More)

MERS Wins Court Victory

A New York state court has ruled against a county clerk who has refused to register loans with Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., Vienna, Va., as the mortgagee of record. (Read More)

ASC CMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of Asset Securitization Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1997-MDVII have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and removed from Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Report: Still Barriers to E-Mortgage Closings

The adoption of electronic mortgage closings by financial institutions is rising, but "a few important barriers" must be overcome before adoption becomes widespread, according to a report from Meridien Research, Newton, Mass. (Read More)

Affordable Housing Said to Rival Health Care as Issue

Working families consider the lack of affordable homes as big a problem as the lack of affordable health care, according to a study released by the Fannie Mae Foundation. (Read More)

Lodging Industry Profits Seen Rising

The lodging industry in the United States will record aggregate profits of $17.2 billion this year, up from $16.7 billion last year, thanks to cost reductions initiated in 2001, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. (Read More)

LION Launches Mortgage101.com in Spanish

LION Inc., Seattle, has launched a Spanish language version of its consumer mortgage portal, Mortgage101.com. (Read More)

Panelists Tout Synthetic Euro CMBS

Europe's synthetic commercial mortgage securitizations can be issued at low costs and have performed more favorably than their off-balance-sheet counterparts in the United States, panelists told attendees June 14 at the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association's conference in New York. (Read More)

REIT Prices Note Sale

Pan Pacific Retail Properties Inc., San Diego, has priced the sale of $55 million of 5.75% senior notes due June 29, 2007. (Read More)

Reckson Prices Note Offering

Reckson Associates Realty Corp., Melville, N.Y., has priced an offering of $50 million of 6.00% senior unsecured notes at 99.465 to yield 6.126%. (Read More)

Housing Starts Jump

Single-family housing starts jumped 9.6% in May, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, while housing starts overall rose 11.6%, the largest monthly increase since the 14% recorded in July 1995. (Read More)

Housing Index Flat

The NAHB Housing Market Index remained unchanged in June from a revised level of 60 in May, according to the National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)

Brokers Deemed Crucial in Lending Abuse Fight

Mortgage brokers are on the front line in the fight against predatory lending and can play a pivotal role in preventing abusive practices, according to the executive vice president of the B&C lending group of Countrywide Home Loans, Calabasas, Calif. (Read More)

LandSafe Unveils New Credit Report Program

Users of wireless devices, including cell phones and personal digital assistants, can access credit reports from all three credit repositories through a new program unveiled by LandSafe Inc. at the NAMB's annual convention in Cleveland. (Read More)

Freddie Pledges $400B to 'Catch the Dream'

Responding to President Bush's new homeownership initiative, Freddie Mac has announced a "Catch the Dream" campaign under which it pledges to invest $400 billion in affordable housing through the rest of the decade, with a focus on minority and immigrant families. (Read More)

Trade Groups Applaud Bush Plan

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America and other housing-related trade groups are applauding President Bush's proposal to increase minority homeownership. (Read More)

Wells Fargo, La Raza Join Forces

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc., Des Moines, Iowa, and The National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organizations, have formed a partnership that will provide housing opportunities to Hispanics and Latinos in 19 metropolitan areas across the country. (Read More)

Triad Unveils eU Xpress

Triad Guaranty Insurance Corp., Winston-Salem, N.C., has introduced eU Xpress, a streamlined process for accelerating its contract underwriting submission and approval process under its TAXI (Transactions Across the Internet) online system. (Read More)

PMI Introduces e-PMI Express

Meanwhile, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., San Francisco, has launched e-PMI Contract Underwriting Express Service, which it says offers real-time Internet access to the automated underwriting systems of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

FirstAm Buys Florida Title Firm

First American Title Insurance Co., Santa Ana, Calif., has announced the acquisition of Guardian Title Services Inc., Fort Myers, Fla. (Read More)

FirstAm Unit Launches Outsource-on-Demand

First American National Default Outsourcing, Dallas, has announced the debut of Outsource-on-Demand, which it called the nation's first single-source, external bankruptcy and foreclosure system for mortgage servicers. (Read More)

Wells Fargo Trust Unit Opens Euro Office

Wells Fargo Corporate Trust Services has opened an office in London that will offer portfolio and bond administration and advanced investor reporting services to issuers and arrangers of mortgage- and asset-backed securities in Europe. (Read More)

