MortgageWire Stories from 2008

Sale of 11th-Largest Servicer Nixed

PHH Corp. -- which controls the nation's 11th-largest residential servicer -- has called off its sale to General Electric, which had planned to flip the mortgage and fleet lender to The Blackstone Group, an investment banking firm. (Read More)

Mortgage Licensing Registry Launched

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators launched a Web-based mortgage licensing system on Jan. 2, as promised, with the initial participation of seven states. (Read More)

G&E Sees Stable CRE Market

Grubb & Ellis, a Chicago-based real estate services company, is projecting that the expected "sluggish" growth of the U.S. economy will be enough to keep commercial real estate leasing markets stable this year. (Read More)

Primary MI Dips, but Still Strong

Production of new primary mortgage insurance remained relatively strong in November, even though there was an 8% decline from the level recorded in October. (Read More)

Vertical Lend Changes Name

Vertical Lend Inc., Melville, N.Y., is changing its name to World Alliance Financial Corp., a move the company says aligns its identity with its expanded product and service offerings. (Read More)

Horizon Announces Higher 4Q Loss Provision

Horizon Bancorp, Michigan City, Ind., has announced an increase in its provision for losses in the fourth quarter related to its wholesale mortgage and indirect auto loan portfolios. (Read More)

Simon Cites Stock Conversion Option

Simon Property Group Inc., Indianapolis, has announced that holders of its series I 6% convertible perpetual preferred stock may convert their shares during the first quarter of 2008. (Read More)

NatCity Exits All 'Broker-Based' Lending

National City Corp., Cleveland, said Wednesday that it will exit all "broker-based" mortgage lending and will shut down its wholesale unit, resulting in layoffs of 900 workers. (Read More)

Another Rocky Day for Mortgage Stocks

Ten of 15 mortgage stocks routinely tracked by MortgageWire declined amid a broad stock market selloff on Wednesday. (Read More)

10-Year Yield Rebounds Slightly

The yield of the long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury note bounced back slightly Thursday morning (but remained below 4.00%) after plunging Wednesday when the price of oil hit $100 a barrel. (Read More)

Home Equity Overdues Soar

The delinquency rate on home equity loan products surged in the third quarter, according to the American Bankers Association. (Read More)

Securities Fraud Class Filings Surged in '07

The subprime mortgage crisis and stock market volatility are the likely causes of a 43% increase in securities fraud class action litigation filings in 2007, according to a study from Stanford Law School and Cornerstone Research. (Read More)

AEI Scholar Touts Depression-Era Default Fix

As Bush administration officials look for more ways to shore up the housing market, a conservative scholar is suggesting that policymakers take a look at a Depression-era agency that purchased defaulted mortgages to prevent foreclosures. (Read More)

Fed Panel Voiced Foreclosure Concern

Members of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee are concerned that rising foreclosures and the huge supply of unsold homes on the market could put additional downward pressure on house prices and lead to "further disruptions in the financial markets." (Read More)

Rates Decline

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 6.17% to 6.07% over the seven-day period ended Jan. 3, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Applications Fall

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 603.8 to 533.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the holiday-shortened week ended Dec. 28, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

COFI Falls to '07 Low

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index fell to 4.172% in November, its lowest level since the summer of 2006. (Read More)

REITs Recorded Negative Return in '07

The U.S. real estate investment trust sector turned in a negative total return of 17.83% for 2007, trailing other major equity indices, according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. (Read More)

WGNB Hikes RE-Related NPAs

WGNB Corp., Carrollton, Ga., has announced increases in its nonperforming assets and loan loss provision for the fourth quarter due to deteriorating conditions in the residential real estate market. (Read More)

Meritage ABS Classes Downgraded

Seven classes of asset-backed certificates from Meritage Mortgage Corp. series 2004-1 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Feedback

By a nearly 2-to-1 majority, responses to our survey question favored allowing Fannie and Freddie to increase their portfolios to enable them to provide liquidity to the subprime mortgage market. (Read More)

Mortgage Jobs Decline Again

Mortgage companies dropped 9,100 full-time employees from their payrolls in November, and over 100,000 mortgage-related jobs have been lost in the wake of the subprime meltdown. (Read More)

MBA Reverses Course on Loan Limits

The Mortgage Bankers Association has changed course and is now backing stand-alone legislation that would allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae to purchase jumbo loans of up to $625,000 nationwide on a temporary basis. (Read More)

Dodd's Return May Speed FHA Reform

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has decided to drop out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination after finishing sixth in the Iowa caucuses with less than 1% of the vote. (Read More)

Wolters Kluwer to Buy Stewart Flood Biz

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, has signed an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of Houston-based Stewart Lender Services' flood determination business. (Read More)

California Returning to 'Slow Growth'?

The term "slow growth" was the bane of the homebuilding business for years, but now builders in the Golden State, where "a modest recovery" is expected to begin sometime around midyear, welcome the idea. (Read More)

State Street Takes Subprime-Linked Charge

State Street Corp., Boston, has taken a $279 million net charge after taxes for the fourth quarter to establish a reserve designed to address costs related to active fixed-income strategies exposed to subprime mortgage markets. (Read More)

Irwin Projects $15-20M 4Q Loss

Irwin Financial Corp., Columbus, Ind., has announced that it expects to report a mortgage-related consolidated loss (including discontinued operations) of $15-20 million in the fourth quarter. (Read More)

Franklin Credit Reports Debt Restructuring

Franklin Credit Management Corp., a specialist in servicing and resolving residential mortgage loans, has entered into restructuring agreements with its lead lending bank, according to the Jersey City, N.J.-based company. (Read More)

Cascade Expects RE-Related Loss Provision

Cascade Bancorp, Bend, Ore., has announced that it expects to record a real-estate-related pretax provision for credit losses of approximately $7.5 million and net chargeoffs of approximately $3.8 million for the fourth quarter. (Read More)

Better Mortgage Bureau Changes Name

The Better Mortgage Bureau, Baltimore, has changed its name to the Consumer Mortgage Bureau. (Read More)

RAMP MBS Classes Downgraded

Ten classes of mortgage-backed securities issued by RAMP have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

RAMP MBS Classes Downgraded

Six classes of mortgage-backed securities from RAMP series 2003-RS9 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

RASC MBC Classes Downgraded

Five classes of mortgage-backed securities issued by RASC trusts have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

McKinley CDO Classes Downgraded

Four classes of notes and one class of preference shares issued by McKinley Funding III Ltd., a collateralized debt obligation backed partly by residential mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades RAMP MBS Classes

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded 21 classes of mortgage-backed securities from five transactions issued by RAMP in 2004. (Read More)

FBR: Subprime Defaults Jump

The default rate on subprime mortgages jumped 170 basis points to nearly 19.5% in October, according to Friedman Billings Ramsey Investment Management, which cited weaker job markets and declining house prices as the causes of rapid deterioration in credit performance -- not resets. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Sink Again

A major selloff in the stock market hit industry stocks particularly hard on Friday. (Read More)

Harris: '08 Bad Year for Cash-Out Refis

According to the findings of a Harris Poll survey, 2008 will be a bad year for those who rely on originations of cash-out refinancings or home equity lines of credit for business. (Read More)

Dexma Sees Bright Mortgage Future

Members of the so-called Generation X now represent more than half of mortgage borrowers, which means the long-term outlook for the mortgage industry is bright, according to Minneapolis-based Dexma. (Read More)

PHH Receives $50M Termination Fee

PHH Corp., a provider of mortgage services based in Mt. Laurel, N.J., has announced the receipt of a $50 million reverse termination fee from Blackstone Capital Partners V LP in connection with the recent termination of a merger pact between PHH and General Electric Capital Corp. (Read More)

IAC Names Chair/CEO of RE Businesses

Doug Lebda, president and chief operating officer of IAC, has been named chairman and chief executive officer of the company's financial services and real estate businesses, including LendingTree, HomeLoanCenter, GetSmart, RealEstate.com, Domania, and iNest. (Read More)

First Industrial, CalSTRS Form Euro JV

First Industrial Realty Trust Inc., Chicago, and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, Sacramento, Calif., have formed FirstCal Industrial Europe LLC, a real estate investment joint venture. (Read More)

Moody's Reports Softening in CRE Markets

Five of seven commercial property types tracked by Moody's Investors Service had lower scores in the fourth quarter than in the third quarter, showing some signs of softening in commercial real estate markets. (Read More)

Counsel Selected for Delta Creditor Panel

Hahn & Hessen LLP, New York, has been selected as the counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the bankruptcy filing of Delta Financial Corp., Woodbury, N.Y. (Read More)

First Florida Launches DeadDeals.net

First Florida Financial Group, Fort Myers, Fla., has announced the launch of DeadDeals.net, which purchases qualified "unclosable" mortgage and foreclosure leads from mortgage brokers and loan officers in Florida. (Read More)

Agency Hiring to Help Stem Foreclosures

The Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta has announced plans to hire approximately 45 new housing managers and counselors to help homeowners nationwide avoid foreclosure. (Read More)

Astoria Gets Nod for Value Investing

Astoria Financial Corp. "may actually benefit from the mortgage turmoil" and is a good buy for value investors, according to Zacks.com. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades RAMP MBS Classes

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded 21 classes of mortgage-backed securities from five transactions issued by RAMP in 2004. (Read More)

Wells Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Two classes of Wells Fargo mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, and five classes have been placed on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Wells MBS Class

Class B-5 of Wells Fargo Alternative Loan Trust series 2005-1 has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Paulson: Fast-Tracking Coming Soon

Servicers participating in the Hope Now alliance are working at an "intense pace" to implement streamlined processes for loan modifications and refinancings, according to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who said he wants to see tangible results in a few weeks. (Read More)

Fannie to Reimburse Servicers for Referrals

Fannie Mae says it will reimburse its servicers for referring homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments to the HOPE Hotline for foreclosure prevention counseling. (Read More)

FBR: Nonprime Losses Total $94B

Since August, financial institutions across the globe have written down the value of their nonprime mortgage assets by about $94 billion, according to a new tally done by Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. (Read More)

Bear Chief to Step Down as CEO

James Cayne, the chairman and CEO of Bear Stearns -- once a major player in the subprime mortgage market -- is expected to relinquish his chief executive title. (Read More)

Does CRA Deter Risky Mortgage Lending?

The Community Reinvestment Act may have deterred banks from engaging in the kind of risky mortgage lending that has led to the foreclosure crisis, according to a Traiger & Hinckley LLP study of 2006 loan data. (Read More)

SIFMA Sees B&C-Linked Issuance Decline

Continuing market concerns related to subprime mortgage woes are expected to reduce the overall annual issuance of fixed-income securities by 15% to $3.4 trillion in 2008, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. (Read More)

Countrywide Stock Hits 52-Week Low

Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest residential lender and servicer, saw its share price fall 14% Tuesday to yet another 52-week low: $6.26. (Read More)

CoreLogic Touts $40M in Fraud Prevention

First American CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif., has announced that its Multi-Closing Alert Program prevented more than $40 million in losses from mortgage fraud for institutional participants in its first year. (Read More)

Behringer Harvard Completes REIT Offering

Behringer Harvard Opportunity REIT I, a nontraded real estate investment trust, has reached full subscription, according to Behringer Harvard, a Dallas-based commercial real estate company. (Read More)

G REIT to Form Liquidating Trust

G REIT Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Santa Ana, Calif., has announced that it intends to enter into a liquidating trust agreement on or about Jan. 22 to wind up the REIT's affairs and liquidate its assets. (Read More)

Webster Cites Mortgage-Linked 4Q Charges

Webster Financial Corp., Waterbury, Conn., has reported preliminary information on its fourth-quarter earnings results, including charges related to the discontinuation of its national wholesale mortgage business. (Read More)

Fitch to Boost CMBS Subordination Levels?

Fitch Ratings has announced that it is likely to raise its required subordination levels for commercial mortgage-backed securities, citing an increased risk of commercial mortgage loan defaults. (Read More)

Industrial REIT Gets New Credit Facility

EastGroup Properties, a real estate investment trust based in Jackson, Miss., has obtained a new four-year, $200 million unsecured revolving credit facility from a group of seven banks. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades Bear MBS Classes

Forty-six tranches from eight mortgage-backed securitizations issued by Bear Stearns in 2007 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and 11 tranches have been placed under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Subprime Securities

Twelve classes of mortgage-backed securities issued by Credit Suisse First Boston Home Equity Asset Trust 2007-3 were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Jan. 7 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Nomura Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Three classes of mortgage pass-through securities issued by Nomura Asset Acceptance Corp. have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Countrywide Denies Bankruptcy Rumors

Countrywide Financial Corp. Tuesday afternoon denied rumors that the company is planning to file for bankruptcy protection. (Read More)

Countrywide Foreclosures Double in 12 Months

Countrywide Financial Corp. -- the nation's largest residential servicer, with $1.5 trillion in receivables -- saw its foreclosure rate spike to 1.44% at the end of December, a stunning 105% increase from the rate recorded a year earlier. (Read More)

Countrywide Denies Bankruptcy Rumors

Countrywide Financial Corp. Tuesday afternoon denied rumors that the company is planning to file for bankruptcy protection. (Read More)

Industry Stocks Take Another Beating

Mortgage and financial stocks were among the big losers in Tuesday's stock market selloff. (Read More)

10-Year Yield Drops to Lowest Level Since '04

The long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury yield dropped below 3.80% Wednesday morning for the first time since 2004 in a move that appears to be driven by negative stock market news and mounting concerns about the effects of the mortgage-related slowdown on the larger economy. (Read More)

Apps Jump as Rates Dive

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, surged from 533.9 to 706.0 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the holiday-shortened week ended Jan. 4 as mortgage rates fell, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

SEC: Fast-Tracking Won't Jeopardize MBS

Fast-tracking loan modifications and freezing the interest rate on adjustable-rate subprime mortgages will not jeopardize the accounting and tax status of the mortgage-backed securities, according to an opinion by the Securities and Exchange Commission chief accountant. (Read More)

E*Trade Sells $3B More in MBS, Munis

E*Trade Financial -- which is undergoing a wrenching restructuring -- said Wednesday that it has sold an additional $3 billion worth of bonds, including mortgage-backed securities and municipals. (Read More)

Mudd Suggests Single Regulatory Agency

It's not on the table today, but the chief executive of Fannie Mae says policymakers should consider creating a single national regulatory agency to oversee the entire housing finance system. (Read More)

Law Firm Forms Subprime Lending Team

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP, a Philadelphia-based law firm, has announced the formation of a multidisciplinary Subprime Lending Team. (Read More)

MBIA Fighting Rating Pressure

MBIA Inc., Armonk, N.Y., has sought to stave off negative rating pressure related to its mortgage-related asset-backed securities insurance exposure with a $1 billion surplus note offering and by cutting its dividend. (Read More)

Pending Home Sales Index Declines

An index that tracks pending home sales posted a 2.6% decline in November from an upwardly revised October reading and stood 19.2% below the level recorded a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Subservicer Names CEO

Gregory S. Tornquist, president of Cenlar FSB, has been named to the additional position of chief executive officer of the savings bank, which specializes in subservicing mortgages and home equity lines of credit. (Read More)

FHLBank-NY Elects Board Chairman

David W. Lindstrom, president and chief executive officer of Franklin Bank, has been elected to a two-year term as chairman of the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. (Read More)

Oregon Bank Takes Mortgage-Linked Charges

West Coast Bancorp, Lake Oswego, Ore., has announced that it will record a $30 million pretax provision for credit losses in the fourth quarter, including $27.8 million related to expected losses in the company's two-step residential construction loan portfolio. (Read More)

IMA Selling $621M in Bulk Servicing

Interactive Mortgage Advisors, Denver, is selling a $621 million package of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bulk servicing rights for an undisclosed client. (Read More)

Highwoods Tagged 'Bear of the Day'

Zacks Equity Research, Chicago, announced Jan. 9 that Highwoods Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Raleigh, N.C., has been designated its "Bear of the Day," a stock expected to underperform the markets over the next three to six months. (Read More)

Fannie Prices BenchNotes

Fannie Mae has priced $4 billion of two-year Benchmark Notes due Feb. 10, 2010, and $4 billion of five-year Benchmark Notes due Feb. 12, 2013. (Read More)

Deutsche Bank MBS Classes Downgraded

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the ratings of 62 tranches of mortgage-backed securities from six deals issued by Deutsche Bank in 2007, and 16 tranches have been placed under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

ABN Amro Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Two classes of ABN Amro 2003-12 mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

30-Year Rate Dives Below 6%

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 6.07% to 5.87% over the seven-day period ended Jan. 10, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

ACORN, Countrywide Reach Pact

Countrywide Financial Corp. and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now have reached an agreement on ways to help delinquent subprime borrowers get into workout plans and save their homes. (Read More)

Baltimore Sues Wells Fargo

The city of Baltimore has filed a fair-lending lawsuit against Wells Fargo Bank NA, contending that the San Francisco-based bank's subprime lending practices have led to high foreclosure rates in minority neighborhoods and cost the city millions of dollars in expenses and lost revenues. (Read More)

S&P: Homebuilders Face Inventory Challenge

Homebuilders need to take "a disciplined approach" to managing inventory assets to weather the storms in the housing market, according to Standard & Poor's Equity Research. (Read More)

Capital One Warns of Earnings Shortfall

Capital One Financial Corp., McLean, Va., has lowered its estimate of 2007 earnings, citing among other factors costs associated with GreenPoint Mortgage, which the company has shut down. (Read More)

Huntington Cites Expected Loss

Huntington Bancshares Inc., Columbus, Ohio, has announced that it expects to report a net loss of $239 million ($0.65 per share) for the fourth quarter, due largely to credit losses linked to Franklin Credit Management Corp., a specialist in servicing and resolving residential mortgage loans. (Read More)

Financial Freedom Adds HECM Options

Financial Freedom, Irvine, Calif., has announced the addition of two new Home Equity Conversion Mortgage LIBOR margin options to its line of reverse mortgage products. (Read More)

GMAC Insurance Outlook Revised to Negative

A.M. Best Co., Oldwick, N.J., has affirmed the financial strength and issuer credit ratings of GMAC Insurance Group and its members and revised the outlook from stable to negative. (Read More)

Goldman MBS Tranches Downgraded

Forty-seven tranches from seven deals issued by Goldman Sachs in 2007 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and 20 tranches have been placed under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

Countrywide MBS Tranches Downgraded

Thirty tranches from 15 deals issued by Countrywide in 2007 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and 16 tranches have been placed under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

Oakwood MH Classes Downgraded

Six classes of manufactured housing securitizations issued by Oakwood Homes Corp. have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, and three classes have been placed on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

BoA Talking to Countrywide About a Deal?

Bank of America, Charlotte, N.C., is reportedly talking to Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., about buying all or part of the company, according to industry sources and a report by The Wall Street Journal. (Read More)

Countrywide Soars on Deal Rumor

Just a day after its stock fell dramatically on credit concerns, Countrywide Financial Corp.'s share price rose 51% Thursday on rumors of a deal with Bank of America. (Read More)

It's Official: BoA to Buy Countrywide for $4B

Bank of America Corp. confirmed Friday that it has agreed to buy Countrywide Financial Corp. for $4 billion in stock, a deal that rescues the ailing Countrywide and makes BoA the largest residential lender in the United States, with a market share of almost 24%. (Read More)

Will Deal Leave Brokers Out in the Cold?

The Bank of America's acquisition of Countrywide could leave mortgage brokers out in the cold. (Read More)

Countrywide Brand Name Will Survive, For Now

Once Bank of America swallows the mortgage operation of Countrywide Financial Corp., the brand name "Countrywide Home Loans" will survive, according to an internal e-mail message sent to Countrywide employees. (Read More)

Countrywide Shares Come Back Down

After surging on deal rumors Thursday, Countrywide's stock declined Friday morning after details of its acquisition by Bank of America were released. (Read More)

JPMorgan Chase Talking to WaMu?

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is talking to Washington Mutual about possibly buying the nation's largest thrift, according to industry sources. (Read More)

Bernanke Eyeing Further Rate Cuts

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke says he is prepared to cut interest rates further to cushion the economy and offset continuing problems in the housing and credit markets. (Read More)

OFHEO: GSEs Would Buy Safest Jumbos

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would likely purchase the safest jumbo mortgages if Congress raises the GSE loan limit, but those fixed-rate and fully amortizing mortgages constituted only 30% of jumbo originations in the first half of 2007, according to an early draft of an Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight report. (Read More)

Rutgers Outsources Mortgage Processing

Rutgers Investment Group Inc., a subsidiary of FirstPlus Financial Group, Irving, Texas, has announced an outsourcing agreement with HomeLoanAdvisors.com to provide mortgage processing and fulfillment services. (Read More)

CIT to Hike Mortgage-Linked Loss Reserves

CIT Group Inc., New York, has announced an approximately $300 million expected increase in its reserves for credit losses in the fourth quarter, chiefly related to the company's held-for-investment home lending portfolio. (Read More)

UnionBanCal to Boost Loan-Loss Provision

UnionBanCal Corp., San Francisco, has announced that it expects to make a $60 million provision for credit losses for the fourth quarter, a $45 million increase from its October forecast stemming chiefly from loans to homebuilders. (Read More)

UK Lender to Sell $4.3B Mortgage Portfolio

Liquidity-strapped U.K. lender Northern Rock PLC has agreed to sell a £2.2 billion ($4.3 billion) portfolio of lifetime equity-release mortgages to J.P. Morgan, New York. (Read More)

USAA Concludes REIT Fund Fundraising

USAA Real Estate Co., San Antonio, has announced the conclusion of fundraising for its US Industrial REIT II fund after raising $450 million in equity commitments, $50 more than originally planned. (Read More)

Canadian Housing Starts Drop

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of Canadian housing starts fell to 187,500 units in December from 233,300 units in November, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., Ottawa. (Read More)

PMI Tagged With 'Bear of the Day' Label

The PMI Group, Walnut Creek, Calif., has been tagged the "Bear of the Day" for Jan. 11 by Zacks Equity Research, Chicago. (Read More)

Fitch Assigns Negative Outlook to PHH

The long- and short-term issuer default ratings of PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., have been affirmed by Fitch Ratings, but a negative rating outlook has been assigned. (Read More)

BCAP Alt-A Tranches Downgraded

Twenty tranches from four mortgage-backed securities deals issued by BCAP in 2007 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and six tranches have been placed under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

American Home 2nd-Lien Classes Downgraded

Six classes of certificates from American Home Mortgage Investment Trust 2007-2 (backed by closed-end second-lien mortgage loans) have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Correction

The long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury yield dropped below 3.80% Wednesday morning for the first time since 2004 (not 4.80%, as MortgageWire incorrectly reported). (Read More)

Feedback

Early responses to our latest survey question are running 2-to-1 in favor of requiring brokers to disclose up front (in writing) the amount of their fees. (Read More)

FBR Closes Mortgage Unit, First NLC

Friedman Billings Ramsey pulled the plug Friday on its subprime production division, First NLC Financial Services of Deerfield Beach, Fla., closing the company and letting most of its workers go. (Read More)

Merrill May Take $15B More in CDO/B&C Hits

Merrill Lynch & Co. may take additional writedowns of up to $15 billion on its collateralized debt obligations and subprime investments when it announces earnings next week, according to various analyst reports. (Read More)

FBR Closes Mortgage Unit, First NLC

Friedman Billings Ramsey pulled the plug Friday on its subprime production division, First NLC Financial Services of Deerfield Beach, Fla., closing the company and letting most of its workers go. (Read More)

Merrill May Take $15B More in CDO/B&C Hits

Merrill Lynch & Co. may take additional writedowns of up to $15 billion on its collateralized debt obligations and subprime investments when it announces earnings this week, according to various analyst reports. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Mixed on Bearish Day

Mortgage-related stocks were decidedly mixed Friday on a day when concern about growing credit problems and weak consumer spending sent the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling by nearly 250 points. (Read More)

Cleveland Sues 21 Mortgage Lenders

The city of Cleveland has sued 21 lenders and Wall Street firms involved in the subprime mortgage market, seeking monetary damages under a "public nuisance law." (Read More)

Mozilo Will Get $112M If He Leaves

Countrywide Financial Corp. chairman, chief executive, and founder Angelo Mozilo is entitled to a severance package of about $112 million if he leaves the company, according to a report put out by Equilar, an executive compensation company. (Read More)

Countrywide Placed on Watch Positive

The ratings of Countrywide Financial Corp. have been placed on Rating Watch Positive by Fitch Ratings following the announcement of Countrywide's proposed acquisition by Bank of America Corp., while BoA's ratings have been affirmed and left with a negative rating outlook. (Read More)

Countrywide's CIO Departs for Fiserv

Countrywide Financial Corp., which is slated for sale to Bank of America, has lost its chief information officer, Richard K. Jones -- a 12-year veteran of the lender -- to technology giant Fiserv Inc. (Read More)

Clinton Unveils Moratorium, Rate Freeze Plan

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is calling on Congress and the Bush administration to take aggressive action to prevent subprime foreclosures and pass a $70 billion stimulus bill that provides $30 billion in assistance for cities and states to deal with mounting foreclosures and vacant properties. (Read More)

MBA Forecasts 8-Year Low in Originations

Single-family originations will decline by 16% in 2008 and drop below $2 trillion for the first time since 2000, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)

FBR: B&C Overdues to Jump Even More

Default rates on subprime mortgages will reach 22.17% by October, a 12-month increase of 14%, according to a new forecast made by Friedman Billings Ramsey. (Read More)

Mortech Projects Tech Spending Drop

Mortgage technology vendors are in for a rough ride, according to the 2007 Mortech study. (Read More)

Sovereign Taking $1.4B Impairment Charge

Sovereign Bancorp Inc., Philadelphia, is taking a $1.4 billion noncash charge related to a goodwill impairment, of which $800 million is related to its June 2006 acquisition of Independence Community Bancorp, Brooklyn. (Read More)

FirstAm Chinese Affiliate Launches Website

The Chinese affiliate of First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., has launched a website, the first of its kind in China. (Read More)

Vote Set on UK Lender Asset Issue

Investors in liquidity-strapped United Kingdom mortgage lender Northern Rock PLC are slated to vote Jan. 15 on a proposal from two hedge fund shareholders that includes an increased review process for the selling and buying assets above certain thresholds. (Read More)

Veros Predicts Hot and Cold Markets

Veros Real Estate Solutions, Santa Ana, Calif., has released the results of its quarterly forecasting of the nation's real estate markets, predicting the five hottest and coldest markets for the next 12 months. (Read More)

Provident Cites 4Q Charge

Provident Bankshares Corp., Baltimore, has announced that it will take a $28.9 million noncash after-tax charge to its fourth-quarter earnings in connection with a writedown of its REIT trust preferred securities. (Read More)

MBIA Prices $1B in Notes

MBIA Insurance Corp., whose exposure to subprime mortgage collateral recently prompted Fitch Ratings to place its ratings on Rating Watch Negative, has priced $1 billion of 25-year surplus notes, according to its parent company, MBIA Inc., Armonk, N.Y. (Read More)

IndyMac MBS Tranches Downgraded

Twenty-eight tranches from 12 transactions issued by IndyMac in 2007 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and 16 tranches have been placed on review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

ChaseFlex MBS Tranches Downgraded

Fourteen tranches from two deals issued by ChaseFlex in 2007 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and one tranche has been placed under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

American Home MBS Classes Downgraded

Eight tranches from two mortgage-backed securities deals issued by American Home in 2007 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Homebanc Alt-A Class Downgraded

Class I-B-3 of Homebanc Mortgage Trust 2007-1 has been downgraded from Baa2 to Ba1 by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

JPMorgan CMBS Classes Downgraded

Seven classes of J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2007-FL1, have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Freddie Prices RefNotes

Freddie Mac has priced $3 billion of 3.250% three-year Reference Notes due Feb. 25, 2011, and a $1 billion reopening of 4.125% five-year Reference Notes due Dec. 21, 2012. (Read More)

Citi Takes $17.4B Subprime Writedown

Citigroup has reported a $9.8 billion loss for the fourth quarter after taking a $17.4 billion writedown on subprime mortgage assets and reducing its subprime exposure from $54.6 billion in the third quarter to $37.3 billion. (Read More)

Citi Raises $12.5B in Capital

Citi also announced the raising of $12.5 billion of capital via the sale of convertible preferred securities, including a $6.9 billion investment by the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (Read More)

Citi Directors Challenged on Mortgage Risk

Meanwhile, the CtW Investment Group is calling on five Citigroup directors to "describe the actions they took" to protect shareholders from excessive exposure to mortgage risk over the past two years. (Read More)

Merrill Lynch to Tap Foreign Investors

Adding to a continuing wave of Wall Street efforts to counteract the U.S. mortgage-sparked liquidity crunch by tapping foreign capital, Merrill Lynch has reached agreements to issue $6.6 billion in mandatory convertible preferred stock in private placements to a new group of overseas investors. (Read More)

NovaStar Shuts Retail Brokering Biz

NovaStar Financial Inc., Kansas City, Mo., may have taken one step closer to the end of the line, as the company shuts its retail mortgage brokering business. (Read More)

FirstAm to Spin Off Title, Specialty Biz

The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., will spin off its title and specialty insurance businesses into a separate company to be called First American Financial Corp. (Read More)

FBR: Subprime Defaults Hit 1M Mark

One million securitized subprime mortgage loans were 90 days or more past due, in foreclosure, or real estate owned as of Oct. 31, according to the latest credit performance report by Friedman Billings Ramsey Investment Management. (Read More)

PMI: Risk of House Price Declines Rising

A recently modified index that ranks metropolitan statistical areas based on the risk of declining home prices indicates that the risk has increased in 39 of the 50 largest MSAs, according to PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., Walnut Creek, Calif. (Read More)

FHLBank Gets OK to Make Refi Grants

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco has received a regulatory waiver to start making grants of up to $25,000 to help low- and moderate-income homeowners refinance out of nontraditional and subprime mortgages and into a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage. (Read More)

Downey Hikes NPA Levels

Downey Financial Corp., Newport Beach, Calif., has announced an increase in previously reported levels of nonperforming adjustable-rate mortgage assets. (Read More)

Western Alliance Cites B&C Writedown

Western Alliance Bancorporation, Las Vegas, has announced plans to write down its subprime mortgage-backed securities from $9.5 million to $4.9 million for the fourth quarter, but said the charge is expected to be offset. (Read More)

Arizona REIT to Change Name

Arizona Land Income Corp., a Phoenix-based real estate investment trust, has announced shareholder approval of its reincorporation in Maryland under the name Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc. (Read More)

CA Coalition Funds Mortgage Counseling

The California Reinvestment Coalition, San Francisco, has announced a new initiative aimed at increasing the number of mortgage counselors working to keep Californians in their homes. (Read More)

Thornburg Prices Stock Offerings

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., has announced the pricing of concurrent public offerings of 7 million shares of common stock and 8 million shares of an existing series of preferred stock. (Read More)

REIT Boosts Credit Facility

LaSalle Hotel Properties, Bethesda, Md., has announced that commitments to its senior unsecured bank facility have been increased from $300 million to $450 million. (Read More)

AMSI, ARSI Subprime Classes Downgraded

Thirty-seven certificates from 14 mortgage-backed securitizations issued by AMSI and ARSI have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

BoA Alt-A Tranches Downgraded

Sixteen tranches from four deals issued by Bank of America in 2007 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and 14 tranches have been placed under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

MASTR MBS Tranches Downgraded

Fourteen tranches from 3 deals issued by MASTR Adjustable Rate Mortgages Trust in 2007 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and seven tranches have been placed under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

FDIC Hires FFN for Asset Sale

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has hired First Financial Network Inc. to market and sell $40 million in residential mortgage loans from the failed Miami Valley Bank. (Read More)

FirstFed to Boost Loan-Loss Provision

FirstFed Financial Corp., Santa Monica, Calif., has announced that it expects to make a $20-23 million provision for loan losses for the fourth quarter, more than quadrupling the $4.5 million provision recorded in the third quarter, as a result of rising single-family loan delinquencies. (Read More)

UK Shareholders Defeat Hedge Fund Proposal

Shareholders in liquidity-strapped United Kingdom lender Northern Rock PLC have defeated all but one aspect of a proposal by two of its hedge fund shareholders. (Read More)

Mozilo Asked to Testify on B&C Execs' Severance.

The House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee has invited Countrywide Financial Corp. chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo to testify on Feb. 7 on the topic of severance packages for subprime executives. (Read More)

JPM's 4Q B&C/CDO Hit Totals $1.3B

JPMorgan Chase took a $1.3 billion writedown on the value of its subprime positions in the fourth quarter, including marks against its collateralized debt obligation portfolio. (Read More)

IndyMac Slashing Staff Size

IndyMac Bancorp, Pasadena, Calif., is slashing nearly one-quarter of its workforce in an effort to "right-size our costs and implement process changes to make our new production model profitable," according to an e-mail sent by chief executive Michael Perry to company employees. (Read More)

NAHB, FSR Put Aside Differences on GSE Reform

The National Association of Home Builders and the Financial Services Roundtable have decided to put aside their differences and work toward the quick passage of a GSE reform bill that temporarily increases the conforming loan limit for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Apps Increase 28.4% as Refis Surge

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, increased 28.4% from 706.0 to 906.4 on a seasonally adjusted basis as refinancing rose notably during the week ended Jan. 11, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

CA Default Notices Seen Rising

ForeclosureRadar.com, Discovery Bay, Calif., has noted a substantial month-to-month jump of 45.4% in California's notices of default. (Read More)

FDIC Hires FFN for Asset Sale

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has hired First Financial Network Inc. to market and sell $40 million in residential mortgage loans from the failed Miami Valley Bank. (Read More)

FirstFed to Boost Loan-Loss Provision

FirstFed Financial Corp., Santa Monica, Calif., has announced that it expects to make a $20-23 million provision for loan losses for the fourth quarter, more than quadrupling the $4.5 million provision recorded in the third quarter, as a result of rising single-family loan delinquencies. (Read More)

UK Shareholders Defeat Hedge Fund Proposal

Shareholders in liquidity-strapped United Kingdom lender Northern Rock PLC have defeated all but one aspect of a proposal by two of its hedge fund shareholders. (Read More)

Foundation: Homeowner Distress Calls Surging

The Homeownership Preservation Foundation, Minneapolis, has reported a doubling in the number of homeowners calling its 888-995-HOPE hotline in the fourth quarter. (Read More)

Chase Names Correspondent Sales Chief

Terry Lindsey, a division manager at Chase since 2005, has been promoted to national sales manager of correspondent sales. (Read More)

SIFMA Names MBS Managing Director

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has announced the appointment of Sean Davy as managing director in the mortgage-backed securities and securitized products division in New York. (Read More)

Zions Bancorp Named `Bear of the Day'

The Zacks Equity Research Bear of the Day for Jan. 16 is Zions Bancorporation, Salt Lake City. (Read More)

Fitch Puts 188 CMBS Tranches on Watch

Fitch Ratings has placed 188 tranches from 18 commercial mortgage-backed securities deals, representing $8.4 billion in total, on rating watch negative, following a review in its surveillance methodology. (Read More)

Duke Realty's IDR Downgraded

The issuer default rating of Duke Realty Corp. has been downgraded from BBB-plus to BBB by Fitch Ratings due to a "sustained increase" in the company's leverage ratios. (Read More)

MortgageIT MBS Classes Downgraded

Six tranches from MortgageIT Securities Corp. Mortgage Loan Trust series 2007-1 has been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and three tranches have been placed under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

GE Cap CMBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes of GE Capital Commercial Mortgage Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes PHH Pass-Thru Class

Class B-5 of PHH Mortgage Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates series 2006-2 has been placed on rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Merrill Hit With $9.8B Mortgage-Linked Loss

Merrill Lynch took a $9.8 billion loss for the fourth quarter -- and a $7.8 billion net loss ($8.6 billion from continuing operations) for all of 2007 -- due primarily to an $11.5 billion U.S. mortgage-related writedown in the last three months of the year that produced results far below analysts' estimates. (Read More)

Lehman Shuts Most of #19-Ranked Aurora

Lehman Brothers said Thursday that it is "suspending" the wholesale and correspondent origination arms of Aurora Loan Services, its nonprime mortgage banking subsidiary, shedding 1,300 workers in the process. (Read More)

Bond Insurer Crushed on Moody's Move

Bond insurer Ambac Financial -- whose guarantee is behind billions of dollars in asset-backed bonds collateralized by subprime loans -- saw its stock plunge 60% in trading early Thursday after Moody's Investor Service said it is reviewing the company for a possible downgrade. (Read More)

Housing Starts Fell 28.6% in '07

Single-family housing starts dropped 28.6% in 2007 compared with those of the previous year, including a 2.9% decline in construction activity during the final month of the year. (Read More)

Bernanke Forecasts $100B in Subprime Losses

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke says he expects that foreclosures on $1 trillion in subprime adjustable-rate mortgages will lead to at least $100 billion in losses, and it could go much higher. (Read More)

State Officials Eye B&C Loan-Mod Data

Subprime servicers are starting to provide data on their loan modification efforts to a working group of state attorneys general and banking regulators, according to New York Banking Superintendent Richard Neiman. (Read More)

MBA: Servicers Modified 54K Loans in Q3

The mortgage industry modified an estimated 54,000 home loans and established formal repayment plans involving another 183,000 borrowers during the third quarter, according to an analysis by the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)

30-Year Rate Falls to 5.69%

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 5.87% to 5.69% over the seven-day period ended Jan. 17, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Huntington Posts Mortgage-Linked 4Q Loss

Huntington Bancshares Inc., Columbus, Ohio, has reported a net loss of $239.3 million ($0.65 per share) for the fourth quarter, due largely to credit losses linked to Franklin Credit Management Corp., a specialist in servicing and resolving residential mortgage loans. (Read More)

CIT Reports Mortgage-Related Loss

The CIT Group, New York, posted a net loss of $130.7 million ($0.69 per share) for the fourth quarter, primarily because of problems in its home lending business and its student lending business, says chairman and chief executive Jeffrey M. Peek. (Read More)

Provident Posts REIT Security-Linked Loss

Provident Bankshares Corp., Baltimore, has reported a net loss of $15.5 million ($0.49 per share) for the fourth quarter, chiefly as a result of a writedown of its REIT trust preferred securities. (Read More)

Deerfield to Take $75M RMBS-Linked Charge

Deerfield Capital Corp., Chicago, has announced that it will take a noncash charge of $75.5 million in the fourth quarter related to approximately $3.4 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities, and a $14.6 million charge linked to its asset-backed securities. (Read More)

Residential Lending Shrinks, But Refis Vary

Residential mortgage lending continued to contract from mid-November through December, according to the Federal Reserve Beige Book, but refinancing activity varied. (Read More)

Initial Prime ARM Rate Discount Disappears

The initial rate discount for prime 3/1 and 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages, which had been about 1.8 percentage points, has "virtually disappeared," according to an annual Freddie Mac survey. (Read More)

Fitch Predicts Surge in CMBS Overdues

Fitch Ratings says it expects delinquencies on commercial mortgage-backed securities to double or triple this year, after closing 2007 at a low of 0.28%. (Read More)

MFA Prices Stock Offering

MFA Mortgage Investments Inc., New York, has announced the pricing of 25 million shares of MFA stock at $9.25 per share. (Read More)

FHLBanks Price $3B Global Bond

The Federal Home Loan Banks have priced a $3 billion, 3.375%, five-year global bond due Feb. 27, 2013. (Read More)

Centro NP Ratings Downgraded

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the senior unsecured debt ratings of the New York-based Centro NP LLC (formerly New Plan Excel Realty Trust) from B1 to B3, citing additional liquidity and accounting issues at its corporate parent, Centro Properties Group, Melbourne, Australia. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades RALI MBS Classes

Ninety classes from 19 issues of Residential Accredited Loans Inc. mortgage-backed securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Several Option ARM Ratings Slip

Moody's Investors Services has downgraded certain ratings from several option ARM deals, citing in each case a combination of methodology updates and performance concerns. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes BALL CMBS Class

Class L of the BALL 2006-BIX1 commercial mortgage-backed securitization has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Realtors Seek Loan-Limit Hike With Stimulus

Raising the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limit to $625,000 as part of a stimulus package could help 140,000 to 210,000 families escape foreclosure, increase home sales, and boost economic activity by $42 billion, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

FDIC Chief Warns Servicers to Pick Up Pace

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair is warning mortgage servicers that the government might have to "step in" if they don't pick up the pace in making loan modifications and show more progress in preventing foreclosures. (Read More)

Sector Stocks Take Another Beating

All 15 mortgage-related stocks tracked by MortgageWire were down Thursday as renewed credit concerns contributed to a widespread selloff. (Read More)

Merrill CEO Would Sell FFFC If He Could

Merrill Lynch's new CEO John Thain told employees this week that if he could sell its subprime division, First Franklin Financial Corp., for what the company paid for it a year ago he would do it in an instant, one FFFC employee has told MortgageWire. (Read More)

First Horizon's Mortgage Ops Lose $263M

First Horizon National Corp., Memphis, has reported that its mortgage business lost $263 million (pretax) in the fourth quarter, reflecting reductions to its servicing assets and impairment charges. (Read More)

SC Bank Exits Wholesale Mortgage Biz

Community Bankshares Inc., Orangeburg, S.C., has announced that it will lay off up to 14 employees as part of a restructuring of its mortgage division and exit from the wholesale mortgage business. (Read More)

Astoria to Take Freddie-Linked Charge

Astoria Financial Corp., Lake Success, N.Y., has announced that it will record an after-tax noncash impairment charge of $13.3 million in the fourth quarter to reduce the carrying amount of its investment in certain Freddie Mac preferred stock issues. (Read More)

CBRE Launches HUD/FHA MF Initiative

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., Los Angeles, has announced the addition of a HUD/FHA-insured multifamily and health care mortgage lending capability to the Multi-Housing Group within its capital markets business. (Read More)

Countrywide Touts 80K Workouts in '07

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., has reported that it provided workout options that helped over 80,000 borrowers keep their homes in 2007, up to 69% of which were loan modifications. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes First American Ratings

Fitch Ratings has placed all its ratings on Santa Ana, Calif.-based First American Corp. and its title insurance subsidiaries on Rating Watch Negative because the company expects to post a fourth-quarter loss of up to $50 million. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades CWALT Classes

Fifty-seven classes from 10 issues of Countrywide alternative-A mortgage-backed securities transactions have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Bayview Pass-Thru Downgraded

Class B-3 of Bayview Financial series 2005-D mortgage pass-through certificates has been downgraded from BBB-minus to BB by Fitch Ratings and placed on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Feedback

How many more liquidity-strapped lenders will topple and have a major impact on brokers? (Read More)

BoA Deal: CFC Execs Get Grants, Except Mozilo

Four of Countrywide Financial Corp.'s top executives -- except company chairman and chief executive Angelo Mozilo -- are entitled to millions of dollars in retention grants as part of the lender's sale to Bank of America. (Read More)

Fed Cuts Funds Rate 75bps

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday morning cut its key lending rate by 75 basis points to 3.50% in reaction to a rout in global stock markets as well as a "softening" jobs market in the United States and a "deepening" housing contraction. (Read More)

BoA Takes Huge CDO Hit in 4Q

Bank of America -- which a few weeks ago agreed to buy Countrywide Financial Corp. -- took a $5.28 billion charge on its collateralized debt obligation holdings in the fourth quarter. (Read More)

BoA CEO: Countrywide Deal Still On

Bank of America chief executive Kenneth Lewis said Tuesday morning that he expects the company's purchase of the troubled Countrywide Financial Corp. to close some time in the second half of this year. (Read More)

BoA Deal: CFC Execs Get Grants, Except Mozilo

Four of Countrywide Financial Corp.'s top executives -- except company chairman and chief executive Angelo Mozilo -- are entitled to millions of dollars in retention grants as part of the lender's sale to Bank of America. (Read More)

CS: GSEs Looking at $16B in 4Q Charges

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could write down the value of their subprime and alternative-A securities by as much as $16 billion, according to a new report issued by Credit Suisse. (Read More)

10-Year Yield Plunges, Regains Ground

The long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury yield initially plummeted Tuesday morning before the Federal Reserve's emergency rate cut (see item above), but after the cut the benchmark yield regained some ground. (Read More)

Ambac Takes $5.2B Mortgage-Linked Charge

Ambac Financial Group Inc., New York, has taken a $5.21 billion writedown involving mortgage-related exposures and posted a $3.26 billion quarterly loss, but its executives said in a Jan. 22 conference call that they remain "confident." (Read More)

Wachovia Takes Big Option ARM Loss

Wachovia Corp. is taking a 25% loss on the sale of California homes financed by payment-option ARMs, and the banking company has seen the performance of those negatively amortizing loans deteriorate over the past few quarters. (Read More)

NatCity Reports $333M 4Q Loss

National City Corp., Cleveland, has reported a fourth-quarter loss of $333 million ($0.53 per share), compared with net income of $842 million ($1.36 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

ABA: Rate Cuts, Stimulus Needed as Insurance

Federal Reserve rate cuts and the passage of a stimulus package could provide insurance against a recession, particularly if falling house prices spark a major pullback in consumer spending, according to the American Bankers Association's economic advisory committee. (Read More)

Ex-B&C Chief in Murder-Suicide

Walter Buczynski, a former top executive of Fieldstone Mortgage, jumped to his death over the weekend from the Delaware Memorial Bridge after allegedly killing his wife, authorities say. (Read More)

Kemp Hired as Reverse Mortgage Spokesman

Jack Kemp, who was secretary of housing and urban development in the George H.W. Bush administration, is becoming a spokesman for Generation Mortgage Co., an Atlanta reverse mortgage specialist. (Read More)

Moody's: CRE Prices Fell in November

Commercial real estate prices fell 0.2% on a monthly basis in November, based on indices maintained by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

MISMO Panel Re-elects Chair, Vice Chair

Ron Duff of Fiserv Lending Solutions and Nancee Gorenstein of Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. have been re-elected chair and vice chair of the Governance Committee of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization. (Read More)

Fannie Declares 1Q Dividends

Fannie Mae has declared a common stock dividend of $0.35 per share for the first quarter, down from $0.50 in the previous quarter. (Read More)

Security Benefit Life Downgraded

Citing worries about subprime mortgages, Fitch Ratings has downgraded the insurer financial strength rating of Security Benefit Life Insurance Co., Topeka, Kan., and is keeping it on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Hovnanian's IDR

The issuer default rating and senior unsecured note rating of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., a homebuilder based in Red Bank, N.J., have been downgraded from BB-minus to B-minus/RR4 by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

JPMorgan Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Twenty-five classes of pass-through certificates from 13 J.P. Morgan Mortgage Trust securitizations have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

MBIA RMBS Classes Off Watch

Fitch Ratings has removed 87 residential mortgage-backed securities insured by MBIA Inc. from Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

GS Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Nine classes of GS Mortgage Securities GSR mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

RBSGC MBS Classes Downgraded

Nine classes of pass-through certificates from two RBSGC Mortgage Loan Trust securitizations have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades IndyMac Pass-Thrus

Five classes of IndyMac Residential Asset Securities Trust mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Wells Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Four classes of pass-through certificates from a Wells Fargo Alternative Loan Trust securitization have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

MGIC Projecting $1.3B in 4Q Incurred Losses

MGIC Investment Corp., Milwaukee, is projecting incurred losses for the fourth quarter of around $1.3 billion. (Read More)

Governator: Limited Credit Strangling CA

The California economy is being strangled by limited access to mortgage credit, according to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who wants Congress to raise the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lending limit from $417,000 to $625,000 as part of an economic stimulus package. (Read More)

AIG Buys B&C Portfolio at a 'Premium'

American General Finance has agreed to pay $1.49 billion to Popular Inc. -- a 3% premium -- for most of its subprime loan portfolio. (Read More)

Apps Rise as Refi Index Passes 4000

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, increased from 906.4 to 981.5 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Jan. 18 as the Refinance Index surged past 4000, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

10-Year Yield Declines Further

The long-term rate-indicative Treasury yield continued to trend downward into a new, lower range on Wednesday morning. (Read More)

Goldman Top Unsecured Creditor to First NLC

Goldman Sachs & Co. has filed a $5 million unsecured claim in bankruptcy court against the now-defunct First NLC Financial Services, Deerfield Beach, Fla., a subprime lender owned by Friedman Billings Ramsey. (Read More)

Quicken, RockBridge Buy Reverse Lender

Quicken Loans Inc. and RockBridge Equity Partners, both of Livonia, Mich., have acquired One Reverse Mortgage, a fast-growing provider of FHA-backed reverse mortgage programs that is headquartered in San Diego. (Read More)

Downey Reports '07 Loss

Downey Financial Corp., a Newport Beach, Calif.-based savings and loan, has reported a mortgage-related net loss of $56.6 million ($2.03 per share) for 2007, compared with net income of $199.7 million ($7.16 per share) in 2006. (Read More)

GGP Denies Default, Bankruptcy Rumors

General Growth Properties, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, is denying news reports and blog postings alleging that the REIT may default on its debt obligations or file for bankruptcy. (Read More)

DBRS Downgrades 218 RMBS Classes

DBRS, a Toronto-based rating agency, has downgraded 218 classes from 51 residential mortgage-backed securities transactions. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades LMT MBS Classes

Forty-three classes of pass-through certificates from seven LMT mortgage securitizations have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

BoA MBS Classes Downgraded

Twenty-nine classes of mortgage pass-through certificates from eight Banc of America Alternative Loan Trust transactions have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

First Horizon MBS Classes Downgraded

Twenty-six classes of pass-through certificates from six First Horizon mortgage transactions have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

SARM Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Twelve classes from three issues of SARM mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes SASCO Pass-Thru Class

Class B-5 of SASCO 2002-4H pass-through certificates has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Dodd Proposes Distressed Mortgage Agency

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., is working on legislation that would create a new federal program to purchase "distressed" mortgages from lenders at a discount and provide a new 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to homeowners. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Participate in Big Rally

Investors finally returned to the stock market Wednesday, driving the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 300 points. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Participate in Big Rally

Investors finally returned to the stock market Wednesday, driving the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 300 points. (Read More)

Dodd Proposes Distressed Mortgage Agency

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., is working on legislation that would create a new federal program to purchase "distressed" mortgages from lenders at a discount and provide a new 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to homeowners. (Read More)

Dodd Seeks FHA/GSE Add-on to Stimulus

Arguing that Congress needs to do something about the "foreclosure crisis," Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., says he wants to attach a Federal Housing Administration reform bill and an increase in the GSE loan limit to the economic stimulus package Congress and the White House are working on. (Read More)

Freddie Has Strong Purchase Month

Freddie Mac purchased $55 billion worth of mortgages in December, its best purchase month since September. (Read More)

FHA Loan Limits Rise

House and Senate banking committee chairmen have agreed to raise the Federal Housing Administration loan limit to 125% of median house prices with a $730,000 cap as part of a FHA reform bill that is expected to be included in an economic stimulus package Congress wants to pass in a few weeks. (Read More)

Existing-Home Sales Plunge

Existing-home sales -- on a sequential basis -- slipped by 2.2% in December to 4.89 million units, but compared with the same month a year earlier plunged by 22%, according to new figures released by the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Two Vendor Management Companies Combine

Mortgage Settlement Network LLC, Pittsburgh, Pa. has acquired Mortgage Lenders Service Connection, a vendor management company headquartered in Cranberry Township, Pa. MSLC was owned by Ronald Wellman and was established in 2004. (Read More)

Post Properties Looks For Buyer

Post Properties, an Atlanta-based multifamily real estate investment trust, has reported a buyout proposal to acquire the company for $44 to $47 per share in cash. (Read More)