Freddie Expands Exec Roles

Freddie Mac has announced the expansion of the role of two executive financial functions within the company. (Read More)

GMAC-RFC Names Health Cap Exec

Rossi Felix has been appointed executive vice president and national marketing manager of Residential Funding Corp.'s Health Capital group. (Read More)

Holliday Arranges Tower Financing

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler has arranged $112 million in financing for a joint venture to own and operate 450 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. (Read More)

Austin Tops Home Price Risk Index

The Austin-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area in Texas tops the list of MSAs nationwide with "the greatest relative likelihood" of a significant decline in home prices over the next two years, according to PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.'s PMI Risk Index. (Read More)

RBMG Gets Servicer Rating From Fitch

RBMG Inc., Columbia, S.C., has been assigned a residential primary servicer rating of RPS3 by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Correction

Class A-1 of Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp. series 2001-245 Park Avenue will remain on Rating Watch Negative in connection with concerns about terrorism insurance, Fitch Ratings has announced in a correction to a recent news release. (Read More)

Senate Passes Terror Insurance Bill

The Senate has finally passed a terrorism insurance bill that would provide a federal backstop for insurance companies in the event of another major terrorist attack. (Read More)

Housing Bill Advances

A House subcommittee has unanimously approved an omnibus housing bill that permanently extends the simplified Federal Housing Administration downpayment calculation and repeals a scheduled increase in the Ginnie Mae guarantee fee. (Read More)

Applications Rise

Mortgage applications rose 1.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended June 14, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly Mortgage Application Survey. (Read More)

Fannie to Boost Purchases of Minority Mortgages

Fannie Mae plans to boost its purchases of mortgages made to minority households by 66% in response to President Bush's initiative to close the gap in minority homeownership by the end of the decade. (Read More)

NHSA Pledges $750MM for Homeownership

The Neighborhood Housing Services of America is making a $750 million commitment to fund special-purpose homeownership loans at below-market interest rates. (Read More)

Fannie Hikes Forecast to $1.75T

Fannie Mae has raised its official forecast of mortgage origination volume for this year to $1.75 trillion, a level that would eclipse every year but last year in lending history. (Read More)

Mortgage Company Poised for National Launch

LoanStream Inc., the mortgage division of the privately owned Beal Bank, Plano, Texas, is poised for launching as a national mortgage company via the marketing and public relations firm Flowers & Partners. (Read More)

CEO, Hearthstone to Buy Control of Wilshire

The chief executive officer of Wilshire Homes, Austin, Texas, and a group of investors led by San Francisco-based Hearthstone have agreed to acquire the controlling partnership interest of Wilshire Homes from The Fortress Group. (Read More)

America 1st to Convert to REIT

America First Apartment Investors LP, Omaha, Neb., has entered into a merger agreement with America First Apartment Investors Inc., a newly formed Maryland company that will operate as a real estate investment trust. (Read More)

Wells Opens East LA Mortgage Center

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Des Moines, Iowa, has announced the opening of a multicultural, multilingual mortgage operations center in East Los Angeles that the company says is the first of its kind. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Morgan Stanley CMBS Classes

Classes A-2, B, C, D, IO-X, and IO-Y of Morgan Stanley Capital I Inc.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1995-GAL-1 have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Charter Bank Hires Mortgage Ops Chief

Jack Thompson has been hired as executive vice president and manager of the Mortgage Loan Operations Division of Charter Bank, Albuquerque, N.M. (Read More)

Delta Prices $200MM HEL Deal

Delta Financial Corp., Woodbury, N.Y., has priced a $200 million asset-backed securitization of closed-end home equity loans. (Read More)

REIT Replaces Andersen

Universal Health Realty Income Trust, King of Prussia, Pa., has announced the replacement of the Arthur Andersen LLP accounting firm by KPMG LLP as its independent public accountant. (Read More)

REIT to Redeem Senior Notes

Hospitality Properties Trust, Newton, Mass., has called for redemption at par of all its outstanding $115 million 8.25% senior notes due in November 2005. (Read More)

Baker Plans GSE Hearings in July

Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., says he plans to hold hearings on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac July 17 and July 23. (Read More)