Downey: NPAs at $1 Bill Plus

Downey Financial, a top mortgage lender in California, said non-performing assets -- including delinquent loans and foreclosed real estate -- reached $1.04 billion at year end, or 7.77% of total assets. (Read More)

10-Year Treasury Yield Rebounds

The long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury yield moved notably higher on Thursday morning, recovering from its fall to a new 52-week low on Wednesday. (Read More)

Apartment Market Still Rising

The for-sale sector of the housing market may be in disarray, but the apartment segment is holding up fairly well. (Read More)

Colliers: Office Market Lackluster in 4Q

The national office market posted a lackluster fourth quarter as the vacancy rate rose 18 basis points to 12.5%, the first such increase since 2003, according to Colliers International, a Boston-based commercial real estate manager. (Read More)

VirPack Promotes End-to-End E-Delivery

Vienna, Va.-based VirPack, has released VirPack Vault, a hosted Web-based document management and electronic loan delivery platform designed to satisfy the needs of lenders and brokers from origination through post closing and investor delivery. (Read More)

JPMorgan MBS Classes Downgraded

Five classes of mortgage pass-through certificates from J.P. Morgan Alternative Loan Trust series 2007-A1 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

American Home MBS Classes Downgraded

Four classes from two issues of American Home Mortgage Assets Trust residential mortgage-backed certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Lehman CMBS Classes

Three classes of Lehman Brothers Inc.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2006-CCL-C2, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and removed from Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Morgan CMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of Morgan Stanley Capital I Inc. commercial mortgage-backed securities, series 2006-XLF, have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Pols Strike GSE Loan Limits Deal

House leaders have struck a deal with the White House to increase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits from $417,000 to a maximum of $730,000 during negotiations on a $150 billion economic stimulus package. (Read More)

CS Mortgage Consolidation Brings Layoffs

Credit Suisse has moved to consolidate several of its mortgage-related businesses, resulting in an untold number of layoffs, most of which were in New York. (Read More)

Dodd Pledges to Act on GSE Reform

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., has pledged to act on a GSE reform bill this year in an effort to get the White House to accept a temporary increase in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limit that is going to be inserted in the economic stimulus package. (Read More)

30-Year Rate Drops Below 5.5%

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 5.69% to 5.48% over the seven-day period ended Jan. 24, its lowest level since March 2004, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

BankUnited Takes Loss, Cuts Wholesale Ops

BankUnited Financial Corp., Coral Gables, Fla., has reported a mortgage-related net loss of $25.5 million ($0.73 per share) for the fourth quarter and announced the closure of four of its nine wholesale residential mortgage sales offices. (Read More)

Société Générale Takes 2B-Euro Mortgage Hit

The Paris-based Société Générale is taking a 2 billion euro ($2.9 billion) U.S. mortgage-related writedown and an even larger 4.9 billion euro ($7.2 billion) loss linked to fraud by a rogue trader. (Read More)

Old Republic Cites Mortgage-Linked Op Loss

Citing the difficult environment in the housing and mortgage lending industries, Old Republic International Corp., Chicago, has reported a net operating loss of $12.2 million ($0.05 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared with net operating income of $103.9 million ($0.45 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

Fannie's MBS Issuance Rose 30% in '07

Fannie Mae issued $629.5 billion in mortgage-backed securities in 2007, up 30% from the level recorded in the previous year, as the government-sponsored enterprise benefited from the meltdown in the private-label MBS market. (Read More)

Ashford, PREI Form JV for Hotel RE

Ashford Hospitality Trust and Prudential Real Estate Investors have formed a joint venture to invest in mezzanine debt and equity interests in hotel properties nationwide. (Read More)

LoanPerformance: Home Prices Up in 31 States

Home prices in 31 states showed a 12-month increase in November, while key markets such as California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona continued to experience home price depreciation, according to the latest LoanPerformance Home Price Index. (Read More)

Wachovia Names Mortgage/Retail Credit Chief

David Pope has been named president of Wachovia Mortgage and Retail Credit, according to Wachovia Corp., Charlotte, N.C. (Read More)

Anworth Prices Stock Offering

Anworth Mortgage Asset Corp., a real estate investment trust based in Santa Monica, Calif., has priced a public offering of 14.3 million shares of common stock at $8.75 per share. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades IndyMac's IDR

The long- and short-term issuer default ratings of IndyMac Bancorp Inc. and IndyMac Bank FSB have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Citi Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Thirty-eight classes of Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Citi Alt-A Classes Downgraded

Nineteen classes of CitiMortgage Alternative Loan Trust mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Chase Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Seventeen classes of Chase Mortgage Finance Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Feedback

"I was one of these college kids who saw the crazy money some of the subprime wholesale reps were making and decided to take a shot at it," says a recent posting on the Grapevine. (Read More)

New-Home Sales Dropped 26.4% in '07

The sales of new homes plummeted 26.4% in 2007, including a 4.7% decline in the month of December, according to the latest government housing report. (Read More)

Clayton Gets Immunity for Due Diligence Info

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has granted Clayton Holdings immunity in exchange for providing information on its due diligence work for Wall Street firms that securitized subprime mortgages. (Read More)

Mozilo Gives Up Rights to $37.5M

Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide Financial Corp.'s chairman and chief executive, has announced that he will voluntarily relinquish his rights to about $37.5 million in compensation in connection with the proposed merger of Countrywide and Bank of America. (Read More)

Florida Bank Creates Mortgage Banking Unit

Florida Bank Group Inc., Tampa, Fla., has created a new mortgage banking unit, Florida Bank Mortgage. (Read More)

Ellie Mae Unveils Encompass Enhancements

Ellie Mae, a Dublin, Calif.-based provider of software for the mortgage industry, has announced the release of Encompass Banker Edition 3.0 and Encompass Custom Edition 3.0. (Read More)

EMC Mortgage Names EVP

Dana Dillard has been promoted to executive vice president of the Office of the Customer at EMC Mortgage Corp., Lewisville, Texas. (Read More)

Middleburg Financial's 4Q Earnings Fall

Middleburg Financial Corp., Middleburg, Va., saw its fourth- quarter 2007 earnings drop by nearly two-thirds in a year-over-year comparison, due mostly to an impairment charge related to the company's investment in Southern Trust Mortgage LCC. (Read More)

Foreign Investors Rank NYC, DC Tops for RE

Foreign investors have identified New York City and Washington as their top two cities for real estate investments, according to the latest annual survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate. (Read More)

S&P Reviews Servicing Metrics

Standard & Poor's has launched a new biannual "servicer evaluation spotlight report" that will include aggregated servicer performance data. (Read More)

Huntington Tagged 'Bear of the Day'

Huntington Bancshares, Columbus, Ohio, has been designated the "Bear of the Day" for Jan. 28 by Zacks Equity Research, Chicago. (Read More)

Subprime MBS Hurt CU's Outlook

The rating outlook of U.S. Central Federal Credit Union has been revised from stable to negative by Fitch Ratings because of the credit union's exposure to subprime mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)

Countrywide Loses $422M; Production Dives

After predicting that it would earn money in the fourth quarter, Countrywide Financial Corp. posted a $422 million loss for the period. (Read More)

Countrywide's CP Debt = Zero

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., has completely abandoned using commercial paper borrowings to fund its operations and is relying instead on hefty advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank System, according to its fourth-quarter earnings release. (Read More)

BoA Chair: Countrywide Deal on Track

Bank of America chairman and chief executive Kenneth Lewis said the bank's planned acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp. "is a go" after Countrywide released earnings Tuesday morning. (Read More)

Stimulus Bill OKs GSE Jumbo Securitizations

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be able to securitize jumbo mortgages originated between July 1, 2007, and the end of this year under the economic stimulus package that the House of Representatives was expected to pass Tuesday afternoon. (Read More)

FHA Provisions Dropped From Stimulus Bill

House leaders have decided to leave Federal Housing Administration reform provisions out of an economic stimulus bill, but the package will include a temporary increase in the FHA loan limits, according to sources. (Read More)

RealtyTrac: Foreclosure Filings Rose 75% in '07

More than 2.2 million foreclosure filings were reported nationwide in 2007, up 75% from the level recorded in 2006, according to RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif. (Read More)

Homeownership Rate Falls to 6-Year Low

Problems in the housing market and a slowing economy have pushed the homeownership rate down to 67.8% -- the lowest rate since the first quarter of 2002. (Read More)

HPI Shows 2.1% House Price Decline

House prices declined 2.1% in November, and prices were down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller housing price index, which covers 20 metropolitan statistical areas. (Read More)

CoreLogic Points to Rising Mortgage Risk

The Core Mortgage Risk Index increased 9.0% in the first quarter, reflecting the pressures of rising delinquency and foreclosure rates, flat or declining price appreciation, and slower job growth, according to First American CoreLogic, Sacramento, Calif. (Read More)

CMBS Servicers Facing Challenges, Fitch Says

Servicers of commercial mortgage-backed securities are facing challenges in the current less-than-liquid environment, according to Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Colliers: Industrial RE Lost Steam in 4Q

U.S. industrial real estate markets "decelerated considerably" in the fourth quarter, suggesting that 2008 "might be a comparatively subdued year," according to Colliers International, a Boston-based global real estate services firm. (Read More)

Prof: 1st-Timers Still Have Mortgage Choices

First-time homebuyers with low downpayments still have choices despite the tightening mortgage market, according to Susan M. Wachter, professor of real estate and finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. (Read More)

G REIT Liquidating

The trustees of the G REIT Liquidating Trust have announced that G REIT Inc., Santa Ana, Calif., has transferred its remaining assets to the trustees in accordance with its liquidation plan. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades BankUnited

Fitch Ratings has downgraded BankUnited Financial Corp.'s long-term issuer default, senior debt, and individual ratings, and revised the company's rating outlook to negative. (Read More)

Morgan RMBS Class Downgraded

Class B-4 of Morgan Stanley's series 2005-3AR issue of residential mortgage-backed securities has been downgraded from BB to B by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Capstead Prices Stock Offering

Capstead Mortgage Corp., a Dallas-based real estate investment trust, has priced a public offering of 8 million shares of common stock at $15.50 per share. (Read More)

House Passes Stimulus With Loan Limit Hike

The House, in a 383-35 vote, has passed an economic stimulus bill that temporarily increases the loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration. (Read More)

FBI: '08 Could Be Record Year for SARs

Financial institutions filed a record 15,000 suspicious activity reports (including instances of mortgage fraud) with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the first fiscal quarter of this year. (Read More)

Fiserv Sells DataTrac

TVC Capital, a San Diego-based private equity fund focused on software acquisitions and investments, has acquired Del Mar DataTrac from Fiserv just two years after Fiserv originally acquired the product. (Read More)

Servicers Picking Up Loan-Mod Pace?

Mortgage servicers have picked up the pace of modifying subprime loans to assist borrowers who are in trouble, according to the Hope Now Alliance. (Read More)

Apps Rise as Refi Index Passes 5000

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, increased from 981.5 to 1054.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Jan. 25 as the Refinance Index exceeded 5000, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

UBS Warns of Possible Mortgage-Linked Loss

UBS has warned that it may take a net loss for the year, due in part to estimated losses on U.S. mortgage-related positions totaling $14 billion. (Read More)

Flagstar Reports MSR-Linked '07 Loss

Flagstar Bancorp, Troy, Mich., the holding company for mortgage lender Flagstar Bank, has reported a net loss of $39.2 million ($0.64 per share) for 2007 due partly to a decline in the gain on sales of mortgage servicing rights. (Read More)

RE Execs Taking Hopeful View

Most senior real estate executives believe that industry fundamentals are solid and that overseas growth will partially offset the softening of the domestic market, according to a new report by The Real Estate Roundtable and FPL Advisory Group. (Read More)

UDR Selling $1.7B Portfolio

United Dominion Realty, Denver, is selling 25,684 apartment units in 86 communities for a total of $1.7 billion to a joint venture of DRA Advisors, a New York investment adviser, and Steven D. Bell & Co, a Greensboro, N.C.-based management company. (Read More)

IndyMac Servicer Ratings Downgraded

Fitch Ratings has downgraded IndyMac Bank FSB's residential servicer ratings from RPS2-plus to RPS2 in the wake of the issuer default rating downgrades of the bank and IndyMac Bancorp, its parent company. (Read More)

Mortgage Bond Insurer Takes Huge 4Q Loss

MBIA Inc., whose credit guarantees stand behind billions of dollars in subprime mortgage bonds, posted a $2.3 billion loss in the fourth quarter, blaming the problem partly on the performance of second liens and "CDO squared" transactions. (Read More)

S&P Downgrades 3,700+ Subprime Classes

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has downgraded 3,787 classes from U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities that are collateralized by first-lien subprime mortgage loans rated between January 2006 and June 2007. (Read More)

S&P: Downgrades May Affect 'Smaller Players'

The largest global financial institutions are not likely to be significantly affected by the huge number of downgrades of subprime securities announced by Standard & Poor's Jan. 30 (see above item), but they could boost losses among "smaller players," the rating agency says. (Read More)

FGIC Latest Bond Insurer to Lose Top Rating

Fitch Ratings Agency has downgraded bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. to AA, making it the third major guarantor to lose its top rating. (Read More)

Sambol to Head BoA/Countrywide Mortgage Biz

David Sambol, currently president and chief operating officer of Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., has been chosen to lead the combined consumer mortgage business of Countrywide and Bank of America, Charlotte, N.C. (Read More)

Countrywide Subpoenaed by Florida AG

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., said Wednesday that it has been subpoenaed by the Florida attorney general's office, which is looking into its foreclosure practices, among other things. (Read More)

Kerry Proposes Subprime Refi Bonds

State and local housing finance agencies could issue $10 billion in tax-exempt bonds to help refinance subprime mortgages under an amendment that has been added to the Senate's economic stimulus bill. (Read More)

Fed Cuts Discount, Funds Rates 50bps

The Federal Open Market Committee dropped the target federal funds rate and the discount rate by 50 basis points at its regular meeting Wednesday. (Read More)

Zandi: Hope Now No Sub for Bankruptcy Relief

The Hope Now initiative might help 250,000 subprime borrowers avoid foreclosure, but another 2 million homeowners are likely to lose their homes over the next 24 months if they can't petition the bankruptcy courts for relief, according to economist Mark Zandi. (Read More)

Lenders Oppose Broker Surety Bonds

Five lender groups that are supporting quick passage of a Federal Housing Administration reform bill want the House and Senate banking committee leaders to drop a provision that would allow mortgage brokers to buy a $50,000 surety bond in lieu of meeting FHA net-worth and audit requirements. (Read More)

Rates Bounce Back

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.48% to 5.68% over the seven-day period ended Jan. 31, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

SF Construction Hits 25-Year Low in California

Construction of single-family houses fell in California last year to the lowest level in 25 years as builders in the Golden State cut back their production dramatically in response to softer sales. (Read More)

Fannie: Mudd's Pay Totals $12.2M for '07

Fannie Mae president and chief executive Daniel Mudd will receive total compensation of over $12.2 million for 2007, the vast majority of it coming from a performance bonus and incentive award, Fannie Mae has announced. (Read More)

Poll: Most Don't Know About Workout Options

A poll of late-paying mortgage borrowers finds that 57% aren't aware that their lender may be able to offer plans that would help them avoid foreclosure. (Read More)

Panelists Say Wholesale Will Be Reborn

Despite the fact that many lenders are shedding their wholesale channel, panelists at the 11th Annual SourceMedia Mortgage Technology Conference in Orlando, Fla., indicated that wholesale will make a comeback. (Read More)

Conferees: Lenders Need to Rethink Tech Use

A common theme expressed by many at the 11th Annual SourceMedia Mortgage Technology Conference was that lenders in the current down market need to use technology to reinvent the way mortgages are done. (Read More)

FNF Reports $45M 4Q Loss

Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has reported a net loss of $44.9 million ($0.21 per share) for the fourth quarter, after taking a $135.7 million charge to strengthen its reserve for loan losses. (Read More)

Ryland Adopts LIUNA Mortgage Risk Proposal

Ryland Homes has agreed to implement a substantial portion of a shareholder proposal by a LIUNA pension fund requiring better disclosure of the homebuilder's mortgage risk. (Read More)

UK Mortgage Lenders Name New Chair

The United Kingdom's Council of Mortgage Lenders, London, has named Steven Crawshaw, the group chief executive of Bradford & Bingley PLC, its chairman for 2008. (Read More)

Merrill, Bear on Zacks 'Sell Now' List

Zacks.com, Chicago, has issued a "#5 (Strong Sell)" ranking on the stock of Merrill Lynch & Co. and Bear, Stearns & Co., placing them on Zacks' list of Stocks to Sell Now. (Read More)

MuniMae Stock Being Delisted by NYSE

Municipal Mortgage & Equity, a Baltimore-based multifamily lender and investment manager, has reported that it will not be traded on the New York Stock Exchange after Feb. 6. (Read More)

Sequoia Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Seven classes of Sequoia Mortgage Funding Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Credit Suisse CMBS Classes

Six classes of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2007-TFL2, have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Merrill CMBS Class Under Review

Class M of Merrill Lynch Floating Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2006-1, has been placed on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Clarification:

Fitch Ratings has placed 188 tranches from 18 commercial real estate collateralized debt obligations, representing $8.4 billion in total, on Rating Watch Negative following a review in its surveillance methodology. Analysts at the rating agency wished to clarify that the CDOs are not technically CMBS deals, as described in a Jan. 16 item in MortgageWire, although the underlying collateral may be commercial mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)

Mortgage Jobs Declined 115K in '07

Mortgage companies cut 5,600 full-time employees from the payrolls in December to end a terrible year in which 114,600 workers -- nearly a quarter of the industry's work force -- lost their jobs. (Read More)

Beazer Shuts Down Mortgage Subsidiary

Beazer Homes USA, Atlanta, is discontinuing the origination of mortgages through its troubled Beazer Mortgage Corp subsidiary. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes $139B of Subprime RMBS

Fitch Ratings has placed 2,972 classes of 2006 and 2007 subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (totaling approximately $139 billion) on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Fitch Enhances RMBS Default Model

Meanwhile, Fitch has announced enhancements to ResiLogic, its mortgage default and loss model for U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Help Lead Rally

Mortgage industry stocks rose sharply on Thursday, helping boost a broad market rally as credit worries receded somewhat from investors' minds. (Read More)

Comptroller Issues C&D Warning

Examiners are taking a sharp look at national banks with high concentrations of construction and development loans in declining markets, according to the comptroller of the currency, who expects to see some bank failures this year. (Read More)

FDIC Chief: Writedowns More Feasible Now

Now that Congress has changed the tax laws on debt forgiveness, it is more feasible for servicers to write down the principal amount of a mortgage to help struggling borrowers, according to a federal regulator. (Read More)

Credit Unions Hit by Housing Downturn

Credit unions moved billions of additional dollars into their loan loss reserves in the fourth quarter, creating some of the biggest losses in the history of the industry, according to preliminary fourth-quarter data submitted to the National Credit Union Administration. (Read More)

Hedge Fund Raps BoA/Countrywide Deal

The acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp. by Bank of America Corp., Charlotte, N.C., has drawn opposition from SRM Global Fund, a Cayman Islands-based hedge fund that controls 5.19% of Countrywide's stock. (Read More)

Tech Priorities Changing, Says Fannie CIO

Rahul Merchant, Fannie Mae's chief information officer, told attendees at the 11th Annual SourceMedia Mortgage Technology Conference in Orlando, Fla., that a variety of market factors will prompt lenders to look closer at certain types of technology. (Read More)

Cooley Touts Buying Opportunities

While many see the shrinking lender and vendor market as a bad sign, Scott Cooley, president of Cooley Consulting, told the 11th annual SourceMedia Mortgage Technology Conference that industry consolidation presents great opportunities for buyers with a long-term view to enter the market. (Read More)

Franklin Reports Housing-Linked '07 Loss

Franklin Bank Corp., Houston, has reported a net loss of $45.2 million ($1.85 per share) for 2007, compared with earnings of $15.5 million ($0.65 per share) in 2006, as a result of a housing-related goodwill impairment and increase in loan loss allowance. (Read More)

Florida Bank Hammered by CRE Portfolio

BankAtlantic Bancorp, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., has reported a net loss of $9.9 million in the fourth quarter after taking what it called "substantial" impairment charges on its commercial real estate portfolio. (Read More)

December Worst Month of '07 for Defaults

Despite continued strength in new insurance written and continued growth in primary insurance in force, December was the worst month of the year in terms of the cure/default ratio and the number of defaults, according to data from the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America. (Read More)

Bank Forms Construction Loan Unit

Friendly Hills Bank, a community bank based in Whittier, Calif., has announced the establishment of a full-service construction loan department. (Read More)

KeyBank RE Names Agency Lending Chief

David Shillington has been named senior vice president and director of agency lending at KeyBank Real Estate Capital, Cleveland. (Read More)

Freddie Sets Earnings Release Date

Freddie Mac has announced that the company will release its fourth quarter and full-year 2007 financial results before the New York Stock Exchange opens on Feb. 28. (Read More)

InterBay Unveils Spanish Marketing Initiatives

InterBay Funding LLC, a small-balance commercial lender based in Fort Washington, Pa., has announced several Spanish-language marketing initiatives. (Read More)

Horton, Block Become 'Dividend Achievers'

Despite the turmoil in the housing market, homebuilder D.R. Horton and Option One Mortgage's parent company, H&R Block, have been added to Mergent Inc.'s Dividend Achievers indices, though Freddie Mac has been removed. (Read More)

Digital Realty Prices Preferred Stock

Digital Realty Trust Inc., San Francisco, has priced a public offering of 12 million shares of series D cumulative convertible preferred stock at $24.25 per share. (Read More)

Feedback

Replies to our latest survey question are running strongly in favor of requiring brokers to disclose up front (in writing) the amount of their fees. (Read More)

Citi to Sell or Close FCS

Citigroup, decimated by billions of dollars in writedowns on subprime assets, has decided to sell or close its warehouse lending division, First Collateral Services of Concord, Calif., MortgageWire has learned. (Read More)

PHA Accuses Jackson of Retaliatory Action

The Philadelphia Housing Authority, in a recent lawsuit, has accused Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson of taking retaliatory action against the agency because it would not transfer, at a steep discount, a $2 million piece of public property to a friend of the secretary. (Read More)

FHA Premiums May Rise

The Federal Housing Administration will have to increase its standard mortgage insurance premiums, according to the President's 2009 fiscal year budget, unless Congress passes FHA reforms that allow the agency to charge risk-based premiums. (Read More)

FBR: Subprime Defaults Accelerating

Defaults on securitized subprime mortgage loans are accelerating and hit a new high of 21.3% in November, up 188 basis points from the level of the previous month, according to a report by Friedman Billings Ramsey Investment Management. (Read More)

Subprime RMBS SF CDO Assumptions Revised

Moody's Investors Service has revised its expected loss assumptions for structured finance collateralized debt obligations holding 2006 vintage subprime residential mortgage-backed securities due to expectations that the performance of the latter asset class will continue to deteriorate. (Read More)

S&P Downgrades FGIC, Eyes MBIA, XL Cap

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered its financial strength and issuer credit ratings on Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. from AAA to AA and placed various ratings on MBIA Insurance Corp., XL Capital Assurance Inc., and their related entities on CreditWatch with negative implications. (Read More)

Fannie: HomeStay Volumes Rising

Fannie Mae has helped 68,000 subprime borrowers refinance through its HomeStay loan purchase program that was launched in April, and loan volumes are increasing every month, according to a Fannie Mae executive. (Read More)

Former CA Treasurer Joins CCRA

Former California state treasurer Phil Angelides has joined Canyon Capital Realty Advisors, Los Angeles, as a principal of the firm and as chairman of a new fund that has ties to community development executive and former professional basketball player Earvin "Magic" Johnson. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Greenwich CMBS Class

Class L of Greenwich Capital Commercial Funding Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 2006-FL4 has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Few Banks See 'Hope Now' Impact as 'Very Significant'

Over 70% of commercial banks expect the performance of their single-family loan portfolios will deteriorate in 2008, but most don't expect the streamlined loan modification plan endorsed by the Hope Now Alliance will have a significant impact on their loan mitigation efforts. (Read More)

MBA: Overall Commercial/MF Originations Decline

Capital markets disruptions contributed to a 16% year-to-year drop in commercial and multifamily originations during the fourth quarter but fundamentals in the market remain strong, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)

GSE's MF Originations Reach Record High

Freddie Mac purchased a record $44.7 billion in new multifamily business in 2007. (Read More)

COFI Falls 19 Basis Points

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index for December is 4.072%, a 10 basis points decline from November's 4.172%. (Read More)

Fair Isaac Allies with Indian Credit Bureau

Fair Isaac Corp., Minneapolis, has allied with High Mark Credit Information Services of India, Mumbai, to introduce the former's global FICO credit risk scoring technology to Indian lenders. (Read More)

ResCap Is Drag on GMAC Results

GMAC Financial Services posted a fourth quarter loss of $724 million, blaming its weak results on fallout from the "continued disruption in the mortgage, housing and capital markets." (Read More)

FASB Rejects MBA Modification Request

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has rejected a request by the Mortgage Bankers Association for relief from having to treat all loan modifications as troubled debt restructurings. (Read More)

S&P Revises CDO Assumptions

Standard & Poor's has revised the correlation and recovery assumptions it uses to rate certain new collateralized debt obligations and to perform surveillance on CDO transactions backed by residential mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)

CRE Hurt by Poor Single-Family Market

The outlook for commercial real estate will be impacted by the performance of single-family housing, which is the largest drag on economic growth, according to Douglas Duncan, the Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist. (Read More)

CBL To Write Down Securities

CBL & Associates Properties Inc., Chattanooga, Tenn., is revising its 2007 funds from operations guidance to a range of $3.09 to $3.11 per share as a result of an $18.5 million non-cash write down of marketable real estate securities related to a significant decline in fair value during the fourth quarter 2007. (Read More)

Olivant Pulls Out of Northern Rock Pursuit

Investment group Olivant, London, has dropped plans for a proposal related to the liquidity-strapped United Kingdom lender Northern Rock, Newcastle upon Tyne, apparently leaving investors led by the Virgin Group, London, as the most likely to end up partnering with the company. (Read More)

Akin Adds CEO Title at Dynex

Thomas B. Akin, the chairman of Dynex Capital Inc., Glen Allen, Va., has added the chief executive title for the company, effective immediately. (Read More)

Distressed RE Workout Firm Hires COO

Mortgage Assistance Center Corp., Dallas, has hired Dennis D. Downey as executive vice president and chief operating officer. (Read More)

Few Banks See 'Hope Now' Impact as 'Very Significant'

Over 70% of commercial banks expect the performance of their single-family loan portfolios will deteriorate in 2008, but most don't expect the streamlined loan modification plan endorsed by the Hope Now Alliance will have a significant impact on their loan mitigation efforts. (Read More)

MBA: Overall Commercial/MF Originations Decline

Capital markets disruptions contributed to a 16% year-to-year drop in commercial and multifamily originations during the fourth quarter but fundamentals in the market remain strong, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)

GSE's MF Originations Reach Record High

Freddie Mac purchased a record $44.7 billion in new multifamily business in 2007. (Read More)

Fannie Says Long-term Commercial Fundamentals Good

Fannie Mae also reported record levels of activity for 2006. (Read More)

COFI Falls 19 Basis Points

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index for December is 4.072%, a 10 basis points decline from November's 4.172%. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades $260MM of Second-lien Tranches

Fitch Ratings, New York, has downgraded six classes totaling $51.4 million of UBS Mortgage Securitization Inc., Series 2005-1, while separately downgrading $109.1 million from two classes on ACE Securities Corp., ACE 2006-SL2. (Read More)

Fannie Prices Benchmark Notes Offerings

Fannie Mae has priced a new issue of 2.50% two-year Benchmark Notes maturing April 9, 2010 and a new issue of 3.25% five-year Benchmark Notes maturing April 9, 2013, each $3 billion in size. (Read More)

Fair Isaac Allies with Indian Credit Bureau

Fair Isaac Corp., Minneapolis, has allied with High Mark Credit Information Services of India, Mumbai, to introduce the former's global FICO credit risk scoring technology to Indian lenders. (Read More)

Sell-Off Drags Down Mortgage Stocks

On a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 370 points, or 2.93%, mortgage-related stocks were among the hard hit sectors. (Read More)

Rating Agencies Seek Comments

Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's have separately released requests for comment on their respective rating processes in response to the unexpectedly high loss rates on subprime residential mortgage-backed securities, with the former considering, among other things, a new ratings scale for structured product. (Read More)

S&P Warns of "Ripple Effects"

Standard & Poor's, New York, has warned that mortgage-related downgrades of bond insurers could have ripple effects that disrupt new areas of the market and possibly cause problems for some banks. (Read More)

Expert: Lenders Have Refi Concerns

Federal Reserve rate cuts have prompted a surge in refinancing applications but many mortgage lenders are waiting to see the appraisal reports in two or three weeks before counting their chickens. (Read More)

HUD Completes GSE Review

The Department of Housing and Urban Development completed a regulatory review of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's activities last year and it will be informing the GSEs of its findings in separate letters before the end of March. (Read More)

Sell-Off Drags Down Mortgage Stocks

On a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 370 points, or 2.93%, mortgage-related stocks were among the hard hit sectors. (Read More)

Thornburg Mortgage Credit Strong in Fourth Quarter

Although Single-family residential mortgage lender Thornburg Mortgage Inc. reported net income before preferred stock dividends of $64.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, down 19% from the $80.3 million for the same period the year prior, the company¹s credit quality originated and bulk purchased loans has remained exceptional. (Read More)

MBA: Purchase Applications Increase

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association¹s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 1, 2008, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 1086.6, an increase of 3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 1054.9 one week earlier. (Read More)

Wachovia Top Commercial Servicer in 2007

Wachovia Securities, Charlotte, N.C., with $407.9 billion in U.S. master and primary servicing, heads up the list of commercial and multifamily mortgage servicers at the end of 2007, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports. (Read More)

Fitch To Update Modeling Assumptions on Subprime

RMBS Fitch plans to update certain modeling assumptions in its ongoing analysts of the financial guaranty industry, citing a "consensus movement towards a view of increased loss projections for U.S. subprime residential mortgage-backed securities" that it supports. (Read More)

Lehman Names New Unit Head

Lehman Brothers has seen a changing of the guard at the head of its global fixed income division, a market area generally hit hard by the U.S. mortgage woe-sparked credit crunch. (Read More)

Rating Agencies Seek Comments

Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's have separately released requests for comment on their respective rating processes in response to the unexpectedly high loss rates on subprime residential mortgage-backed securities, with the former considering, among other things, a new ratings scale for structured product. (Read More)

S&P Warns of "Ripple Effects"

Standard & Poor's, New York, has warned that mortgage-related downgrades of bond insurers could have ripple effects that disrupt new areas of the market and possibly cause problems for some banks. (Read More)

Expert: Lenders Have Refi Concerns

Federal Reserve rate cuts have prompted a surge in refinancing applications but many mortgage lenders are waiting to see the appraisal reports in two or three weeks before counting their chickens. (Read More)

HUD Completes GSE Review

The Department of Housing and Urban Development completed a regulatory review of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's activities last year and it will be informing the GSEs of its findings in separate letters before the end of March. (Read More)

S&P: Jumbo Securitizations Fall Just 2% in 3Q

Jumbo securitizations fell just 2% in the third quarter to $35 billion, according to a new report issued by Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Merger Talks Between Chicago and Dallas FHLBs Continue

Merger discussions between the Chicago and Dallas Federal Home Loan Banks are continuing, the Chicago bank said in disclaiming a published report that a merger agreement had been reached. (Read More)

LendingTree Writedown Hammers IAC's Q4 Results

The LendingTree posted a stunning $502 million loss in the fourth quarter, compared to a net profit of $14 million a year ago. (Read More)

OMB To Complete Review of HUD RESPA Rule

The Office of Management and Budget is expected to complete its review of HUD's RESPA Rule in a "few days" so it can be issued for public comment by the end of February, according to a Housing and Urban Development official. (Read More)

Freddie Releases Spanish Language Version of Foreclosure Scam Video

In an effort to warn more delinquent borrowers about a widespread form of foreclosure fraud, Freddie Mac has re-edited the custom-made video it posted to YouTube for Spanish-speaking homeowners. (Read More)

NAMB Rolls Out Three New Online Training Programs

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers has rolled out a trio of six-hour online professional training programs designed to help its members earn their Lending Integrity Seal of Approval. (Read More)

Aid Group Sees Nearly 900,000 Repayment Plans and Loan Mods

HOPE NOW, an alliance created by mortgage lenders to aid troubled borrowers, says that approximately 869,000 mortgage borrowers were helped in the second half of 2007, an increase from the group's earlier estimate. (Read More)

Dodd Wants GSEs to Buy Subprime Paper

Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use a 30% capital surplus to buy subprime loans and restructure the loans to prevent foreclosures, but the GSE regulator indicated he is reluctant to lower the capital requirement. (Read More)

State Bank Supervisors: 70% of Troubled Borrowers Don't Get Help

A report from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors claims that seven out of ten seriously delinquent home mortgage borrowers "are not on track for any loss mitigation option." (Read More)

DB: Net Income Falls, But No Writedowns

Deutsche Bank's net income before taxes in the fourth quarter fell 25% year-to-year but its results were viewed relatively favorably as it managed to avoid the mortgage-related net writedowns during the period. (Read More)

Bond Insurer Decreases Net Loss

Bond insurer MBIA Inc., Armonk, N.Y., said it would be decreasing its net loss for the year and fourth quarter by $6.5 million due to changes that include a mortgage-related move. (Read More)

Primary Mortgage Market Survey Says Rates Flat

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.67% with an average 0.4 point for the week ending February 7, 2008, down slightly from last week when it averaged 5.68%. (Read More)

NAR Anxious to See Stimulus Plan Enacted

Home sales will remain flat until Congress passes the economic stimulus bill that allows Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase jumbo mortgages, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

OMB To Complete Review of HUD RESPA Rule

The Office of Management and Budget is expected to complete its review of HUD's RESPA Rule in a "few days" so it can be issued for public comment by the end of February, according to a Housing and Urban Development official. (Read More)

Two Illinois Lenders Come Together

Draper and Kramer Mortgage Corp., Chicago, and 1st Advantage Mortgage LLC, headquartered in the suburb of Lombard, Ill., have combined operations. (Read More)

Freddie Releases Spanish Language Version of Foreclosure Scam Video

In an effort to warn more delinquent borrowers about a widespread form of foreclosure fraud, Freddie Mac has re-edited the custom-made video it posted to YouTube for Spanish-speaking homeowners. (Read More)

NAMB Rolls Out Three New Online Training Programs

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers has rolled out a trio of six-hour online professional training programs designed to help its members earn their Lending Integrity Seal of Approval. (Read More)

Freddie to Enter Commercial Space

Freddie Mac is looking to be a player in the commercial-mortgage securitization niche by pooling together multifamily loans and securitizing them through a dealer. (Read More)

Congress Passes Stimulus Bill

Congress has passed the economic stimulus bill that temporarily raises the loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration in high-cost areas to provide needed liquidity in the jumbo mortgage market. (Read More)

Freddie to Enter Commercial Space

Freddie Mac is looking to be a player in the commercial mortgage securitization niche by pooling together multifamily loans and securitizing them through a dealer. (Read More)

Cash-Out Refi Share Falls in 4Q

In the fourth quarter of 2007, 81% of Freddie Mac-owned loans that were refinanced resulted in new mortgages with loan amounts that were at least 5% higher than the original mortgage balances, according to Freddie Mac's quarterly refinance review. (Read More)

Omni Financial Services Delays Earnings Release

Omni Financial Services Inc., Atlanta, said it will delay releasing its Dec. 31, 2007 financial results, because during the fourth quarter, the company detected lending policy violations and internal control deficiencies and promptly commenced a comprehensive internal review of its underwriting, management, compliance and internal control procedures. (Read More)

The Bank of England Lowers Base Rate

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee has lowered the base rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%. (Read More)

John Mechem Named Senior Director of Public Affairs

The Mortgage Bankers Association has promoted John Mechem to senior director of public affairs. (Read More)

NMHC: Positive Impact on Multifamily Industry

The downturn in the housing market and tighter availability of credit is having a positive impact on the multifamily industry, according to the National Multi Housing Council's first-quarter survey of executives. (Read More)

FHA: 15 CA Counties Qualify for Max Loan

Only 15 counties in California will qualify for the maximum $729,750 loan limit under the economic stimulus bill that temporarily increases loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration, according to an FHA official. (Read More)

ACORN, Countrywide Reach Deal on Retention

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., and a consumer advocacy group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, have reached a deal to help delinquent subprime borrowers retain their homes and avoid foreclosure. (Read More)

Fitch: MIs Face Continuing Problems

Mortgage insurance companies will be affected "negatively in the years ahead" by continued weakness in the mortgage markets, especially with the poor performance of loans to subprime and alternative-A borrowers, according to a commentary from Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

ACA Financial Plans ABS/CDO Sales

ACA Financial Guaranty Corp., a subsidiary of ACA Capital Holdings, has announced the signing of a letter of intent with FSI Capital to sell ACA's U.S. asset-backed securities and corporate credit CDO asset management business. (Read More)

AllRegs Joins Forces With Law Firm

AllRegs, an information provider for the mortgage lending industry, has announced that its Ask the Expert--Legal Content Support Services will be offered through Smith Dollar PC, a mortgage banking law firm based in Santa Rosa, Calif. (Read More)

KBW Names Associate Research Chief

Frederick Cannon, an equity researcher in the mortgage sector, has been promoted to the newly created positions of associate director of research and chief equity strategist of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes MBIA-Guaranteed RMBS

Eighty-seven classes of residential mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by MBIA have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

First Franklin B&C Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Eight classes of First Franklin 2006-FFA mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Irwin HEL Pass-Thru Downgraded

Class 2B-1 of Irwin Home Equity Loan Trust mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2005-B group 2, has been downgraded from BB-plus to BB by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Top 6 Servicers Agree to Foreclosure Freeze

Six of the nation's largest servicers -- which control nearly 60% of the $9 trillion residential receivables market -- have agreed to participate in a new Bush administration plan to freeze foreclosures for at least 30 days. (Read More)

NAHB Reports Increased Traffic

Builders in many parts of the country are seeing increased traffic, according to a monthly survey by the National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)

Homebuilders Worried About Foreclosures

Lenders and community activists aren't the only ones worried about an avalanche of foreclosures -- so are the nation's homebuilders, who fear that an abnormal jump in repossessions could force even further price cuts and delay the housing recovery. (Read More)

IndyMac Posts $500M+ 4Q Loss

IndyMac Bancorp Inc., Pasadena, Calif., has reported a net loss of $509.1 million ($6.43 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared with net earnings of $72.2 million ($0.97 per share) one year earlier. (Read More)

Mortgage-Linked Hits Hurt Credit Suisse

A couple of billion dollars in largely mortgage-related writedowns during the fourth quarter contributed to a year-to-year decline in quarterly profit at Credit Suisse, Zurich, but the Wall Street firm's corporate parent is doing well relative to its peers. (Read More)

Guarantor Reports HE-Related 4Q Loss

Financial guarantor Assured Guaranty, Hamilton, Bermuda, has reported a net loss of $260 million for the fourth quarter, citing a derivatives loss of about $297.5 million and a previously reported home equity-related decline in operating income. (Read More)

MF REIT Being Sold

GMH Communities Trust, a Newtown Square, Pa.-based real estate investment trust, is being sold in two parts to two different investors for a total payout of about $9.61 per GMH share. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes AIG Ratings

The issuer default rating, holding company ratings, and subsidiary debt ratings of American International Group Inc. have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings, partly as a result of what it calls AIG's "relatively large exposure" to turmoil in the U.S. mortgage market. (Read More)

AIG: Unrealized Losses Not 'Material'

Meanwhile, American International Group issued a statement Feb. 12 declaring its belief that unrealized mark-to-market losses on the AIG Financial Products Corp. super-senior credit default swap portfolio are not "indicative" of losses AIGFP may realize. (Read More)

Index: Seniors' Home Values Fell in 3Q

In what could be seen as bad news for the reverse mortgage market, seniors lost a cumulative $25 billion in home equity in the third quarter, according to the Reverse Mortgage Market Index, which declined overall to 203.5 from 204.8. (Read More)

S&P Downgrades 67 CDO Tranches

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered its ratings on 67 tranches (totaling $7.65 billion) from 10 U.S. cash flow and hybrid collateralized debt obligation transactions. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades FirstAm Ratings

The issuer default rating, senior unsecured debt rating, and certain other ratings of The First American Corp. have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, which cited in part the results of the company's title insurance business. (Read More)

S&P to Add REIT to SmallCap Index

Standard & Poor's has announced that Home Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Rochester, N.Y., will replace Kellwood Co. in S&P's SmallCap 600 Index. (Read More)

NAHB Freezes All PAC Contributions

The National Association of Home Builders has frozen all political contributions out of frustration with what it deems feeble efforts by the Bush administration and Congress to stabilize the housing market and stimulate homebuying. (Read More)

Morgan Curtails U.S. Mortgage Ops, Shuts UK

Morgan Stanley has announced that it will scale back its residential mortgage operations in the United States and shut down Advantage Home Loans, its U.K.-based residential mortgage lending business. (Read More)

Builders 'Shell-Shocked' From Cancellations?

Homebuilders are working through a second wave of sales cancellations, according to an industry management consultant who says most builders are "shell-shocked" and entering the year with no backlog of sales. (Read More)

HUD: OK Risk Premiums, or Dole Out $1.4B

Congress will have to appropriate $1.4 billion to keep the Federal Housing Administration operating after Sept. 30 if House and Senate conferees don't agree to allow the FHA to implement risk-based premiums and stop downpayment assistance on FHA loans, according to Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson. (Read More)

FHA Sees Endorsement Hike of 150K Loans

The temporary loan limits contained in the recently passed economic stimulus bill should increase FHA mortgage endorsements by 154,000 loans this year, according to HUD estimates. (Read More)

BoA, WaMu Directors Face Election Threat

Certain directors of Bank of America and Washington Mutual may face an election challenge if they do not provide a satisfactory explanation of what they did "to protect shareholders from excessive mortgage-related risk" in the past two years, according to CtW Investment Group. (Read More)

Detroit Records Highest MSA Foreclosure Rate

RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif., has reported that the three highest foreclosure rates among the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas last year were recorded in Detroit; Stockton, Calif.; and Las Vegas. (Read More)

Zillow: Home Values Off 3.5% in 4Q

Home values continued to decline in the fourth quarter, falling 3.5% on a quarterly basis and 3.0% on a year-over-year basis, according to Zillow.com, an online real estate community based in Seattle. (Read More)

Apps Decline

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 1086.6 to 1063.5 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Feb. 8, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

UBS Names Morgan Exec to Head Unit

UBS AG, the corporate parent of Wall Street firm UBS, has named a Morgan Stanley executive to head an investment banking unit that has been wrestling with U.S. mortgage-related writedowns. (Read More)

Clayton Names EVP of Ops

Conrad Vasquez has been named executive vice president of operations at Clayton Holdings Inc., a Shelton, Conn.-based information and analytics company serving the debt markets. (Read More)

TSFG Names CRE Director

Andy Morris has been named executive vice president and commercial real estate director at The South Financial Group Inc., Greenville, S.C. (Read More)

1st Horizon Servicer Ratings Downgraded

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the servicer quality rating of First Horizon Home Loans as a primary servicer of prime loans from SQ2-plus to SQ2 and removed it from review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

1st Tenn Servicer Ratings Downgraded

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the servicer quality rating of First Tennessee Bank NA as a primary servicer of second-lien loans from SQ2-plus to SQ2 and removed it from review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

Ambac-Linked RMBS Classes Downgraded

Forty-six classes of residential mortgage-backed securities supported by a financial guaranty policy provided by Ambac have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

SACO Subprime Classes Downgraded

Sixty-two classes from 11 subprime issues of SACO mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Merrill B&C Classes

Twenty-five classes from six subprime issues of Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

1st Union/BoA CMBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes from First Union National Bank -- Bank of America commercial mortgage trust pass-through certificates, series 2001-C1, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Syron: Constraints Won't Deter Jumbo Program

Freddie Mac will start buying jumbo mortgages in bulk, according to the company's chief executive, and he said he will not let capital constraints get in the way of launching an effective jumbo program. (Read More)

Freddie Changes MI Eligibility Requirements

Freddie Mac has announced a temporary change in its eligibility requirements for private mortgage insurers, citing the need to allow mortgage insurers to retain more insurance premiums to pay claims and rebuild their capital base during the current market correction. (Read More)

UBS Takes $11B Loss in 4Q

UBS took a net loss equal to about $11.28 billion for the fourth quarter due to almost $14 billion of residential mortgage-related writedowns that largely matched an earlier earnings estimate by the company. (Read More)

MGIC Reports $1.47B 4Q Loss

MGIC Investment Corp., Milwaukee, has reported a loss of $1.47 billion ($18.17 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $121.5 million ($1.47 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

Triad Cites $75M Loss in 4Q

Triad Guaranty Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., has reported a net loss of $75.0 million ($5.05 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $8.1 million ($0.54 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

Index: Home Prices Down in Most ZIP Codes

Home prices in three quarters of the ZIP codes tracked by the LoanPerformance Home Price Index showed a three-month decline in December, according to The First American Corp. (Read More)

NAR: 4Q Prices Down in Over Half MSAs

Median house prices in over half the covered metropolitan statistical areas were lower in the fourth quarter than they were a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.67% to 5.72% over the seven-day period ended Feb. 14, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Firm Says Global CRE Sales Topped $1T in '07

Worldwide acquisitions of commercial property surpassed the $1 trillion mark in 2007, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York-based research firm focusing on capital markets for commercial real estate. (Read More)

Name of FNIS Spinoff Announced

The lender processing division of Fidelity National Information Services Inc., which the company plans to spin off in midyear, will be named Lender Processing Services Inc., the Jacksonville, Fla.-based FNIS has announced. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades C-BASS Subprime Classes

Nearly 100 classes -- totaling $2.1 billion -- from nine subprime issues of C-BASS Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

CSFB Subprime Classes Downgraded

Forty-two classes totaling $785 million from seven subprime issues of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

First Franklin MBS Classes Downgraded

Thirty-five certificates from seven deals issued by First Franklin Mortgage Loan Trust have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and nine certificates have been placed on review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

Ace Subprime Classes Downgraded

Twenty-six classes totaling $1.2 billion from two subprime issues of Ace pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fieldstone Subprime Classes Downgraded

Eighteen tranches from four deals issued by Fieldstone Mortgage Investment Trust in 2004 and 2005 have been downgraded and placed under review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Aames B&C Classes Downgraded

Two classes of subprime certificates issued by Aames Mortgage Trust have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and nine classes have been placed on review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

Countrywide's Foreclosures Rise 92%

Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest servicer (with a market share of almost 17%), says its foreclosure rate almost doubled in January from that of a year earlier, according to new figures released Friday. (Read More)

Spitzer Sets Deadline for Bond Insurers

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has set a three- to five-day deadline for bond insurers hurt by certain mortgage securities exposures to bolster their flagging ratings, according to the Wall Street Journal. (Read More)

2nd Stimulus Includes Housing Provisions

Senate Democrats have crafted a second stimulus bill that includes bankruptcy changes lenders will oppose and a net operating loss carry-back supported by homebuilders. (Read More)

NAR Backs Expansion of FHA Secure

The National Association of Realtors supports an expansion of the FHA Secure program to help seriously delinquent subprime borrowers refinance into Federal Housing Administration loans, provided lenders/servicers write down the principal amount of the mortgages to compensate the FHA for the risk. (Read More)

Radian Reports $618M 4Q Loss

Radian Group Inc., Philadelphia, has reported a net loss of $618 million ($7.74 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $158.4 million ($1.96 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Hundreds More B&C Classes

More than 750 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades FGIC

The insurance financial strength ratings of FGIC Corp.'s operating subsidiaries -- including Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. and FGIC UK Ltd. -- have been downgraded from Aaa to A3 by Moody's Investors Service, partly as a result of mortgage market exposure. (Read More)

Subprime Suits Outpacing S&L Crisis Litigation

The number of subprime-related cases filed in federal courts is "dramatically outpacing" the litigation filed during the savings-and-loan crisis of the early 1990s, according to Navigant Consulting Inc., Chicago. (Read More)

Data Warehouse Forms Wholesale Unit

Data Warehouse Corp., a Boca Raton, Fla.-based provider of marketing information to the mortgage and financial industries, has announced the formation of a wholesale division. (Read More)

Guidelines Updated for Higher-Balance Deals

Higher-balance loans now temporarily eligible for Federal Housing Administration and government-sponsored enterprise programs are slated to be securitized outside the "to-be-announced" market under updated Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association guidelines. (Read More)

Terwin 2nd-Lien Classes Downgraded

Nineteen classes from five subprime second-lien issues of Terwin Mortgage Trust mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Soundview 2nd-Lien Classes Downgraded

Eleven classes from three subprime second-lien issues of Soundview Home Loan Trust mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

JPMorgan CMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes from J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 2001-CIBC1 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

BALL CMBS Class Downgraded

Class K of Banc of America Large Loans Inc. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 2004-BBA4 has been downgraded from BB-plus to B by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Freddie Prices Reference REMIC

Freddie Mac has priced Reference REMIC R015, a $400 million issue of real estate mortgage investment conduit securities. (Read More)

REIT Announces $60M Private Placement

New York Mortgage Trust Inc., New York, has announced a private placement of 15 million shares of its common stock with new and existing institutional investors at a price of $4 per share. (Read More)

Feedback

Where is the best place to work as a loan officer these days? (Read More)

FBR Issues California Home Price Warning

Home prices in California are falling faster than in the last housing downturn (1990-1993) and faster than home price reports indicate, according to a Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. report. (Read More)

All Hope Now Members Adopt 'Lifeline'

All the members of the Hope Now alliance have adopted the "Project Lifeline" approach focused on helping prime and subprime borrowers who are 90-days past due avoid foreclosure, according to the Treasury Department. (Read More)

10-Year Yield Trending Higher?