Rates Fall; ARM Hits 8-Year Low

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.63% for the week ending June 21 from 6.71% the previous week, while the rate for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages hit an eight-year low of 4.60%, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Fitch Launches 'RMBS Deal Tracker'

Fitch Ratings has launched 'RMBS Deal Tracker', a Web-based product that provides a wide range of original collateral attributes for Fitch-rated residential mortgage-backed securities deals. (Read More)

2 Chase CMBS Classes Downgraded

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded two classes of Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 1998-1. (Read More)

Bond Group Names MBS/ABS Adviser

Nadine Cancell has been appointed staff adviser to the Mortgage-backed and Asset-backed Securities Division of The Bond Market Association. (Read More)

Chicago Homeownership Program Unveiled

A program to enable low-income renters in Chicago to turn federal housing vouchers into monthly mortgage payments has been launched by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Freddie Mac, and the city of Chicago. (Read More)

Health Care REIT Prices Note Offering

Health Care Property Investors, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based real estate investment trust, has priced the sale of $250 million of 6.45% senior unsecured notes due June 25, 2012 at 99.702. (Read More)

Insignia Reports $50MM Financing

Insignia Financial Group Inc., New York, has announced a private placement financing totaling $50 million by funds affiliated with Blackacre Capital Management LLC. (Read More)

Kennedy Wilson Arranges $30MM LOC

Kennedy Wilson, a real estate investment fund management and RE services firm based in Beverly Hills, Calif., has completed the arrangement of a three-year, $30 million unsecured line of credit. (Read More)

Intuit to Sell Quicken Loans

Intuit Inc., Mountain View, Calif., which bought Rock Financial Corp. for $370 million in 1999 and re-branded it Quicken Loans, has agreed to sell the online lender to a newly created holding company headed by Quicken chairman Dan Gilbert. (Read More)

California Bans Radian Lien Protection

The title insurance industry has won a huge victory with the issuance of a cease-and-desist order against Radian Guaranty Inc. by California Insurance Commissioner Harry W. Low. (Read More)

Panel OKs Housing Trust Fund

The House Financial Services Committee has voted 33-28 to create a $27 billion national housing trust fund, but Republican leaders are hoping to kill the amendment when the committee meets to complete action on an omnibus housing bill (H.R. 3995), possibly on Tuesday. (Read More)

NAB Settles With Ex-HomeSide Execs

National Australia Bank, Melbourne, has settled an arbitration claim filed against it by three former top executives of HomeSide Lending, Jacksonville, Fla., according to wire reports. (Read More)

UFA: Oil Patch Best for Subprime Lenders

The best states for subprime lenders to do business in remain the “oil patch states" of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi, according to the latest edition of the Nonprime Mortgage Report, published by University Financial Associates, Ann Arbor, Mich. (Read More)

Countrywide Unveils New AI Tools

Countrywide Home Loans, Calabasas, Calif., will be offering new tools this summer for mortgage brokers originating loans through its Countrywide Wholesale Business Channel. (Read More)

FNIS Extends Tender Offer

Fidelity National Information Solutions Inc., Santa Barbara, Calif., has extended its tender offer for all the outstanding shares of Micro General Corp. until July 9. (Read More)

Optima Names New Senior Veep

Jeanne Flynn Martin has been named senior vice president of Optima Information Solutions, an Irvine, Calif.-based provider of customized reports on properties nationwide. (Read More)

Anworth Prices Stock Offering

Anworth Mortgage Asset Corp., a real estate investment trust based in Santa Monica, Calif., has priced a follow-on public offering of 9.0 million shares of common stock at $13 per share. (Read More)

Simon to Join S&P 500

Standard & Poor’s will be adding Simon Property Group, Indianapolis, to the S&P 500 Index. (Read More)

Feedback

Should a mortgage broker act as a fiduciary agent for a borrower? (Read More)

Fed Mandates Race, Sex Data for Phone Apps

Starting Jan. 1, lenders taking mortgage applications over the telephone will have to ask the race and sex of prospective borrowers, according to the Federal Reserve Board. (Read More)

OFHEO Proposes Rule on GSE Compliance

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has issued a proposed rule that is supposed to clarify its authority to take enforcement actions against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for failing to comply with supervisory guidance. (Read More)

OCC: Big Banks Bulking Up on MB