The yield of the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond Tuesday morning suggested that long-term rates may be trending higher. (Read More)

MBIA Chair/CEO Resigns

Gary C. Dunton, chairman and chief executive officer of MBIA Inc., a bond insurer that has been wrestling with mortgage-related woes, has resigned and been replaced by former executive chairman Joseph "Jay" Brown. (Read More)

FHLBanks: Advances Rose 20%-50% in '07

Federal Home Loan Banks are reporting that their advance business grew by 20%-50% in 2007, but member borrowing eased off in the fourth quarter. (Read More)

UK Plans Temporary Control of Northern Rock

United Kingdom government officials have made plans to take temporary control of Northern Rock, a credit crunch victim that has borrowed public funds. (Read More)

Mismarkings Spur CS Asset Reductions

Mismarkings and pricing errors by "a small number of traders" at Credit Suisse, Zurich, have led to increases in the fair-value reductions of "certain asset-backed positions" in the company's structured credit business within investment banking. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 200 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Feb. 15 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Moody's: CRE Prices Fell in December

Commercial real estate prices were down 1.5% in December, compared with a decline of 0.2% in November, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

BankAnnapolis Names Mortgage Sales Chief

Joe McNally, a veteran mortgage industry executive, has joined BankAnnapolis, Annapolis, Md., as vice president and mortgage sales manager. (Read More)

iStar Outlook Revised to Negative

Fitch Ratings has revised the rating outlook to negative for iStar Financial Inc., which provides structured financing and corporate leasing of commercial real estate, while affirming the company's triple-B Issuer Default Rating. (Read More)

S&P Buys MacroMarkets' Stake in HPI

Standard & Poor's has announced the acquisition of all rights previously owned by MacroMarkets LLC in the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. (Read More)

Urstadt Biddle Closes Credit Facility

Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., Greenwich, Conn., has closed a $50 million, three-year, unsecured revolving credit agreement with The Bank of New York Mellon and Wells Fargo NA. (Read More)

Oxford Hedge Fund to Buy 1st Mortgage Pool

Oxford Funding Corp., Houston, has announced an agreement by its hedge fund to purchase its first pool of mortgages. (Read More)

Housing Starts Fall

Single-family housing starts fell 5.2% in January as builders continued to retrench, and construction activity has plummeted 38.5% over the past 10 months. (Read More)

OTS Mulls 'Underwater' Refis

To deal with so-called underwater mortgages, the Office of Thrift Supervision wants to develop a refinancing program that provides lender/servicers with certificates for writing down the principal amount of a mortgage to enable them to possibly recoup "some or all" of the immediate loss when the property is sold or refinanced again. (Read More)

Treasury Eyeing Jumbo Securitizations

Treasury Department officials are looking at ways to securitize higher-balance Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages authorized by the economic stimulus bill so they will have a bigger impact on jumbo mortgage rates. (Read More)

Maryland Probing Ocwen's Servicing Practices

The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation is examining the servicing practices of Ocwen Loan Servicing, West Palm Beach, Fla., one of the largest subprime servicers in the United States. (Read More)

Applications Drop

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 1063.5 to 822.8 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Feb. 15, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

Thrifts Report $5.2B Loss in 4Q

Federally chartered thrift institutions reported a $5.2 billion loss in the fourth quarter, the biggest loss since 1988, due to $5.1 billion in loan loss provisions and $2.2 billion in loan chargeoffs, according to the Office of Thrift Supervision. (Read More)

Barclays Takes $3B+ Mortgage-Related Hit

Barclays PLC, London, has reported the equivalent of a $3.18 billion mortgage-related writedown and profit to shareholders equal to about $8.58 billion for 2007, the latter down from about $8.87 billion the previous year. (Read More)

Stewart Reports First Annual Loss Since '74

Stewart Information Systems Corp., Houston, has reported a loss of $31.3 million ($1.74 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared with net earnings of $10.7 million ($0.59 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

FBR Loses $27.8M in 4Q

Investment banker FBR Capital Markets Corp., which recently threw its subprime division into bankruptcy, lost $27.8 million in the fourth quarter. (Read More)

Canadian Bank Faces Mortgage-Linked Charge

BMO Financial Group, the Toronto-based corporate parent of the Bank of Montreal, says it will be taking the equivalent of about a $481 million mortgage- and bond insurance-related charge in the fiscal first quarter. (Read More)

Companies Form National REO Platform

National Real Estate Information Services, a privately held vendor management company based in Pittsburgh, has announced the formation with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services of a comprehensive platform for managing and selling real estate owned. (Read More)

Walter Restructures Homebuilding Biz

Walter Industries Inc., Tampa, Fla., has announced a major restructuring of JWH Holding Co., the company's financing and homebuilding business. (Read More)

1st Florida Unveils New CashToolBox Program

First Florida Financial Group LLC, Fort Myers, Fla., has launched a program under CashToolBox.com aimed at helping builders and Realtors sell more properties by enabling borrowers to get a mortgage approval through the use of equity in their owned properties, or a relative's. (Read More)

ARM Borrowers Switching to Fixed-Rate Refis

Nine out of 10 adjustable-rate mortgage borrowers chose fixed-rate loans when they refinanced in the fourth quarter, according to Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Accredited's Chair/CEO Resigns

James A. Konrath has retired as chairman and chief executive officer of San Diego-based Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. and its subsidiary, Accredited Mortgage Loan REIT Trust. (Read More)

CBRE Becomes Fannie DUS Lender

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate services company and lender, has become a Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing lender and will be doing this multifamily lending through its capital markets platform. (Read More)

Foreign Buyers Seen Shoring Up CRE Markets

Foreign buyers are likely to replace U.S. investors sidelined by the credit crunch in acquiring commercial assets, especially in so-called gateway markets such as New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other coastal markets, according to Ernst & Young. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

Seventy-four additional classes of first-lien subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Feb. 19 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes RAMP MBS Tranches

Thirty-seven tranches from six mortgage-backed securities deals issued by RAMP in 2005 and 2006 have been placed under review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Flagstar Suspends Dividends

Flagstar Bancorp Inc., a residential mortgage lender based in Troy, Mich., has announced a suspension of dividend payments for the first quarter. (Read More)

New Loan Limits Coming by March 7?

The Department of Housing and Urban Development expects to issue the new loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Federal Housing Administration loans by March 7, sources have told MortgageWire. (Read More)

Conference Board: Housing Crunch Nearly Over

Despite continuing turmoil in the housing and financial markets, a U.S. recession is not imminent, partly because the housing downturn is "nearly over," according to The Conference Board. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Jump

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.72% to 6.04% over the seven-day period ended Feb. 21, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Groups Ask BoA for Foreclosure Moratorium

Citing allegedly shoddy lending practices by Countrywide Financial Corp., 91 California community groups have asked Bank of America, which is acquiring Countrywide, to declare a moratorium on foreclosures. (Read More)

NAHB: California Lowest on 'Affordability' List

Eight of the nation's 10 least affordable metropolitan areas -- and 24 of the bottom 30 -- are in California, according to the latest quarterly opportunity index compiled by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo. (Read More)

FBR Loses $270M in 4Q

Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group lost $270 million in the fourth quarter and is blaming its performance partly on the bankruptcy of its subprime division, First NLC Financial Services of Florida. (Read More)

LandAmerica Reports 4Q Loss

LandAmerica Financial Corp., Richmond, Va., has reported a net loss of $45.9 million ($3.01 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $34.3 million ($1.95 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

PMI Cites Delays in 4Q, '07 Results

The PMI Group Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif., has reported that its fourth-quarter and full-year 2007 results cannot be released because of delays in obtaining fourth-quarter financial results from FGIC Corp. (Read More)

Veros: Heartland Markets 'Moving Forward'

All but one of the country's strongest single-family home markets are in the nation's heartland, according to the latest quarterly forecast from Veros Real Estate Solutions. (Read More)

ABA: Bankers Seeing Mortgage Opportunities

Community bankers are seeing opportunities in the residential mortgage market to increase their market share and maintain a strong origination business, according to a survey by the American Bankers Association. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Citizens Republic IDRs

The long- and short-term issuer default ratings of Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. and its principal subsidiaries have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, which cited increased losses and nonperforming loans in its commercial real estate loan portfolio. (Read More)

CRE Index Dips

A commercial real estate index maintained by the National Association of Realtors dipped in the fourth quarter, the second straight quarterly decline after hitting a record high last year, according to the NAR. (Read More)

Mission Auctioning NPA Portfolio

Mission Capital Advisors is taking bids on a $131.2 million portfolio of nonperforming mortgages secured by commercial and residential properties in western Florida. (Read More)

REIT CEO Named Chairman

Craig Macnab, chief executive officer of National Retail Properties Inc., Orlando, Fla., has been appointed to the additional post of chairman of the board. (Read More)

DBRS Downgrades 200+ RMBS Classes

DBRS, a Toronto-based rating agency, has downgraded 202 classes from 40 residential mortgage-backed securities transactions. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

Seventy-eight additional classes of first-lien subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Feb. 20 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Salomon CMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of Salomon Brothers Mortgage Securities VII Inc. series 2000-C2 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

PNC CMBS Class Downgraded

Class M of PNC Commercial Mortgage Acceptance Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-C1, has been downgraded from CCC/DR3 to CC/DR4 by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Lehman CMBS Classes

Classes L and M of Lehman Brothers Inc.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2006 CCL-C2, have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Industry Mobilizing Against Cloture Vote

Senate Democrats are pushing for a cloture vote Feb. 26 on a foreclosure prevention bill that would allow bankruptcy judges to restructure mortgages for distressed homeowners, and the financial services industry is mobilizing to defeat it. (Read More)

Fitch: Life Industry Strong Despite Exposure

Despite its exposure to the deteriorating subprime mortgage market, the U.S. life insurance industry is "well-positioned to withstand current market volatility," according to Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Ameriquest Founder Resigns Envoy Post

Roland Arnall, who founded both Ameriquest Mortgage and its wholesale affiliate Argent, has resigned as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands effective March 7, citing his son's health. (Read More)

PMI Names Chief Risk Officer

Arthur P. Slepian has been named executive vice president and chief enterprise risk officer of The PMI Group Inc., a mortgage insurer based in Walnut Creek, Calif. (Read More)

PMI Mortgage Names Risk Management EVP

Joanne Berkowitz has been named executive vice president for risk management and operations at PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., a subsidiary of The PMI Group Inc. (Read More)

MBS Issuance Creeps Up in '07

The issuance of U.S. mortgage-related securities managed to increase slightly in 2007 to $2.04 trillion, from $1.99 trillion in 2006, despite a sharp drop in volume in the fourth quarter, according to data from the Securities and Industry Financial Markets Association. (Read More)

REIT Prices Stock Offering

Senior Housing Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Newton, Mass., has priced a public offering of 5.6 million common shares of beneficial interest at $21.85 per share. (Read More)

More B&C Classes Downgraded by Fitch

Thirty-five additional classes of first-lien subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Feb. 21 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

GSAMP 2nd-Lien Classes Downgraded

Nine classes from four subprime, second-lien issues of GS Mortgage Securities Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

SASCO MBS Classes Downgraded

Nine classes from five issues of Structured Asset Securitization Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

GMACCM CMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes from GMAC Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc. series 1998-C2 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

LB Commercial Conduit Class Downgraded

Class F of LB Commercial Conduit Mortgage Trust II commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1996-C2, has been downgraded from BB-plus to B by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Salomon Pass-Thru

Class B-3 of Salomon Brothers Mortgage Securities VII Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-UP1, has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Feedback

"These current market conditions are uncharted waters for all of us, and it will set the men apart from the boys." (Read More)

Resales Edge Up

Sales of single-family existing homes edged up 0.5% in January -- the first rise since February of last year -- and it appears that sales are "scratching the bottom," according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

GSE Stocks Sink on Merrill Downgrade

Common shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac declined Friday after analysts at Merrill Lynch downgraded the companies from Neutral to Sell. (Read More)

McQuade Named Prez of Merrill Banks

Eugene M. McQuade, former president and chief operating officer of Freddie Mac, has been named vice chairman and president of Merrill Lynch's U.S. banks. (Read More)

Should Congress Shield Servicers From Suits?

To expedite loan modifications, Congress may need to "step in" and shield mortgage servicers from investor lawsuits, according to FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair. (Read More)

Ambac Eyeing Capital Infusion

Ambac, a New York-based bond insurer that has been wrestling with U.S. mortgage-related woes, may be getting a capital infusion from a group of banks in the wake of recent regulatory pressure on the industry. (Read More)

Law Firm Forms Default, REO Divisions

Morris/Hardwick/Schneider, an Atlanta-based real estate closing law firm, has announced the formation of two new mortgage service divisions: National Default Services and National REO. (Read More)

Study: Housing Threatens Black, Latino Security

The economic security of the African-American and Latino middle class is endangered by insufficient assets and high housing costs, according to a new study by Demos and the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University. (Read More)

NASDAQ: Franklin Stock Out of Compliance

Franklin Credit Management Corp., Jersey City, N.J., has reported the receipt of a noncompliance notice from the NASDAQ Stock Market regarding the listing of Franklin's common stock. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 200 additional classes of first-lien subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Feb. 22 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

JPMorgan CMBS Classes Downgraded

Seven classes of J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2007-FL1, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Triaxx Notes Downgraded

Four classes of mezzanine floating-rate notes from Triaxx Funding High Grade I Ltd., which invests in residential mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

LB-UBS CMBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes of LB-UBS Commercial Mortgage Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-C4, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades CSFB CMBS Class

Class H of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1998-C2, has been downgraded from B3 to Caa1 by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

CBA CMBS Class Downgraded

Class M-5 of CBA Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates series 2006-1 has been downgraded from Ba2 to B1 by Moody's Investors Service and placed on review for possible further downgrade. (Read More)

JPMorgan CMBS Class Downgraded

Class P of JP Morgan Commercial Mortgage 2003-PM1 has been downgraded from B-minus to CCC by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Cuomo Nixing Broker Appraisals?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may stop accepting appraisals ordered by mortgage brokers by Sept. 1 as part of a settlement the two secondary-market agencies are negotiating with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. (Read More)

RealtyTrac: New Foreclosures Increase

RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif., has reported that new foreclosure filings rose 8% in January and were 57% higher than the level recorded a year earlier. (Read More)

MBIA Suspends Structured Finance Biz

MBIA, one of the bond insurers wrestling with exposure to troubled mortgage transactions, has made several moves designed to improve its finances, including suspending all structured finance business for six months and eliminating its quarterly dividend. (Read More)

S&P Takes Actions on Monoline Insurers

Standard & Poor's has announced rating actions on several monoline bond insurers following additional stress tests related to their domestic subprime mortgage exposure. (Read More)

Index: House Prices Fell 9.1% in '07

House prices fell by 9.1% in 2007 and by 2.1% in December, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller housing price index, which tracks home sales in 20 metropolitan statistical areas. (Read More)

Bank Earnings Dive in 4Q

Federally insured banks and thrifts have reported earnings of $5.8 billion for the fourth quarter, an 84% drop from those of a year earlier, as turmoil in the credit and mortgage markets produced large trading loses, record-high loss provisions, and the largest increase in noncurrent one- to four-family loans in 17 years, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (Read More)

Fitch: MI Financial Strength Ratings at Risk

A number of major players in the mortgage insurance industry, especially the stand-alone companies, need to raise substantial amounts of capital or risk downgrades of their insurer financial strength ratings, according to Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

HSH Nordbank Sues UBS Over CDO

HSH Nordbank AG has filed a lawsuit against UBS involving a U.S. mortgage-linked collateralized debt obligation portfolio, alleging breaches of contractual obligations and fiduciary duties that UBS denies. (Read More)

RE Companies Buying Health Care Portfolio

Nationwide Health Properties and Pacific Medical Buildings are acquiring a portfolio of 28 medical office buildings for up to $2 billion over a period of three years. (Read More)

Zacks Blog Warns of Bank CRE Concerns

Citing commercial real estate concerns, the analyst blog of Zacks.com is warning investors to avoid the stocks of banks such as Citigroup, Wachovia, National City, Keycorp, and Washington Mutual. (Read More)

S&P Updates CDO Evaluator

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has announced the release of new versions of its CDO Evaluator Desktop models to reflect recently revised analytic assumptions. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 100 additional classes of first-lien subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Feb. 25 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Terwin Subprime Tranches Downgraded

Seventy-eight tranches from 20 chiefly subprime mortgage-backed securities deals issued by Terwin Mortgage Trust from 2003 through 2005 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes RAMP Tranches

Fifty-eight tranches from seven transactions issued under the RAMP 2005-RS shelf have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Bear ABS Tranches Under Review

Forty tranches from 14 transactions issued in 2004 and 2005 by Bear Stearns Asset Backed Securities I Trust have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Broker Fee Rule Snags Some Lenders

Any lenders (not just mortgage brokers) who receive a fee from another lender in the origination process will have to disclose their total compensation on the new standardized good-faith estimate developed by HUD as part of its Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act proposal. (Read More)

New-Home Sales at Slowest Pace Since '95

New-homes sales fell 2.8% in January 2007 to the slowest pace since 1995 as builders continued to complete construction on 190,000 homes a month. (Read More)

OFHEO Lifting GSE Portfolio Caps

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight is lifting the portfolio caps on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which will allow the two government-sponsored enterprises to provide more liquidity to the mortgage market and invest in jumbo mortgages. (Read More)

Fannie Takes $3.6B 4Q Loss

Fannie Mae has reported a $3.6 billion loss for the fourth quarter and a $2.1 billion loss for 2007, recognizing for the first time a loss on its subprime and alternative-A private-label securities totaling $1.35 billion. (Read More)

Expert: 40% of Subprime Loans Could Default

An estimated 40% of outstanding subprime mortgage loans could go into default over the next three years based on current economic assumptions, according to Michael Bykhovsky, president of Applied Analytics, San Francisco. (Read More)

Bernanke: Downside Risks Still Prevail

Risks to the economy "remain to the downside" despite inflationary pressures, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Wednesday in a semiannual report to Congress that was widely interpreted as indicating monetary officials may cut rates again. (Read More)

Fannie Hires MBA's Duncan

Doug Duncan is moving to Fannie Mae after serving as the Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist for the past 15 years. (Read More)

Banks' SF Wholesale Originations Drop

Single-family loan originations by commercial banks and savings banks fell 8.5% in the fourth quarter to $253.1 billion, and the entire decline occurred in the wholesale channel, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. call report data. (Read More)

Refi Drop Drives App Decline

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 822.8 to 665.1 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Feb. 22, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

UBS to 'Redouble' MBS Management Efforts

UBS, its finances damaged by U.S. mortgage exposure, plans to "redouble" efforts to "manage down" its holdings of mortgage-backed securities and derivatives, embattled chairman Marcel Ospel told shareholders Wednesday at an extraordinary meeting in Basel, Switzerland. (Read More)

Navidec Expands Mortgage Ops

Navidec Financial Services Inc., Denver, has announced the formation of a wholesale mortgage lending company for correspondent mortgage banks in the West. (Read More)

CRE Derivatives Group Formed

A new industry alliance has been formed to offer information on the use of derivative products based on U.S. commercial property. (Read More)

Vestin II Postpones Possible Merger

Vestin Realty Mortgage II Inc., a Las Vegas-based real estate investment trust, has announced a postponement of its board's exploration of a possible combination of the company with Vestin Realty Mortgage I Inc. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes NatCity's Servicer Rating

The SQ2-plus servicer quality rating of National City Bank as a primary servicer of second-lien loans has been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades 2nd-Lien Classes

Moody's Investors Service issued a flurry of news releases Feb. 26 involving downgrades and placements on review for possible downgrade of more than 100 classes of securities in transactions from eight issuers that are backed by second-lien loans. (Read More)

Freddie Reports $3.1B Loss for '07

Freddie Mac has reported a net loss of $3.1 billion for 2007 ($5.37 per share), compared with net income of $2.3 billion ($3.00 per share) in 2006. (Read More)

Solons Near Agreement on FHA Reform

House and Senate banking committee leaders are close to an agreement on a Federal Housing Administration reform bill, and it could clear the way for final passage in a few weeks. (Read More)

Senate Dems Narrow Bankruptcy Provisions

Senate Democrats have narrowed the scope of the bankruptcy provisions in a foreclosure prevention bill so that only nontraditional and subprime mortgages could be restructured by bankruptcy judges. (Read More)

MBA Forecasts 1.8M Foreclosures in '08

The mortgage industry is facing the prospect of 1.8 million foreclosures this year, up from 1.5 million in 2007, according to a prediction by the Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist. (Read More)

MBA Economist Sees Housing Recession

The MBA's chief economist is also projecting that home values will decline by 12%-15% through mid-2009 from peak levels in late 2006. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes Fannie's Financial Strength Rating

Fannie Mae's B-plus Bank Financial Strength Rating has been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Fannie Unveils New Workout Option

Fannie Mae has announced the introduction of a mortgage workout option under which servicers can offer an unsecured personal loan to enable qualified borrowers to cure the payment default on a mortgage loan owned or securitized by Fannie Mae. (Read More)

Thornburg Reveals $300M in Margin Calls

Thornburg Mortgage, a jumbo lending real estate investment trust, revealed Thursday that it has been hit with $300 million in margin calls from its lenders since Feb. 14. (Read More)

Rates Rise Again

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 6.04% to 6.24% over the seven-day period ended Feb. 28, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Analyst Worries About MIs' '08 Business

Standard & Poor's credit analyst James Brender is expressing concerns not only about private mortgage insurers' troubled 2005-2007 books of business, but about the 2008 vintage as well. (Read More)

REO Sentinel Monitors Presale Properties

REO Sentinel, Jacksonville, Fla., has announced the introduction of a technology that offers "an inexpensive but high-value solution" to the problem of monitoring and maintaining presale and real-estate-owned properties. (Read More)

Community Bank Mortgage Product Unveiled

ICBA Mortgage, the mortgage corporation of the Independent Community Bankers of America, and its partner Taylor, Bean Whitaker Mortgage Corp. have unveiled their newest product offering for community banks: Complete Mortgage Solutions. (Read More)

Study: Mortgage Bailout Proposals Inequitable

Congressional policy proposals targeting the subprime mortgage crisis do not distribute the costs and benefits equitably, according to a study released by the Washington-based FreedomWorks Foundation. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes $97B of RMBS-Exposed CDOs

Fitch Ratings has placed $97 billion of notes from 197 collateralized debt obligations with exposure to residential mortgage-backed securities on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

LaSalle CMBS Classes Downgraded

Seven classes of LaSalle Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc. small-balance commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2006-MF3, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

CSFB 2nd-Lien Classes Downgraded

Eight classes from two second-lien securitizations issued by Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. Home Equity Mortgage Trust have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

CSFB Subprime Class Downgraded

Class B-3 of CSFB Seasoned Loan Trust 2006-1 mortgage pass-through certificates has been downgraded from BBB-minus to BB by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

GOP Blocks Mortgage/Bankruptcy Vote

Senate Republicans have blocked Democrats from rushing to the floor a foreclosure prevention bill that allows bankruptcy judges to restructure subprime and certain nontraditional mortgages. (Read More)

Attorney: AGs May Turn Hostile to Servicers

A foreclosure task force headed by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has taken a cooperative approach to working with loan servicers to date, but a prominent attorney warns that some state AGs may turn hostile toward the industry. (Read More)

Merrill Closing First Franklin?

CNBC has reported that Merrill Lynch plans to close its struggling San Jose, Calif.-based First Franklin wholesale mortgage unit, but a Merrill spokesman would not comment on the matter and a customer service representative at the unit said the business was operating as normal. (Read More)

AIG Reports $5.3B 4Q Loss

American International Group Inc., the New York-based parent company of mortgage insurer United Guaranty Corp., has reported a net loss of $5.29 billion ($2.08 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $3.44 billion ($1.31 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

MA Judge Bars Foreclosure on 'Unfair' Loans

A judge in Massachusetts has temporarily barred Fremont Investment & Loan from initiating or advancing foreclosures on "presumptively unfair" mortgage loans unless certain conditions are met, according to Buckley Kolar LLP. (Read More)

Fremont Warns of Possible Writedowns

Fremont General Corp., the Brea, Calif.-based holding company for a bank and mortgage servicer, has announced that it may need to record additional asset writedowns and reserves in its 2007 financial statements that could result in further losses or adjustments to regulatory capital. (Read More)

Housing Starts Projected to Fall 25%

Conditions in the residential construction market are likely to worsen in 2008, with housing starts falling another 25%, according to a research report from the Portland Cement Association. (Read More)

10-Year Yield Falls Below 3.6%

The yield of the long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury note plummeted Friday morning to below 3.6%. (Read More)

Citi Names RE, Mortgage Risk Oversight Chief

Citigroup, New York, has given responsibility for risk oversight of its real estate and mortgage exposure to Greg Hawkins, a pioneer in the development of fixed-income valuation models. (Read More)

FirstAm Takes $67M 4Q Loss

The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., has reported a net loss of $67.5 million for the fourth quarter ($0.74 per share), compared with net income of $104.0 million ($1.06 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

Chase Cites HE Concerns

JPMorgan Chase's retail financial services unit is looking for continued gains in its mortgage market share, but it has some concerns about the related home equity area where losses are continuing to trend higher. (Read More)

S&P Eyes 1,887 Alt-A RMBS Classes

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has placed 1,887 classes of alternative-A, first-lien residential mortgage-backed securities on CreditWatch with negative implications. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More 1st-Lien B&C Classes

More than 350 additional classes of first-lien subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Feb. 28 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

FHLBanks Price $3B Global Bond

The Federal Home Loan Banks have priced a $3 billion, 2.375%, two-year global bond due April 30, 2010. (Read More)

Feedback

By a nearly 2-to-1 majority, responses to our survey question favored the Fed proposal to require brokers to disclose up front the amount of their fees (including yield-spread premiums) in a written agreement with the borrower. (Read More)

Cuomo Seals GSE Settlement

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have signed a settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to implement new appraisal standards starting Jan. 1, 2009, that will bar lenders selling loans to the mortgage giants from using in-house appraisers or subsidiary appraisal firms. (Read More)

$350B More in B&C Losses in Store?

A new UBS report has forecast that financial companies may cumulatively see another $350 billion in subprime mortgage-related losses, according to reports from The New York Times and Bloomberg. (Read More)

Report: MBS Losses May Total $400B

Losses on mortgage securities in the current financial crisis may total roughly $400 billion, resulting in "much larger" decreases in lending and balance sheet shrinkage topping $1 trillion, according to a recent report by Wall Street and business school experts. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Take Dive With Dow

Twelve of the 15 mortgage-related stocks tracked by MortgageWire were down Friday as the Dow Jones industrial average fell 315 points to close at 12,266. (Read More)

Thornburg Meets $300M in Margin Calls

Thornburg Mortgage has met a $300 million set of margin calls related to deteriorating mortgage-backed securities market conditions, but was still working to meet about $270 million more as of deadline time Monday. (Read More)

FRB: Subprime Defaults Pass 23%

Defaults on securitized subprime mortgage loans jumped to 23.3% in December, up 200 basis points from the level of the previous month and more than double the 10.1% rate of a year earlier, according to a Friedman Billings Ramsey Investment Management report. (Read More)

OCC Requiring Banks to Report Servicing Data

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will require large national banks that service mortgage loans to provide comprehensive monthly data about their portfolios. (Read More)

Paulson Sees Further Rise in B&C Loan Mods

Hope Now servicers modified 45,000 subprime loans in January, up 16% from December's level, and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he expects the numbers to increase now that all the servicers have adopted the American Securitization Forum's protocol for fast-tracking subprime borrowers into loan modifications and refinancings. (Read More)

Fannie: Securitized Jumbos May Hit $200B

Fannie Mae estimates that it could securitize $200 billion in jumbo loans by the December expiration date of its temporary authority to purchase higher-balance mortgages that exceed the $417,000 conforming loan limit. (Read More)

Ambac to Suspend New Structured Biz

Ambac Financial Group Inc., New York, plans to suspend all new structured finance business for six months and reduce its quarterly dividend from 7 cents per share to 1 cent per share to offset problematic mortgage-related exposures. (Read More)

SCA Reviewing Strategic Options

Security Capital Assurance, a bond insurer that has faced ratings pressure as a result of mortgage market woes, has indicated that it is involved of a review of its "strategic options" and will be delaying the filing of its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Read More)

Bond Insurer to Get $250M Infusion

Private equity firm WL Ross & Co. LLC, New York, has agreed to purchase $250 million in common shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda, one of the bond insurers with mortgage exposures that has looked to boost capital as a means of bolstering its ratings. (Read More)

Ameriana Names Mortgage Banking EVP

Janice Brehm has been named senior vice president for mortgage banking at Ameriana Bank New Castle, Ind. (Read More)

Radian's Financial Strength Rating Downgraded

Standard & Poor's has lowered the financial strength rating on Radian Insurance Inc., a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Radian Guaranty Inc., by three notches, cutting it from AA-minus to A-minus. (Read More)

COFI Drops Below 4%

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index stood at 3.970% in January, a 10-basis-point decline from 4.072% in December. (Read More)

New MI Strong, but Cure/Default Ratio Sinks

The dichotomy in the mortgage insurance world continued in January as the amount of traditional primary new insurance written held strong while the cure/default ratio tanked. (Read More)

Fremont Dropped From SmallCap 600

Fremont General Corp., the Brea, Calif.-based holding company for mortgage servicer Fremont Investment & Loan, will be removed from the S&P SmallCap 600 index after the close of trading March 3, Standard & Poor's has announced. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 300 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Feb. 29 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Westways CDO Notes Downgraded

Four classes of notes (and three classes of loan interests) issued by Westways Funding XI Ltd., a mortgage market value collateralized debt obligation, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

NAMB Mulls Challenge to Appraisal Settlement

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is considering legal action to stop implementation of appraisal standards by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would take the selection of appraisers out of the hands of brokers. (Read More)

Court Rejects HUD Ban on Seller-Funded DPA

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California has ruled against the Department of Housing and Urban Development's ban on private, seller-funded downpayment assistance. (Read More)

Bair Voices Concerns About Repayment Plans

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair says she expects loan modifications to increase, but she is still concerned that servicers continue to rely too heavily on repayment plans. (Read More)

Thornburg Completes $992M Mortgage Deal

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., a troubled real estate investment trust based in Santa Fe, N.M., has completed a collateralized mortgage debt transaction backed by $992 million of the company's prime hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages. (Read More)

Irwin Suspends Quarterly Dividends

Irwin Financial Corp., a mortgage lender based in Columbus, Ind., has announced the suspension of quarterly dividends on its common, preferred, and trust preferred securities. (Read More)

Fremont Notified of B&C Loan Sale Defaults

Fremont General Corp., Brea, Calif., has received notifications from two affiliated third-party purchasers of $3.15 billion of residential subprime mortgage loans alleging that Fremont is in default in connection with the loan sales. (Read More)

RE Index Records Steepest Decline Since '69

The Winans International Real Estate Index of new-home prices in the United States has reported a 16.8% decline over the past year, its steepest decline in nearly 40 years. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Long-Term GMAC IDR

The long-term issuer default ratings of GMAC LLC and related subsidiaries have been downgraded from BB-plus to BB by Fitch Ratings and removed from Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

ResCap's Long-Term IDR Downgraded

The long-term issuer default rating and the senior unsecured debt rating of Residential Capital LLC have been downgraded from BB-plus to BB-minus by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 250 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on March 3 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

GS Mortgage Classes Downgraded

Four classes from two GS Mortgage Securities Corp. deals issued in 2005 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Citi MBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes of certificates issued by Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust series 2004-CB3 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Frank to Unveil Foreclosure Prevention Bill

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., plans to circulate a bill next week that would create a government program to buy distressed mortgages that have been written down to an affordable level and meet Federal Housing Administration eligibility standards. (Read More)

Builders Urge Quick Passage of Tax Credit

The National Association of Home Builders is urging the Senate to quickly pass a temporary $10,000 tax credit for homebuyers to encourage sales and reduce the huge inventory of unsold homes overhanging the market. (Read More)

Home Prices Fall in 4Q -- but by How Much?

Home prices decreased at an annualized rate of 0.5% nationwide in the fourth quarter, according to the Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index Classic Series released by Freddie Mac, but the rate of decline jumps to 9.3% under a separate index based only on purchase transactions. (Read More)

Global Insight: Home Prices Off 5.1% in 4Q

Meanwhile, an analysis released by Global Insight Inc., Waltham, Mass., found that single-family home prices fell at "a precipitous 5.1% annualized rate" in the fourth quarter. (Read More)

Applications Rise

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, rose from 665.1 to 684.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Feb. 29, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

PMI Reports 4Q Loss in MI Ops

The PMI Group Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif., has provided preliminary fourth-quarter financial results for some business segments, including a loss in U.S. mortgage insurance operations, reporting that it is still unable to release final earnings because of delays in getting financial results from FGIC Corp., in which it owns a 42% stake. (Read More)

Principal Discloses $1B in Exposures

The Principal Financial Group, Des Moines, Iowa, has disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filling that as of Dec. 31 it had $996.5 million of exposures to monoline bond insurers and mortgage insurers. (Read More)

Franklin Credit Announces Hedge Pacts

Franklin Credit Management Corp., a Jersey City, N.J.-based company engaged in the servicing and resolution of residential mortgage loans, has announced that it has entered into interest rate swap agreements to hedge part of its interest-rate-sensitive borrowings against increases in short-term interest rates. (Read More)

Moody's: CMBS Defeasance Rose 25% in '07

Defeasance of commercial mortgage-backed securities loans in the United States rose 25% in 2007, as 3,000 loans with an outstanding balance of $32.4 billion were defeased, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Regulatory Lawyer Joins Venable as Partner

Joseph T. Lynyak III, a veteran banking regulatory lawyer with experience in mortgage and subprime lending matters, has joined Venable LLP as a partner in its Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. offices. (Read More)

TSS Software Enhances TitleExpress

TSS Software Corp., a software provider to the settlement services industry, has announced enhancements to its flagship product, TitleExpress. (Read More)

Rates Down in Canada, Up in Australia

The Bank of Canada has lowered its target for the overnight lending rate 50 basis points, while the Reserve Bank of Australia has raised its cash rate by 25 bps. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 200 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on March 4 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Thornburg Notes

The floating-rate notes of Thornburg Mortgage Capital Resources LLC have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fannie Prices BenchNotes

Fannie Mae has priced $3 billion of 2.750% three-year Benchmark Notes at 99.710. (Read More)

Merrill Pulls Plug on First Franklin

Merrill Lynch, which a year ago paid $1.3 billion for subprime giant First Franklin Financial Corp. and two affiliates, has officially pulled the plug on the unit and plans to sell FFFC's servicing division, Home Loan Services. (Read More)

Delinquencies Hit 23-Year High

The overall home mortgage delinquency rate jumped to 5.82% in the fourth quarter, the highest level since 1985, according to the national delinquency survey of the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)

HUD Issues New Loan Limits for CA

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued the new loan limits for Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac mortgages in high-cost counties of California and will soon release the loan limits for the rest of the country. (Read More)

FBI: Mortgage Fraud Cases Up 50% Since '06

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is working on 1,200 mortgage fraud investigations, a 50% increase from the level recorded in fiscal year 2006, FBI Director Robert Mueller told a Senate panel. (Read More)

Countrywide to Pay BoA $160M if Deal Fails

If Bank of America's planned purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp. falls through, Countrywide will have to pay the banking giant a termination fee of $160 million, according to new documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Read More)

BMC Buys Loan-Score Decisioning

BMC Software Investments Inc., an investment firm based in Hot Springs, Ark., has announced the acquisition of Loan-Score Decisioning Systems LLC, an Irvine, Calif.-based provider of automated underwriting systems. (Read More)

Rates Drop

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 6.24% to 6.03% over the seven-day period ended March 6, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Bernanke Breaks With Bush on B&C Fixes

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is breaking away from the Bush administration's efforts to keep the restructuring of subprime mortgages narrowly focused on interest rate freezes and reductions. (Read More)

Agency MBS Spreads Widest Since '80s

Spreads between agency mortgage-backed securities and comparable Treasuries have hit their widest levels since the mid-1980s, according to mortgage researchers. (Read More)

Residential Loan Demand Sluggish, Fed Says

Lower interest rates prompted an increase in refinancings even as residential loan demand "remained sluggish or declined" during January and February, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book. (Read More)

Ambac Touts $1.5B in Equity Offerings

Ambac Financial Group, New York, is seeking to bolster flagging ratings strained by the U.S. mortgage-woe-sparked global credit crunch through a public offering for at least $1 billion of shares of its common stock and a concurrent $500 million public offering of equity units. (Read More)

NatCity Labeled 'Bear of the Day'

National City Corp., Cleveland, has been tagged the "Bear of the Day" for March 6 by Zacks Equity Research, Chicago. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Thornburg's IDR

The Issuer Default Rating of Thornburg Mortgage Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Santa Fe, N.M., has been downgraded from CCC to RD by Fitch Ratings as a result of defaults under the company's reverse repurchase agreements. (Read More)

Health Care REIT Prices Stock Offering

Health Care REIT Inc., a Toledo, Ohio-based real estate investment trust, has priced an offering of 3 million shares of common stock at $41.44 per share. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 50 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on March 5 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

EMC MBS Classes Downgraded

Twenty classes from eight EMC Mortgage Loan Trust transactions have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

JPMorgan CMBS Class Off Watch

Class G of JP Morgan Chase Commercial Securities Corp. series 2001-A has been removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Mortgage Banking Jobs Stabilizing?

Mortgage brokerage firms cut 4,100 employees in January, while employment at mortgage banking companies appeared to stabilize, according to a government jobs report. (Read More)

Congress Grills Mozilo on Stock Sales

In late 2006 Countrywide Financial Corp. chairman and chief executive Angelo Mozilo accelerated his insider stock sales just as the company had decided to spend $2.5 billion of its own money to buy back stock, according to the House Oversight Committee. (Read More)

Citi to Reduce Mortgage Holdings by $45B

Citigroup disclosed plans Thursday to reduce its on-balance-sheet mortgage holdings by $45 billion over the next year, or 20% of its total portfolio. (Read More)

Foreclosures Help Drag Down Mortgage Stocks

The stock prices for most mortgage-related companies fell sharply Thursday as new foreclosure data and margin calls put pressure on the entire market. (Read More)

Ginnie to Securitize FHA High-Balance Loans

Ginnie Mae has announced that pools backed by the Federal Housing Administration's temporary high-balance loans will be ready for issuance on April 1. (Read More)

Fed Cites Plans to Bolster Liquidity

The Federal Reserve has announced plans for moves to "address heightened liquidity pressures in term funding markets," including $100 billion of term repurchase transactions for which agency mortgage-backed securities, agency debt, or Treasuries may be delivered as collateral. (Read More)

FDIC to Clarify Policy on Covered Bonds

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is working on a policy statement to clarify how it would deal with covered bonds in a failed bank situation so investors are comfortable holding these instruments, which provide lenders with an alternative way to finance their mortgage lending operations. (Read More)

MBIA to Cut Bond Insurance Jobs

MBIA, Armonk, New York, has announced plans to eliminate 48 positions in its bond insurance operation but redeploy many affected employees into different asset management jobs as it reorganizes in the wake of mortgage-related concerns. (Read More)

Thornburg: Default Could Be 'Material'

JPMorgan Chase Bank NA will be exercising its rights in a default on a margin call of about $28 million at Thornburg Mortgage, triggering cross-defaults that Thornburg said could be "material," according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. (Read More)

Ventas to Replace Thornburg in REIT Index

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., a real estate investment trust, will be replaced by Ventas Inc. in the S&P U.S. REIT Composite Index because Thornburg is a mortgage REIT and only equity REITs are currently eligible for addition to the index, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

Carlyle Eyes Options in Wake of Margin Calls

Closed-end investment fund Carlyle Capital Corp. Ltd. says it is considering "all available options" after receiving "substantial additional margin calls and additional default notices from its lenders." (Read More)

S&P Downgrades WaMu

Citing a worse mortgage market than expected even two months ago, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered the long-term counterparty credit ratings of Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, and Washington Mutual Bank. (Read More)

Fitch Cites 'Extensive Review' of Alt-A RMBS

Citing rapid deterioration in the U.S. housing market in the past several months, Fitch Ratings has announced an "extensive review" of alternative-A residential mortgage-backed securities originated from 2005 to 2007. (Read More)

Regional Bond Dealers Form Association

A new professional association has been formed in Alexandria, Va., by U.S. regional bond dealers, some of which are active in the mortgage-backed securities market. (Read More)

Sunstone Prez/CEO Resigns

Steven R. Goldman has resigned as president and chief executive officer of Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc., a real estate investment trust based in San Clemente, Calif., to become president of Global Real Estate and Development at Hilton Hotels Corp. (Read More)

Radian Names SVP/Controller

Catherine M. Jackson has been named senior vice president and controller of Radian Group Inc., a Philadelphia-based mortgage insurer. (Read More)

Block Again Dubbed 'Bear of the Day'

H&R Block, the Kansas City, Mo.-based parent of Option One Mortgage, has once again been labeled the "Bear of the Day" by Zacks Equity Research, Chicago. (Read More)

CIFG Guaranty Downgraded

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the insurer financial strength ratings for French-bank-owned CIFG Guaranty and some of its affiliates as part of an ongoing review of the company, its capitalization, and its mortgage-related exposures. (Read More)

Feedback

Early responses to our latest survey question are running more than 2-to-1 in favor of allowing lender/servicers to write down the principal of an "underwater" mortgage and recoup some of the loss when the property is sold. (Read More)

FBI Eyeing Countrywide in Criminal Probe?

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a criminal inquiry into suspected securities fraud by Countrywide Financial Corp., according to two different newspaper reports over the weekend. (Read More)

Conferees Near Agreement on FHA Reform

House and Senate conferees are close to an agreement on a Federal Housing Administration reform bill, but they have not reached a consensus on raising FHA loan limits and permitting downpayment assistance on FHA loans, according to sources. (Read More)

White House Mulls Reagan Adviser's Proposal

An economic adviser to former President Ronald Reagan has proposed a way to help struggling homeowners lower their mortgage payments, and it has caught the eye of White House officials because it could reduce defaults, cushion falling house prices, and lower the loan-to-value ratios of existing mortgages. (Read More)

1st Horizon, NatCity, WaMu IDRs Downgraded

The long-term Issuer Default Ratings of First Horizon National Corp., National City Corp., and Washington Mutual Inc. have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings as a result of concerns about home equity portfolios. (Read More)

Fannie to Begin Buying Jumbos April 1

Fannie Mae will begin purchasing fixed-rate jumbo mortgages on April 1, but the single-family loans will have to be manually underwritten until its automated underwriting system is updated. (Read More)

Fannie Names Chief Audit Exec

Jacqueline K. Wagner has been named senior vice president and chief audit executive of Fannie Mae, succeeding S. Jean Hinrichs, who joined Fannie as chief audit executive in June 2005. (Read More)

NMHC: Apartment Sector Still Strong

In contrast to the downturn in the single-family residential sector, conditions in the apartment sector remain strong, according to the National Multi Housing Council's latest Market Trends report. (Read More)

Firms Offers Default Projection Product

InsideValuation, a real estate valuation company based in Reno, Nev., has announced a partnership with International Financing Engineering Group, Rockville, Md., that has created a ZIP code-level mortgage default projection. (Read More)

CIFG Frets Over Disparate Ratings

Discrepancies in rating agency opinions are making it "very difficult for financial guaranty companies," CIFG Holding Ltd. says. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades CIFG-Linked MBS Classes

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings has downgraded six classes of residential mortgage-backed securities issued by Banc of America Funding and ACE, citing its recent downgrade of CIFG's insurer financial strength rating to AA-minus. (Read More)

Freddie Declares 1Q Dividends

Freddie Mac's board of directors has announced a dividend of $0.25 per share on the corporation's voting common stock for the first quarter. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades 163 Bear Alt-A Classes

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded 163 tranches from 15 transactions issued by Bear Stearns ALT-A Trust. (Read More)

SAIL Subprime Tranches Downgraded

Thirty tranches from five subprime mortgage deals issued by Structured Asset Investment Loan Trust in 2005 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, and eight tranches have been placed under review for possible downgrade. (Read More)

RAMP MBS Tranches Downgraded

Eighteen tranches from six mortgage-backed securities transactions issued by RAMP in 2004 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades CSFB CMBS Classes

Two classes of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2004-C3, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Ballantyne Notes Downgraded

The class A-1 floating-rate notes of Ballantyne Re PLC, which holds "significant" amounts of subprime residential asset- and mortgage-backed securities, has been downgraded from BB to B-plus and placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Paulson Pooh-Poohs Principal Reductions

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson continues to dismiss calls for helping borrowers with "underwater" mortgages through principal reductions that are being advocated by some federal banking regulators. (Read More)

Morgan Sees Weak Spring Homebuying Season

If mortgage lenders thought a stronger-than-expected spring homebuying season would help reverse their fortunes, they should think again, according to a new report issued by Morgan Stanley. (Read More)

Refinance.com Gets OK to Refi B&C Overdues

Refinance.com has received government approval to refinance subprime borrowers that are a few months delinquent into Federal Housing Administration-insured loans once the mortgage insurer, investor, or servicer makes up the necessary payments to bring the loan current. (Read More)

Fed Takes Added Liquidity Measures

The Federal Reserve, in conjunction with several other central banks, has announced new measures to promote liquidity in financial markets. (Read More)

MBIA Asks Fitch to Withdraw Ratings

MBIA, one of the bond insurers that has been working to maintain ratings strained by mortgage-related exposures, has asked Fitch to withdraw its insurer financial strength ratings on its subsidiaries, citing reasons that include limited use of the rating agency by MBIA's issuers. (Read More)

Thornburg Advised to Restate Earnings

Thornburg Mortgage Inc.'s auditors have advised it to restate its 2006 and 2007 earnings due to deteriorating mortgage-related securities prices and partly unmet margin calls that may affect its ability to hold its purchased adjustable-rate mortgages to maturity. (Read More)

PMI Reschedules Release of 4Q, '07 Results

The PMI Group Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif., has again rescheduled the release of its fourth-quarter and year-end financial results because of problems in obtaining final 2007 financial results from FGIC Corp., in which it owns a 42% stake. (Read More)

MFA Announces $1B MBS Sale

MFA Mortgage Investments Inc., New York, has announced the sale of approximately $1 billion of mortgage-backed securities in connection with a change in its leverage strategy. (Read More)

PBRC, NCRA Release New Credit Protocols

Payment Reporting Builds Credit, a national credit bureau based in Annapolis, Md., and the National Credit Reporting Association have released new protocols for manually verifying credit applicants' identity and bill payment accounts and histories. (Read More)

FirstAm Credco Makes Integrating Easier

First American Credco, a Poway, Calif.-based provider of specialty credit reports to the mortgage and consumer finance industries, has launched Connect Web services technology to enable smoother integrations. (Read More)

NLC: Foreclosures Taking Toll on Cities

Nearly two-thirds of over 200 cities surveyed report that foreclosures have risen in the past year, and one-third say city revenues have fallen as a result, according to an online/e-mail poll conducted by the National League of Cities. (Read More)

MBA: Commercial Overdues Near Record Lows

Commercial and multifamily mortgage delinquencies ended 2007 at or near record lows for most major investor groups, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)

CIFG Names New Chairman

Richard A. Price Jr. has been named non-executive chairman of the board of CIFG Holding Ltd., the Hamilton, Bermuda-based holding company for several financial guaranty subsidiaries. (Read More)

Cohen & Steers Names SVP/Portfolio Chief

Todd Voigt has been named senior vice president and portfolio manager at Cohen & Steers Inc., New York, where he is slated to lead the creation of hedged real estate securities portfolios. (Read More)

Seyfarth Names RE Finance Co-Chairs

Peter J. Korda and Andrew M. Pearlstein have been named co-chairs of Seyfarth Shaw LLP's Structured and Real Estate Finance Practice Group, a subgroup of the firm's Real Estate Practice Group. (Read More)

Franklin Cites NASDAQ Notice

Franklin Credit Management Corp., Jersey City, N.J., has reported the receipt of a notice from the NASDAQ Stock Market indicating that Franklin's stock will not be delisted if the company files its Form 10-Q for the third quarter of 2007 by March 31 and meets two other criteria. (Read More)

SAIL Subprime Classes Downgraded

Five classes of subprime certificates issued by Structured Asset Investment Loan Trust in 2003 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Frank Proposes Loan Guarantee

To prevent foreclosures, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., has drafted a bill that will provide a federal loan guarantee on problem mortgages that have written down to a level that enables the borrower to repay and qualify under Federal Housing Administrations standards. (Read More)

Thornburg Impairment Charge Hits $676M

The impairment charge being taken by Thornburg Mortgage in its 2007 restatement has increased by $248.8 million from original estimates to a total of $676.6 million, according to the company's amended annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Thornburg Notes

The floating-rate notes of Thornburg Mortgage Capital Resources LLC have been downgraded from F1-plus to C by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fed Action Ignites Stock Rally

The stock market, including the beleaguered mortgage sector, rallied strongly Tuesday after the Federal Reserve Board unveiled a $200 billion liquidity program that allows banks to use troubled home loan pools as collateral. (Read More)

Applications Fall

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 684.9 to 671.7 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended March 7, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

REIT Sells MBS to Reduce Leverage

New York Mortgage Trust Inc., a New York-based real estate investment trust, has announced the sale of approximately $211 million of Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities in an effort to reduce the leverage in its agency MBS portfolio. (Read More)

Warehouse Lender Names COO

Jerry Pavlas has been appointed chief operating officer of Southwest Securities FSB, a Dallas-based residential construction and mortgage warehouse lender. (Read More)

REIT Promotes 2 to EVP

Donald D. Bradley has been promoted to executive vice president and chief investment officer of Nationwide Health Properties Inc., Newport Beach, Calif., and Abdo H. Khoury has been promoted to EVP and chief financial and portfolio officer. (Read More)

Lewtan Names SVP of Tech & Data

Thomas Karanian has been named to the newly created post of senior vice president of technology and data operations of Lewtan Technologies Inc., a provider of asset-backed securities surveillance data and analytics based in Waltham, Mass. (Read More)

Tech Exec Moves to Compliance Systems

After 20 years with what is now Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Roger Gudobba has joined Compliance Systems Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., as the company's chief strategy officer. (Read More)

MBA: Commercial/MF Debt Hits $3.3T

Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding rose to $3.3 trillion at the end of 2007, a 12% increase from the level recorded a year earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)

1031 Exchange Changes Name

1031 Exchange Options, a real estate investment consultancy based in Walnut Creek, Calif., has changed its name to Inverness Real Estate Investments. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes WaMu Bank Covered Bonds

The triple-A rated covered bonds program of Washington Mutual Bank has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

REIT Arranges New Credit Facility

Regency Centers Corp., Jacksonville, Fla., has closed a new $341.5 million credit facility consisting of a term loan of approximately $227.7 million and a revolving credit facility of approximately $113.8 million. (Read More)

MHI Trading on NASDAQ

MHI Hospitality Corp., a real estate investment trust based in Williamsburg, Va., has announced that its common stock is now trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market. (Read More)

Feds: License All Mortgage Brokers

A panel of presidential advisers -- including representatives of the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve -- officially recommended Thursday that all mortgage brokers be licensed by either state or federal authorities. (Read More)

FBI Plans New Mortgage Fraud Sweep

The FBI has set mid-June for another "national sweep" in its continuing effort to nab perpetrators of mortgage fraud. (Read More)

Mortgage Fraud Worse Than Believed?

While it has always been difficult to get a handle on the size of the mortgage fraud problem, a new report by a leading provider of fraud detection products indicates that the incidence of the crime may be much greater than anyone thinks. (Read More)

MARI Finds Fraud Spread More Evenly

Although Florida remains a hotbed for mortgage fraudsters, the crime is becoming more evenly spread among all states as opposed to being concentrated in just a few, according to the latest report from the Mortgage Asset Research Institute. (Read More)

Conferees Hopeful on FHA Reform

House and Senate conferees working on a Federal Housing Administration reform bill hope to reach an agreement this week once they resolve an impasse over loan limits. (Read More)

Frank Proposes $300B in FHA Guarantees

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., is proposing to provide up to $300 billion in Federal Housing Administration guarantees to refinance at-risk or delinquent homeowners into affordable FHA-insured mortgages. (Read More)

RealtyTrac: New Foreclosures Decline

RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif., has reported that new foreclosure filings fell 4% in February but were still nearly 60% higher than the level recorded a year earlier. (Read More)

Rates Climb

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 6.03% to 6.13% over the seven-day period ended March 13, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Countrywide's IDRs

The long-term Issuer Default Ratings of Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., and its related subsidiaries have been downgraded from BBB-plus to BBB-minus by Fitch Ratings as a result of deteriorating home equity portfolios. (Read More)

Countrywide: Volume & Foreclosures Rise

Countrywide Financial Corp. funded $26 billion of mortgages in February, up 17% from the level recorded in January, but the company said foreclosures in its servicing portfolio continued to rise. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades Countrywide Tranches

Eighty-four tranches from 11 alternative-A transactions issued by Countrywide in 2006 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Carlyle Expects Asset Seizure

Investment fund Carlyle Capital Corp. Ltd. says it expects its lenders to "promptly" seize substantially all its remaining assets as a result of margin calls linked to a slump in the prices of top-rated agency mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)

Fremont Cites Further Delay in 10-K Filing

Fremont General Corp., Brea, Calif., says it is unable to file its 10-K form in time to meet the 15-day extension of its deadline to do so. (Read More)

Freddie Issues Jumbo Guidance

Freddie Mac is telling its lenders that it will start purchasing "conforming jumbos" in May and that jumbo loans originated "retroactive to March 1" will be accepted for delivery. (Read More)

REO Consulting Group Formed in Arizona

A new management consulting firm, T. Hancock Consulting Group LLC, has been formed in Scottsdale, Ariz., to help financial institutions manage and dispose of their portfolios of real estate owned. (Read More)

Mortgage Cadence Shuffles Exec Team

Mortgage Cadence Inc., a loan origination system vendor, has appointed Michael Hammond as its new chief executive officer and Gabe Minton as chief operating officer, both based at the corporate headquarters in Denver. (Read More)

Moody's: Outlook Negative for REIT TruPS

The outlook is stable for U.S. bank and insurance Trust Preferred Securities collateralized debt obligations, but it is negative for real estate investment trust TruPS and REIT TruPS CDOs, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

HUD Issues Bold RESPA Proposal

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued its long-awaited RESPA reform proposal, and it is more ambitious than the industry expected or wants to implement during the current market turmoil. (Read More)

Bear Wins Bailout From JPMorgan, NY Fed

JPMorgan Chase and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York have agreed to provide funding to bolster Bear Stearns, which says its liquidity position has deteriorated in the wake of market rumors it had tried to dispel. (Read More)

Impasse Continues Over FHA Loan Limits

The Senate has adjourned for two weeks without passing a Federal Housing Administration modernization bill due to an impasse over raising the FHA single-family loan limits. (Read More)

Dodd Pushing for Final Draft of FHA Refi Bill

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., wants to complete the drafting of a bill to refinance 1 million distressed homeowners into Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages over the next two weeks and include it in a housing bill the Senate is expected to consider in the first week of April. (Read More)

S&P Raises Subprime Writedown Estimate

Standard & Poor's has raised its global estimate for total subprime mortgage-related securities writedowns but has indicated that "the end is in sight." (Read More)

Origen Suspends Own-Account Originations

Origen Financial Inc., a manufactured housing lender structured as a REIT, says reduced pricing in the whole-loan sales market and the inability to securitize loans are forcing it to suspend originating loans for its own account until the markets recover. (Read More)

MuniMae Enters Margin Call Pact

Municipal Mortgage & Equity LLC, Baltimore, has addressed strains from municipal bond market woes by entering into an agreement with Merrill Lynch Capital Services to meet future margin calls without posting additional cash as collateral. (Read More)

FDIC Leaves Premiums Unchanged

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board of directors has decided to keep the assessment rates it charges banks and thrifts for deposit insurance unchanged for 2008 as it builds reserves to deal with more bank failures. (Read More)

Freddie Seeks Appraisal Comments

Freddie Mac is seeking public comments until April 30 on the appraisal policies it agreed to implement as part of a settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. (Read More)

Integra, CSi Offer Single-Source Doc Capacity

Integra Software Systems, Franklin, Tenn., has announced that it will integrate with Compliance Systems Inc.'s IntelleDoc Solutions to provide a single source for document preparation and compliance services. (Read More)

Ohio Thrift Forms Residential Lending Unit

First Federal of Lakewood, a thrift based in Lakewood, Ohio, has announced the formation of a residential lending division, First Federal Lending, in connection with the opening of two residential lending offices in Westerville, Ohio, and Solon, Ohio. (Read More)

Ex-RTC Official Named CEO of AmeriBid

Real estate developer Stanley Tate, who served as chairman of the Resolution Trust Corp.'s National Advisory Board in 1990 and 1991, has been named chairman of the board of Las Vegas-based AmeriBid. (Read More)

LandAm Names Commercial Services Prez

Pam K. Saylors will be promoted to president of commercial services at LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Richmond, Va., effective April 2. (Read More)

AH Loan Fund Gets New Prez

Enterprise Community Partners Inc., a Columbia, Md.-based promoter of community development and affordable housing, has announced the appointment of Lori Chatman as president of the Enterprise Community Loan Fund, effective April 1. (Read More)

Impac-Backed Alt-A Tranches Downgraded

The ratings of 131 tranches (backed by Impac-originated mortgage collateral) in 17 alternative-A securitizations from various issuers have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades RAMP Subprime Classes

Twenty-eight classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates from three Residential Asset Mortgage Products transactions have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

UBS Alt-A Classes Downgraded

Nine classes of UBS MASTR Alternative Loan Trust mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

WaMu MBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes of Washington Mutual residential mortgage-backed certificates, series 2002-AR12, have been downgraded and placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

MASTR Class Downgraded

Class B-3 of UBS Mortgage Asset Securitization Transactions Adjustable Rate Mortgages Trust series 2004-10 has been downgraded from BBB-minus to B by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

WL Ross Buying Option One's Servicing

WL Ross, the buyout firm headed by Wilbur Ross, is adding to its mortgage holdings by purchasing Option One's mortgage servicing business for $1.1 billion. (Read More)

JPMorgan Chase to Buy Bear Stearns

JPMorgan Chase has made plans to acquire the Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. -- and has gotten up to $30 billion in special financing from the Federal Reserve to do it -- in the wake of severe liquidity woes at Bear. (Read More)

Fed Facility to Improve Securitization Financing

The Federal Reserve Board has made additional moves to address market-wide liquidity concerns, including a discount rate cut and the creation of a lending facility to improve the ability of primary dealers to provide financing to participants in securitization markets. (Read More)

Benchmark Treasury Yield Moves Lower

The long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury yield as of late Monday morning appeared to have moved more solidly into a lower trading range below 3.4%. (Read More)

Lehman Touts $2 Billion Facility Replacement

Lehman Brothers on March 14 refinanced an existing $2 billion credit facility and has issued a statement indicating it believes it is "well positioned" in a market hard hit by U.S. mortgage-sparked liquidity concerns. (Read More)

Anticipating 60,000+ Mortgage SARs in FY

Federally regulated lenders will file more than 60,000 mortgage-related suspicious activity reports this fiscal year, a federal crime fighter said at last week's Mortgage Bankers Association's National Fraud Issues Conference in Chicago. (Read More)

Dems' FHA Plan Escapes White House Ire

President Bush did not single out for criticism a Democratic plan to expand the Federal Housing Administration program in his speech about what should and should not be done in dealing with the housing correction. (Read More)

PMI Takes Net Loss

The PMI Group Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif., had a net loss in the fourth quarter 2007 of $1 billion (-$12.51 per share), compared with net income of $100.5 million ($1.19 per share) for the same period one year ago. Most of the loss can be attributed to PMI's 42% investment in FGIC Corp., New York. (Read More)

NPAs Rise Again at Downey Financial

California thrift Downey Financial Corp. said its nonperforming assets increased to 10.93% at the end of February, an 89% spike over a three-month period. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Ocwen's Debt Ratings

Fitch Ratings has placed a "negative outlook" on its short-term and long-term debt ratings for Ocwen Financial Corp. after a deal to privatize the publicly traded company fell through. (Read More)

WaMu's Shares Sink on Latest Downgrade

Washington Mutual's stock price fell almost 13% Friday after Moody's Investors Service cut the company's debt rating to one notch above junk status and it had fallen even further as of late Monday morning. (Read More)

Stewart Unveils 'Touch-to-Close' System

Stewart has launched TouchSign technology, which converts the traditional closing table from pen and paper to digital documents and touch screens. (Read More)

CountryPlace Extends Warehouse Facility

Palm Harbor Homes Inc., Dallas, has extended the warehouse borrowing facility of its full-service lending subsidiary, CountryPlace Mortgage Ltd., until April 30. (Read More)

Ameriquest/Argent Founder Roland Arnall Dies

Ameriquest Mortgage founder Roland Arnall -- an entrepreneur who once symbolized subprime lending in America -- has died at UCLA Medical Center, according to a statement released by his family. (Read More)

OFHEO May Loosen Capital Surcharge on GSEs

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight is talking to executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about loosening the 30% capital surcharge on the two -- a move designed to increase liquidity to the mortgage market. (Read More)

Housing Starts Show Hint of Stabilization

Single-family housing starts tumbled 6.7% in February after the government revised January starts upward by 15,000 units, which could be a sign that construction activity may be close to stabilizing in the next few months. (Read More)

Lehman's Profit Falls, But Market Reacts Positively

About $1.8 billion in primarily mortgage-related net writedowns contributed to a 57% decline in Lehman Brothers' year-over-year net income for the first fiscal quarter. (Read More)

Goldman Sachs also Sees Lower Earnings

Net losses on residential mortgage loans and securities of approximately $1 billion contributed to about a 50% year-to-year decline in net earnings at the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in the company's first fiscal quarter. (Read More)

Auditor Raises Doubts about Origen's Future

Manufactured housing lender Origen Financial Inc., Southfield, Mich., said its auditor, Grant Thornton, has given the company an unqualified opinion, a move which in accounting terminology raises doubt about the real estate investment trust's ability to continue as a going concern. (Read More)

ASF and SIFMA Oppose MN Foreclosure Bill

The ASF and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association are opposing the Minnesota Subprime Foreclosure Deferment Act of 2008. (Read More)

S&P Sees Slowing of CRE Appreciation Rate

A Standard & Poor's index of commercial real estate prices shows that while prices were still rising for most property types and regions of the country in December, the rate of appreciation was slowing. (Read More)

Alvaro de Molina to Lead GMAC Financial Services

Alvaro G. de Molina has been named CEO of GMAC Financial Services, replacing Eric Feldstein, who is taking a position at parent Cerberus Capital Management. (Read More)

Johnson Capital Names Hotchkiss to Head Office

Real estate investment banking firm and commercial mortgage broker Johnson Capital has opened an office in Chicago and named vice president Brendan Hotchkiss to head it. (Read More)

Real-Time ID Verification Now Possible

Rapid Reporting's DirectCheck product will be providing instant verification of Social Security numbers direct from the Social Security Administration for the first time in the mortgage industry. (Read More)

Integration Helps Boost Loan Quality

Lydian has integrated with NYLX to help lenders increase overall loan quality. (Read More)

New York Life Joins FHLBank System

New York Life Insurance Company has joined the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York as a new member, the FHLBank said. (Read More)

Thornburg Reaches Deal on Margin Calls

Thornburg Mortgage has entered a 364-day agreement with five of its remaining reverse repurchase counterparties and their affiliates that conditionally reduces margin requirements for financing the company's mortgage securities and suspends the counterparties' right to invoke further margin calls and related rights under their reverse repurchase agreements. (Read More)

MBA Chairman: Expect More Bad Press

Reflecting on how the mainstream press has treated the mortgage business in the past year, Mortgage Bankers Association chairman Kieran Quinn told attendees at the Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations in Atlantic City, "I'm convinced there is an endless supply of bad headlines and they are going to run through 2008." (Read More)

Fannie Exec: Things Will Get Worse Before Getting Better

Drawing on his hobby of whitewater rafting, Zach Oppenheimer, senior vice president for the single family business at Fannie Mae, noted that the mortgage industry has been through rough waters before, including the 1983 recession, problems in the Oil Patch States, the Russian debt crisis and the Sept. 11 attacks. (Read More)

Morgan Takes Mortgage Hit

Morgan Stanley during the first fiscal quarter produced its second highest fixed income sales and trading revenues ever but also took mortgage proprietary trading net writedowns of about $1.2 billion. (Read More)

Fed Slashes Short-Term Rates

The Federal Open Market Committee Tuesday afternoon cut its target for the federal funds rate by 75 basis points in a move that was largely anticipated although more aggressive than some expected. (Read More)

DRI Web Enables Default Management

Newport Beach, Calif.-based DRI Management Systems has planned to launch RINCON, a Web-enabled default management application. (Read More)

SMART Doc Validation Patent Goes Live

At the MBA Tech Show, Fannie Mae has contributed a new patent to MISMO under the MISMO Intellectual Rights Policy so that it may be used by the industry on a royalty-free basis. (Read More)

WKFS Simplifies the Closing Package

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services has sought to make the closing process for first mortgage and home equity faster with its new Simplified Mortgage tool, which reduces the recordable mortgage document into two smaller, easier to understand pieces. (Read More)

Combining EDM and Web Centralization

Ellie Mae is bringing together electronic document management and online retail lending with its new CenterWise offering. (Read More)

Moody's Sees Decline in Commercial Real Estate

A Moody's Investors Service index of commercial real estate prices declined by 0.6% in January and now stands down 2.4% from its peak in October of 2007. (Read More)

Moody's Lowers National City's Home Equity Servicer Rating

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded National City Bank's servicer quality rating for second liens by one notch, citing lower ratings on the parent company's long-term debt as the primary factor in the rating action. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Mixed as Market Weakens

Seven of 15 mortgage stocks routinely tracked by MortgageWire declined amid a broad market sell off on Wednesday. (Read More)

OFHEO Agrees to Loosen Capital Requirements

OFHEO has formally agreed to loosen capital requirements on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a move the agency expects to provide up to $200 billion in immediate liquidity to the MBS market. (Read More)

Rep Frank: Street Needs Stricter Regs, Capital Standards

House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank, D., Mass., said he will push for stricter regulations and capital standards for investment banking firms in the wake of the nation's mortgage crisis. (Read More)

Robinson Offers Update on BoA Countrywide Deal

Bank of America has a rigid transition process it uses for any of the acquisitions it has done or is doing, said its president for consumer real estate Floyd Robinson. (Read More)

Conflicts Seen with HOEPA/RESPA Proposals

There are conflicts in the way the Federal Reserve Board's Home Owners Equity Protection Act regulatory proposal and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Real Estate Settlement and Procedure Act regulatory proposal treat yield spread premiums, an official with the Mortgage Bankers Association pointed out. (Read More)

Long-Term Mortgage Rates Plummet

Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.87% with an average 0.5 point for the week ending March 20, 2008, down from last week when it averaged 6.13%. (Read More)

MBA Sees Limited Refi Risks for CRE/MF Loans

The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that the commercial and multifamily mortgage market faces limited exposure to refinance risks stemming from the current credit crunch through the release of its Research DataNote. (Read More)

DBRS Downgrades 676 MBS Classes

DBRS has downgraded 676 classes from 113 residential mortgage-backed securities transactions, reflecting higher serious delinquencies relative to the available credit enhancement. (Read More)

Credit Plus Adds Loss-Mit Service

Credit Plus Inc., Salisbury, Md., is creating a new company, Mortgage Works, which will specialize in loss mitigation products with the goal of allowing lenders to identify potential problem loans in their portfolio before they become an issue. (Read More)

Financial Stocks Lead New Rally

Financial stocks led a broad rally on Thursday, and some analysts attributed the gains in part to confidence stemming from recent moves to pump liquidity into the mortgage sector. (Read More)

Resales Rise Again

Sales of existing single-family homes rose 2.8% in February as sellers in tough markets finally began coming to terms with falling house prices and accepting lower bids. (Read More)

JPMorgan Amends Pact With Bear

JPMorgan Chase and The Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. have amended their merger agreement, making changes that include raising the implied value of Bear Stearns common stock from $2 per share to approximately $10 per share. (Read More)

MBS Cap Raised for FHLBanks

The 12 Federal Home Loan Banks have been given a green light by their regulator to purchase over $100 billion in mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the next two years to provide additional liquidity for the MBS market. (Read More)

CIT Cites Mortgage-Linked Liquidity Problems

Capital markets disruptions linked to U.S. mortgage woes and rating agency actions have affected the liquidity of CIT Group Inc., according to the New York-based commercial finance company. (Read More)

Financial Stocks Lead New Rally

Financial stocks led a broad rally on Thursday, and some analysts attributed the gains in part to confidence stemming from recent moves to pump liquidity into the mortgage sector. (Read More)

Fannie's MBS Issuance Rises

Fannie Mae issued $69.4 billion in mortgage-backed securities in February, up from $49.1 billion in January and $41.7 billion in February of 2007. (Read More)

Generation Adopts 'Suitability' Standard

In response to reports of abusive lending practices in the reverse mortgage arena, an Atlanta-based lender has instituted procedures to protect seniors from taking on loans that are unsuitable for their personal situations. (Read More)

Firms Launch Mortgage Restructuring JV

BlackRock Inc., Highfields Capital Management, and a management team led by a former Countrywide executive have announced the formation of a company that will acquire and restructure distressed residential mortgage loans. (Read More)

CRE Office Investment Group Formed

The formation of Capital Markets Investment Group, a group of commercial real estate professionals specializing in the sale and acquisition of office investment properties throughout the Western United States, has been announced. (Read More)

Lexington Names New Chairman

Lexington Realty Trust, a New York-based real estate investment trust, has announced the election of E. Robert Roskind, who served as chairman from 1993 to 2006, as chairman of its board of trustees. (Read More)

S&P 500 to List HCP

HCP Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Long Beach, Calif., will replace Commerce Bancorp Inc. in the S&P 500 Index after the close of trading on March 31, Standard & Poor's has announced. (Read More)

IndyMac ABS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of IndyMac ABS Inc. home equity securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

IndyMac MH Class Downgraded

Class M-1 of the series 1998-2 IndyMac manufactured housing contract pass-through certificates has been downgraded from CC/DR3 to C/DR4 by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Index: Home Price Declines Accelerating

The decline in house prices continued to accelerate in January, as prices fell to a level that was down 10.7% nationally over the previous 12 months, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller housing price index, which tracks home sales in 20 metropolitan statistical areas. (Read More)

Clinton Backs Dems' FHA/Refi Plan

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is calling for aggressive action to stem rising foreclosures and signaled her support for a Democratic plan to refinance 1 million at-risk homeowners into Federal Housing Administration-guaranteed loans. (Read More)

No FHA Program in Foreclosure Bill?

When the Senate takes up a foreclosure prevention bill during the first week of April, the legislative package will not include a $300 billion Federal Housing Administration program to refinance distressed homeowners, according to Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. (Read More)

Citing CDOs, Best Downgrades Great Western

A.M. Best Co., a credit rating agency headquartered in Oldwick, N.J., has downgraded Ogden, Utah-based Great Western Insurance Co.'s financial strength ratings from B-plus-plus to B-plus and its issuer credit rating from bbb-plus to bbb-minus because of problem investments in collateralized debt obligations. (Read More)

Thornburg Amends Bylaws for Note Offering

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., has amended its bylaws to allow a single investor to conditionally acquire up to 30% of its voting stock in connection with a crucial private note offering it has planned. (Read More)

Reverse Counselors Launch Association

A coalition of reverse mortgage counseling agencies and experts on caring for the elderly has announced the formation of the National Housing Counseling Association. (Read More)

New Web Tool Helps Prove FACT Compliance

Compliance Coach Inc., San Diego, has launched Web-based software that enables compliance with a federal regulation that imposes new responsibilities on businesses to prevent consumer identity theft. (Read More)

MGIC Prices Stock Offering

MGIC Investment Corp., Milwaukee, is selling 37.34 million shares of its common stock in a public offering priced at $11.25 per share. (Read More)

GGP Prices $800M+ Stock Offering

General Growth Properties Inc., a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, has priced a public offering of approximately 22.83 million shares of common stock at $36 per share. (Read More)

Moody's Applies SQ Ratings in Russia

Moody's Investors Service has applied its "servicer quality national scale ratings" (tailored for primary servicers in local markets) to Russian servicers for the first time. (Read More)

New-Home Sales Decline

New-homes sales fell 1.8% in February -- the fourth consecutive monthly decline -- and builders will be hawking a large inventory of newly built houses as the spring homebuying season begins. (Read More)

Credit Crisis Price Tag: $460B?

Hedge funds and Wall Street may see up to $460 billion in credit losses before the current crisis ends, according to new Wall Street research. (Read More)

Paulson: Leave 'Underwater' Solutions to Bush

Congress should complete action on a Federal Housing Administration modernization bill and leave it to the Bush administration to find ways to help borrowers with "underwater" mortgages, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday in a major policy speech. (Read More)

Applications Spike

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, jumped from 652.0 to 965.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended March 21 as refinancings surged 82.2% in response to lower mortgage rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

OFHEO Reverses Course on Loan Limits

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has reversed course and decided to keep the conforming loan limit at $417,000 in "2009 and subsequent years" in using final guidance on calculating the loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

McCain Urges Lenders to Avoid Gov't Aid

Mortgage lenders should do everything they can to help families stay in their homes before looking to the government for assistance, according to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. (Read More)

Freddie's Overdue Rate Rises

Freddie Mac's single-family delinquency rate on its total portfolio of owned or guaranteed loans rose to 71 basis points in January, up from 65 bps in December and from 43 bps a year earlier. (Read More)

UK Lender Downsizing May Cost 2,000 Jobs

U.K. government-owned Northern Rock, a liquidity-strapped mortgage lender, has plans to create a "smaller, more focused, financially viable mortgage bank which will be returned to the private sector" that will result in the loss of 2,000 jobs, according to the union that worked with the bank's board on the proposal. (Read More)

Interthinx Ensures Mini-Jumbo Compliance

Interthinx Inc., Agoura Hills, Calif., has expanded its PredProtect product to allow for loan-level regulatory compliance in order to respond to regional differences in limits for "mini-jumbo" conforming loans. (Read More)

PMI Forms Home Preservation Team

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., Walnut Creek, Calif., has announced the formation of a homeownership preservation team led by John Jelavich, PMI's newly appointed vice president of homeownership preservation initiatives. (Read More)

Ginnie Touts New Issuer in Reverse Program

Ginnie Mae has announced that Financial Freedom, a leading reverse mortgage lender and a subsidiary of IndyMac Bank FSB, has joined Ginnie Mae's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Mortgage-Backed Securities program as an issuer. (Read More)

eAppraiseIT Unveils Data Assist

First American eAppraiseIT, Poway, Calif., has announced the introduction of a valuation tool that it says offers quick, low-cost, accurate values for credit decisions, loss mitigation, portfolio analysis, and quality assurance. (Read More)

E&Y: Weak Dollar Benefiting Hotels

Thanks largely to the weak U.S. dollar, the prospects are good for solid performance this year by the U.S. hospitality sector, according to the 2008 U.S. Lodging Report by Ernst & Young LLP. (Read More)

Bear Stearns Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Nine classes from four issues of Bear Stearns mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Oxford CDO Classes Downgraded

Seven classes of notes issued by Oxford Street Finance Ltd., a collateralized debt obligation that consists partly of subprime mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded and placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades SASCO Pass-Thrus

Five classes of Structured Asset Securities Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

DLJ CMBS Class Downgraded

Class B-7 of DLJ Commercial Mortgage Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1999-CG3, has been downgraded from B-minus to CCC/DR2 by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

'08 Mortgage Fraud Losses Forecast at $2.5B

Losses from mortgage fraud will reach $2.5 billion in 2008 and comparable losses will continue for several years thereafter, according to new research from TowerGroup, Needham, Mass. (Read More)

Probe Faults New Century Management

Senior management at New Century Financial Corp. "largely rejected or ignored" staff recommendations to tighten credit standards in 2004, which evidentially lead to a "tsunami of impaired and defaulted mortgages" and the subprime lender's bankruptcy, according to a court-appointed investigator. (Read More)

Minority RE Professionals Unveil 5-Part Plan

Noting the housing downturn's disproportionate impact on minorities, groups of Hispanic, Asian, and African-American real estate professionals have put forth a "five-part plan of action" to protect ownership for people of color. (Read More)

Fed Eyes Enforcement of 'Predatory' Proposal

Although the comment period isn't over until April, the Federal Reserve Board is already working with other federal and state regulators to enforce the Fed's proposed new rule to combat abusive lending practices. (Read More)

NRMLA Seeks Higher HECM Loan Limits

High loan limits for Federal Housing Administration reverse mortgages could help refinance seniors out of subprime loans and enable them to stay in their homes free from monthly mortgage payments, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. (Read More)

Shearson Names Restructuring Officer

Harry R. Kraatz has been appointed to the newly created post of chief restructuring officer at Shearson Financial Network Inc., a Las Vegas-based mortgage broker that has temporarily discontinued all operations. (Read More)

30-Year Rate Drifts Lower

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 5.87% to 5.85% over the seven-day period ended March 27, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Best Launches Title, Mortgage Guaranty Center

A.M. Best Co., Oldwick, N.J., has announced the launch of Best's Title & Mortgage Guaranty Center, a Web portal that provides access to information generated by the company on title insurance and the mortgage guaranty industry. (Read More)

Moody's Seeks Comment on MBS Enhancement

Moody's Investors Service is seeking market comment on five proposed enhancements to the securitization process for U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)

Bear Stearns MBS Tranches Downgraded

Sixty-three tranches from 17 mortgage-backed securities deals issued by Bear Stearns have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Opteum MBS Classes Downgraded

Thirty-eight tranches from four transactions issued by Opteum Mortgage Acceptance Corp. have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

SAIL Subprime MBS Tranches Downgraded

Twenty-two tranches from four subprime deals issued by Structured Asset Investment Loan Trust in 2004 and 2005 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades GSC MBS Classes

Eleven tranches from two transactions issued by GSC Capital in 2006 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

CBA Small-Balance Classes Downgraded

Eight classes from three CBA Commercial Assets small-balance commercial mortgage-backed securities deals have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Luminent MBS Classes Downgraded

Three tranches of mortgage-backed securities from Luminent Mortgage Trust 2005-1 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades ML-CFC CMBS Pass-Thrus

Two classes from ML-CFC commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 2006-3 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, and four have been placed on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Sequoia Alt-A Classes Downgraded

Three tranches of mortgage-backed securities from Sequoia Alternative Loan Trust 2006-1 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Freddie: House Prices May Not Trough Till '10

Housing prices may not bottom out until 2010, if then, according to the deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Liquidity Concerns May Be Dissipating

Response to the Federal Reserve's first auction designed to address liquidity concerns via financings that allow a greater range of collateral seems to indicate that liquidity concerns have dissipated somewhat. (Read More)

Fed Plans Countrywide Merger Hearings

The Federal Reserve Board is soliciting public input on Bank of America's acquisition of the nation's largest mortgage lender and servicer, Countrywide Financial Corp., and plans to hold two public hearings in April. (Read More)

Subprime Defaults Exceed 25%, FBR Says

The default rate on securitized subprime loans hit 25.2% in December, up 185 bp from that of the previous month, but defaults on alternative-A loans are also surging, according to a report by Friedman Billings Ramsey Investment Management. (Read More)

Index Finds Home Price Declines in 28 States

Home prices in 28 states showed year-over-year declines in January in the LoanPerformance Home Price Index, according to First American CoreLogic, San Francisco. (Read More)

Radian Won't Insure Stated-Income Loans

Radian Guaranty Inc., Philadelphia, the primary mortgage insurance subsidiary of Radian Group Inc., says it will no longer issue policies for stated-income and stated-asset loans. (Read More)

Second-Home Market Share Declines

Purchases of second homes accounted for 33% of all home sales in 2007, down from 36% the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

Firm Touts Canadian Mortgage Bond Sale

A sale of government-backed Canadian mortgage bonds that closed Thursday appears to be one of the biggest debt offerings of its kind, according to White & Case LLP, a legal adviser involved in the sale. (Read More)

Farmer Mac Enters $400M Note Deal

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. and the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. have announced the sale of $400 million of five-year notes secured by National Rural to Farmer Mac. (Read More)

Mortgage Biz Cited in Bank IDR Downgrade

The short-term Issuer Default Rating and short-term deposit rating of Chevy Chase Bank FSB have been downgraded from F2 to F3 by Fitch Ratings, which cited the "challenging operating environment" of the mortgage banking business. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 100 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on March 27 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

SARM Pass-Thrus Downgraded

Two classes from Structured Adjustable Rate Mortgage Loan Trust mortgage pass-through certificates series 2004-13 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Nomura MBS Class Downgraded

Class B-6 of Nomura Asset Acceptance Corp. mortgage pass-through securities, series 2003-A2, has been downgraded from BB-plus to BB by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Feedback

Replies to our latest survey question are running in favor of allowing lender/servicers to write down the principal of an "underwater" mortgage, with a right to recoup some of the loss when the property is sold. (Read More)

Treasury Proposes State-Rating Mortgage Panel

The Treasury Department is proposing a federal Mortgage Origination Commission that would rate the adequacy of state regulation and licensing of mortgage lenders and brokers as part of a larger plan to restructure the financial regulatory system. (Read More)

HUD Secretary Resigns Under Fire

Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson is "stepping down" on April 18 after being dogged by allegations of using his office to help friends and Bush supporters as well as recent calls for his resignation by two senators that oversee the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Read More)

Ginnie Plans Reverse-Friendly REMIC

Ginnie Mae is opening the door for issuers to combine single-family mortgage-backed securities with reverse mortgage securities in a new real estate mortgage investment conduit, which should give the agency's fledging HECM mortgage-backed securities program a boost. (Read More)

FDIC Orders Fremont to Recapitalize Sub

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has sent Fremont General Corp., Brea, Calif., and its subsidiary Fremont General Credit Corp. a supervisory prompt corrective action directive ordering them to recapitalize Fremont Investment & Loan by May 26. (Read More)

Citi Names Consumer Banking Chief

Teresa A. "Terri" Dial has been named to the newly created post of chief executive officer of Citi Consumer Banking in North America, which includes oversight of CitiMortgage, and to the post of global head of Citi consumer strategy. (Read More)

Wallick & Volk Buys 4 Mortgage Branches

Wallick & Volk Mortgage Bankers, Cheyenne, Wyo., has announced the acquisition of the retail branch network of Citizens Mortgage Corp., Waco, Texas. (Read More)

ARE Launches Offshore RE Funds

ARE Asset Management, Miami, has launched two offshore investment funds registered in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, with the aim of making income-producing and opportunistic investments in the U.S. residential and commercial real estate credit markets. (Read More)

Zillow: Pricier Homes Took Bigger Hit

An analysis by Zillow, a real estate value provider, concludes that higher-priced homes saw a greater price decline last year than lower-priced homes, but that the opposite occurred in some markets depending on the location of the housing. (Read More)

RE Trust Mulling Restructuring as REIT

American Community Properties Trust, St. Charles, Md., has announced that a special committee of its board is exploring the possibility of restructuring the company so that it may elect to be treated as a real estate investment trust. (Read More)

Groups Unveil Draft of E-Recording Procedures

MISMO and the Property Records Industry Association have published an Intellectual Property Rights Disclosure Draft of business requirements for recording instruments in common electronic document formats. (Read More)

Fitch: CMBS Overdues Creep Up

Delinquencies on mortgages supporting commercial mortgage-backed securities rose slightly to 0.33% in February, largely as a result of higher delinquencies on multifamily loans, according to a Fitch Ratings loan delinquency index. (Read More)

Regions Bank's Short-Term IDR Downgraded

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the short-term Issuer Default Rating of Regions Bank from F1-plus to F1, citing "increased concerns" about the bank's residential homebuilder portfolio. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

Seventy additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on March 28 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

DLJ Pass-Thru Downgraded

Class B3 of DLJ Mortgage Acceptance Corp. series 1994-3 mortgage pass-through certificates has been downgraded from CCC/DR2 to C/DR3 by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Sequoia MBS Classes

Classes B-3, B-4, and B-5 of Sequoia Mortgage Trust 11 mortgage pass-through certificates have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

UBS Takes $19B Mortgage Hit; Chair Resigns

UBS AG -- once a major warehouse lender to the subprime industry -- says it will take a $19 billion writedown on its mortgage-related investments in the first quarter, including charges against its structured finance positions. (Read More)

NatCity Up for Sale?

National City Corp., Cleveland, says it is exploring "strategic alternatives," a corporate euphemism for putting the company up for sale. (Read More)

Lehman Prices $4B Offering

Lehman Brothers has priced a $4.0 billion offering of convertible preferred shares that boosted its common stock price to levels above $40 Tuesday morning from a Monday close just over $37. (Read More)

Thornburg Obtains Key Capital Infusion

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., says it has completed a key $1.35 billion private-placement capital raise from the sale of senior subordinated secured notes, warrants to purchase common stock, and a participation in certain mortgage-related assets. (Read More)

Blocked FHA Reform Set for Foreclosure Bill?

House and Senate conferees appear to be at a stalemate on the Federal Housing Administration modernization bill, but there is talk about attaching it to a foreclosure prevention bill Senate Democrats plan to bring to the floor for a vote on April 1. (Read More)

MBA Sub Mulls Fraud Prevention Database

Lender Technologies Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association, is circulating a draft Request for Proposal regarding the creation of a national database to help detect and prevent mortgage fraud. (Read More)

Underperforming CRE Loan Fund Established

Younan Properties Inc., Los Angeles, has announced the formation of a commercial debt group and opportunity fund to acquire underperforming commercial loans backed by commercial real estate. (Read More)

Chicago FHLBank's '07 Profits Sink

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago posted earnings of $98 million for 2007, down 50% from the level of the previous year, and the troubled bank expects to report a loss in the first quarter, according to its 2007 annual financial report. (Read More)

COFI Records 2nd-Biggest Drop

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index stood at 3.560% for February, a decline of 41 basis points from 3.970% for January. (Read More)

KKR Moves to Satisfy CP Investors

In order to address the claims of commercial paper investors, KKR Financial Holdings LLC, San Francisco, has agreed to give them triple-A rated residential mortgage-backed securities supporting CP issued by asset-backed conduits. (Read More)

FirstPlus Boosts Sub's Mortgage Banking Plans

FirstPlus Financial Group, Irving, Texas, has announced a $1 million debenture agreement with its subsidiary Rutgers Investment Group to enable Rutgers to expand its mortgage banking operations "more aggressively." (Read More)

Luminent Plans to Drop REIT Status

Luminent Mortgage Capital Inc., Philadelphia, has announced a proposed restructuring under which it would convert from a real estate investment trust into a publicly traded partnership. (Read More)

Impac Settles Majority of Repo Claims

Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Irvine, Calif., has announced the settlement of "a majority" of its outstanding repurchase claims. (Read More)

REIT Tagged 'Bear of the Day'

Zacks Equity Research, Chicago, announced April 1 that Liberty Property Trust, Malvern, Pa., had been designated its "Bear of the Day," a stock expected to underperform the markets over the next three to six months. (Read More)

MICA: Primary New MI Hits 12-Month Low

For the first time since last February, the total amount of primary new insurance written by members of the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America fell below $20 billion. (Read More)

GOP Ends Filibuster on Foreclosure Bill

The Senate voted 94-1 Tuesday to begin debate on a foreclosure prevention bill after Republican leaders agreed to stop a filibuster and work with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on a consensus bill. (Read More)

Bernanke Touts Fed's Impact on Rates

The Federal Reserve Board's actions, including the rescue of Bear Stearns, have helped to lower mortgage rates in the past few weeks, according to Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Surge With Dow

Fourteen of the 15 mortgage-related stocks tracked by MortgageWire were up Tuesday as the Dow Jones industrial average skyrocketed 391 points to close at 12,654. (Read More)

Applications Drop

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 965.9 to 688.3 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended March 28, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

LIUNA Launches 'Pigs at the Trough' Tour

The Laborers' International Union of North America has announced that it will kick off a "Pigs at the Trough" tour April 3 in Los Angeles outside the annual meeting of KB Home to highlight the role of corporate homebuilders in creating the subprime crisis. (Read More)

Euro Commission to Probe NorthRock Aid

The European Commission in Brussels has launched an investigation into the United Kingdom aid package for mortgage bank Northern Rock PLC, Newcastle upon Tyne. (Read More)

Wachovia Tops MBA Commercial/MF Ranks

Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America were the top commercial/multifamily originators in 2007, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Read More)

Survey: Reverses Fund Everyday Expenses

Paying everyday expenses is the No. 1 use of proceeds by seniors for their reverse mortgage loan, according to a survey by the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta. (Read More)

DocuSign Cites Selection by Wells Fargo

DocuSign, a Web-based electronic signature service, has announced its selection by Wells Fargo Funding as an approved electronic signature vendor. (Read More)

Group Launches MortgageTown Website

The National Consumers League has announced the launch of MortgageTown, a website aimed at helping prospective buyers understand the risks and benefits of homeownership. (Read More)

Director Named at Distressed Mortgage Fund

Jordan Paul has been named senior managing director of the recently established Related Investment Fund, which was formed to buy distressed mortgages and property from other developers, lenders, and property owners. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades Lehman Alt-A Tranches

Nearly 280 tranches from 27 alternative-A transactions issued by Lehman XS Trust Series have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

Nearly 140 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on April 1 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Westways CDO Classes Downgraded

Seven classes of notes and loan interests from Westways Funding XI Ltd., a mortgage market value collateralized debt obligation, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Hanover Posts Big Loss, Needs Cap Infusion

Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings, a mortgage investing REIT based in Edison, N.J., lost $37.7 million in the fourth quarter, signaling that it may not survive as a going concern unless it receives a capital infusion. (Read More)

Triad May Cease Writing New MI

Triad Guaranty Corp., Winston-Salem, N.C., has raised the possibility of going into run-off and ceasing the writing of new mortgage insurance policies. (Read More)

FHA Bill Raises Loan Limit, Downpayment

Senate Banking Committee leaders have agreed to permanently increase the Federal Housing Administration loan limit to $550,000 as part of a consensus housing bill that also raises the FHA downpayment requirement, sources have told MortgageWire. (Read More)

FHA Requiring 2nd Appraisals on Jumbos

The Federal Housing Administration is requiring a second appraisal on jumbo mortgages above $417,000 in declining markets and limiting the maximum LTV on cash-out refinancings to 85%. (Read More)

Consumer Credit Delinquencies Soar

Consumer loan delinquency rates, including those for home equity lines and loans, increased sharply in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the American Bankers Association. (Read More)

Judge Clears Way for Countrywide Subpoenas

A federal judge in Pittsburgh has ruled that a bankruptcy trustee can subpoena loan documents from Countrywide Financial Corp. and interview company executives under oath as part of a civil case involving the nation's largest residential servicer. (Read More)

CNBS Resurrects HomeBanc Name

CNBS Financial Group Inc., Tampa, Fla., has announced the acquisition of the name HomeBanc for use on its banks and loan production offices. (Read More)

Frost Mortgage Becomes Division of PRMI

Frost Mortgage Banking Group has entered into an arrangement to operate as a division of Primary Residential Mortgage Inc., Salt Lake City, allowing Frost to focus on borrower relationships while PRMI provides a platform of financial and operational support. (Read More)

MetLife to Buy EverBank Reverse Mortgage

MetLife Inc., New York, has announced that it will acquire EverBank Reverse Mortgage LLC, Bloomfield, N.J., from EverBank Financial Corp., Jacksonville, Fla. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.85% to 5.88% over the seven-day period ended April 3, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Zillow Launches Mortgage Marketplace

Zillow.com, Seattle, has announced the launch of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, which it describes as a transparent lending marketplace offering borrowers "an anonymous and hassle-free way" to request custom loan quotes from registered lenders. (Read More)

Hotel Company Closes RE Fund

Kimpton Group Holding LLC, a San Francisco-based boutique hotel company, has announced the closing of its third institutional real estate fund, KHP Fund II LP. (Read More)

Apartment Owners Shrinking as Managers Grow?

The average portfolio size of the apartment industry's largest owners is declining, while concentrations among apartment management firms are growing, according to a survey by the National Multi Housing Council. (Read More)

Wells Broadens E-Disclosure Acceptance

On the heels of approving the acceptance of DocuSign electronic signature technology, Wells Fargo has announced that it will now accept e-disclosures and e-1003s from eLynx and Encomia as well. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 30 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on April 2 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Mortgage Jobs Stabilizing?

Employment in the mortgage industry appears to be stabilizing, with a loss of only 700 jobs in February, as refinancing activity and loan workouts keep the current work force busy. (Read More)

Consumer Groups Rap Senate Housing Bill

Consumer groups are contending that the Senate's housing bill provides "very little" relief for homeowners at risk of foreclosure now that Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., has withdrawn an amendment that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages. (Read More)

SAR Filers Improving at Fraud Detection

Financial institutions that file "suspicious activity reports" are getting better at detecting mortgage fraud before the loan is funded, according to a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network report. (Read More)

Bad News Continues for Triad

The bad news for Triad Guaranty Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., continues, as Standard & Poor's announced that it will drop the company from its SmallCap 600 Index after the markets close on April 7. (Read More)

German Bank Takes $6.7B B&C-Related Hit

Bayerische Landesbank, Munich, Germany, has taken 4.3 billion euros ($6.7 billion) of writedowns between mid-2007 and the end of March 2008 on a portfolio that includes billions of dollars in U.S. subprime residential mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)

Radian Unveils Foreclosure Prevention Plan

Radian Guaranty, a Philadelphia-based mortgage insurer, has announced the introduction of Radian FastAdvance, a program aimed at helping servicers assist distressed homeowners via loan modifications and customized repayment plans. (Read More)

Huntington Labeled 'Bear of the Day'

Huntington Bancshares, Columbus, Ohio, has been designated the "Bear of the Day" for April 4 by Zacks Equity Research, Chicago. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes Jumbo MBS Tranches

Moody's has placed 23 tranches from 11 residential mortgage-backed securitizations under review for possible downgrade following a review of jumbo prime residential MBS deals issued in 2006 and 2007. (Read More)

JPMorgan Alt-A Tranches Downgraded

Ninety-six tranches from 16 alternative-A transactions issued by J.P. Morgan have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

First Franklin Subprime Classes Downgraded

Forty-six tranches in seven subprime transactions issued by First Franklin Mortgage Loan Trust have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Feedback

National Mortgage News and Origination News are encouraging loan officers to fill out a survey that is currently posted on the NMN website. (Read More)

Texas Pacific May Invest in WaMu

Texas Pacific Group, an investment fund managed by a former director of Washington Mutual, is talking to the Seattle thrift about injecting money into the troubled institution, industry sources have told MortgageWire. (Read More)

Chicago/Dallas FHLBank Merger Dead

The troubled Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank is formulating a plan to continue to operate on a "stand-alone" basis now that merger discussions with the Dallas FHLBank have ended, and its president and chief executive, Mike Thomas, is stepping down as of April 11. (Read More)

Dodd 'Disappointed' in Housing Bill

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., says he is "disappointed" with the way the Senate's bipartisan housing stimulus bill is shaping up because it doesn't do enough to help people at risk of losing their homes. (Read More)

Reverse Servicer Plans Front-End Offering

Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Spring, Texas, has announced plans to expand its operations as a technology systems provider. (Read More)

Company Launches Special Servicing Unit

Strategic Recovery Group LLC, a national mortgage asset recovery company based in Plano, Texas, has launched a special servicing unit, Acqura Loan Services, to meet the growing needs of lenders, hedge funds, and investors in distressed debt. (Read More)

Anthracite Touts $93M Capital Infusion

Anthracite Capital Inc., New York, has announced a $93.5 million capital investment in its common and preferred stock by DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners Inc. (Read More)

Fremont's Servicer Rating Downgraded

The servicer quality rating of Fremont Investment & Loan as a primary servicer of subprime loans has been downgraded from SQ4 to SQ4-minus by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

Over 150 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on April 4 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades 2nd-Lien MBS Classes

More than 50 certificates in 10 second-lien mortgage-backed security transactions from three issuers have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

First Union CMBS Classes Downgraded

Three classes from First Union National Bank Commercial Mortgage Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2002-C1, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

WaMu Getting $7B Cash Infusion

Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, is getting a $7 billion cash infusion through the direct sale of equity securities to TPG Capital and others, including its top institutional shareholders. (Read More)

Rangel Proposes Homebuyer Tax Credit

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., has proposed a housing tax bill that includes a $7,500 tax credit to stimulate purchases of foreclosed properties and to assist first-time homebuyers. (Read More)

NHC Calls for Bulk B&C Restructuring Plan

The current response to the foreclosure crisis is "inadequate," and a federally funded program to restructure subprime mortgages in bulk is crucial to avoid the wave of impending foreclosures, according to the National Housing Conference, which is supported by major mortgage lenders and affordable housing advocates. (Read More)

DB's Whole-Loan Trading Chief Departs

Deutsche Bank managing director Michael Commaroto, who has overseen the foreign bank's whole-loan trading operation for much of the decade, has left the company, industry sources have confirmed to MortgageWire. (Read More)

Reverse Mortgages Called a Sure Thing

The reverse mortgage business is "a guaranteed growth industry," according to a venture capitalist who says he's willing to invest in practically any aspect of the sector. (Read More)

Lifestyle to Rule Reverse Market?

The reverse mortgage market will look far different in the years ahead, according to the co-chair of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. (Read More)

IMF: Crisis Hasn't Hurt Emerging Markets Yet

The credit crisis is continuing to broaden and spread to other mortgage and corporate debt markets, but emerging markets so far have been largely unaffected by the concern, according to the International Monetary Fund. (Read More)

Zoot Automates Red-Flag Regs

Zoot, Bozeman, Ariz., has created a set of tools to help consumer credit grantors comply with so-called red-flag regulations. (Read More)

EMC Mortgage Names EVPs

Teji Singh and Melinda Napoli have been named executive vice presidents at EMC Mortgage Corp., Lewisville, Texas. (Read More)

ALTA Names Marketing SVP

Michelle Korsmo has been named senior vice president for marketing and member programs at the American Land Title Association, the national trade association for the title insurance industry. (Read More)

Canadian Housing Starts Dip

The seasonally-adjusted annual rate of Canadian housing starts inched down from 255,600 units in February to 254,700 units in March, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., Ottawa. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades Subprime MBS

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded more than 750 tranches in 77 subprime residential mortgage-backed security transactions from three issuers. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 100 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on April 7 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

American Home MBS Classes Downgraded

Twenty-nine certificates from five transactions issued by American Home Mortgage Investment Trust have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

First Franklin 2nd-Lien MBS Downgraded

Twenty-eight certificates from three transactions issued by First Franklin Mortgage Loan Trust and backed by second-lien loans have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

CBA Small-Balance CMBS Class Downgraded

Class M-5 of CBA Commercial Assets LLC small balance commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2005-1, has been downgraded from Ba2 to B1 by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes Wachovia CMBS Classes

Classes F, G, and H of Wachovia Bank Commercial Mortgage Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2005-C20, have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Bush Turns Back on Senate Foreclosure Bill

The Bush administration has unexpectedly turned its back on the Senate foreclosure prevention bill, arguing that it would "do more harm than good by bailing out lenders and speculators." (Read More)

Frank Warns Servicers of Tougher Regulation

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., is warning mortgage servicers that they could face very restrictive regulation next year if they don't cooperate in modifying loans for distressed borrowers. (Read More)

AFSA Spotlights YSP-Linked Liability Issue

The American Financial Services Association says it could support the Federal Reserve Board's HOEPA proposal for dealing with yield-spread premiums if lenders are not held responsible for a mortgage broker's actions. (Read More)

FHA Expands Secure Program

The Federal Housing Administration has expanded its FHA Secure program so that delinquent borrowers who have missed three payments in the previous 12 months can qualify for an FHA-insured mortgage if the servicer writes down the first mortgage to a 90% loan-to-value ratio. (Read More)

CRL: Brokers Costlier Than Lenders for B&C

In its latest study, the Center for Responsible Lending maintains that subprime borrowers pay significantly more for getting a loan from a mortgage broker than from a retail lender. (Read More)

Minutes: Fed Saw Limits of Monetary Policy

In recent meetings at which extraordinary steps were taken, the Federal Reserve's monetary policy-making panel had concluded that "monetary policy alone could not address fully the underlying problems in the housing market and in financial markets," according to newly released minutes from the meetings. (Read More)

Freddie Enhancing PC Disclosures

Freddie Mac is enhancing its disclosures so that investors in its guaranteed mortgage-backed securities can tell whether the underlying loans were originated by mortgage brokers or the borrower's income and assets were verified. (Read More)

Applications Rise

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, rose from 688.3 to 725.6 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended April 4, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

S&P Downgrades MIs

Standard & Poor's has downgraded certain ratings of mortgage insurers MGIC, PMI, Radian, and Old Republic International Corp. in response to the "greater-than-expected housing slump," and some have now fallen below what are considered key levels by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

Wells Accepting E-Docs From Fiserv

Wells Fargo Funding has added Fiserv to the list of vendors from which it will accept e-1003s and e-disclosures. (Read More)

IndymacBank Reports $335M Alt-A Deal

IndymacBank has announced the securitization of $335 million of prime jumbo and alternative-A credit hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages that it traded in a private-label deal slated to settle on April 15. (Read More)

Highwoods Labeled 'Bear of the Day'

Highwoods Properties, Raleigh, N.C., has been designated the "Bear of the Day" for April 9 by Zacks Equity Research, Chicago. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades More Subprime MBS

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded more than 350 tranches in over 50 subprime residential mortgage-backed security transactions from two issuers. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

More than 250 additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on April 8 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Senate Passes Foreclosure Bill

The Senate has passed a foreclosure prevention bill by an 84-12 vote that includes a Federal Housing Administration modernization bill, $10 billion in revenue bonds for refinancing subprime mortgages, additional funding for foreclosure counseling, and tax provisions. (Read More)

FHA Reform (With RBP) Deemed Top Priority

The Bush administration is demanding that Congress produce a stand-alone Federal Housing Administration modernization bill that authorizes the mortgage insurance agency to charge risk-based premiums -- which is deliberately absent from the House-passed and Senate-passed versions. (Read More)

'Scratch & Dent' Investor Bayview Lays Off 100+

Bayview Financial of Florida -- a "scratch-and-dent" and small-balance commercial lender -- has laid off more than 100 workers at two affiliates, Silver Hill Financial and InterBay Funding, industry executives have told MortgageWire. (Read More)

Housing Tax Bill Approved

The House Ways and Means Committee has approved a housing tax bill by a 35-5 vote that provides a $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, expands the use of revenue bonds to refinance subprime loans, and streamlines the low-income housing tax credit program. (Read More)

OFHEO Chief Front Runner for HUD Job?

James Lockhart, the federal regulator whose chief responsibility is overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is the leading candidate to become the next housing secretary, according to Washington sources. (Read More)

Proposal Would Expand FHLBank AH Grants

All the Federal Home Loan Banks could use affordable housing grants to help refinance or restructure nontraditional and subprime mortgages under a proposed rule issued by the Federal Housing Finance Board. (Read More)

S&P Eyeing Chicago FHLBank

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has placed the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago's counterparty credit rating (AA-plus/A-1-plus) on CreditWatch with negative implications following the recent termination of its merger discussions with the Dallas FHLBank. (Read More)

PMI: Home Price Drop Risk Up in Some MSAs

The risk of home price declines in the nation's 50 largest housing markets is still rising in states where price growth has far exceeded historical norms, but has begun to decline elsewhere, according to PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., Walnut Creek, Calif. (Read More)

Fixed Rates Hold Steady

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate held steady at 5.88% over the seven-day period ended April 10, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

UK Lender Suspends New Lending

United Kingdom mortgage lender Commercial First has suspended all new lending, citing the market¹s lack of liquidity and its inability to obtain financing. (Read More)

P&C Insurers' Subprime Exposure 'Manageable'?

The exposure of U.S. property-and-casualty insurance companies to subprime mortgage-related collateral is "manageable," according to Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes Sovran's IDR

The BBB-minus issuer default rating and outstanding debt ratings of Sovran Self Storage Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Buffalo, N.Y., and Sovran Acquisition LP have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades 500+ Subprime Tranches

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded more than 500 tranches in over 50 subprime residential mortgage-backed securities transactions from four issuers. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

Seventy-eight additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on April 9 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades CMBS Classes

Six classes of commercial mortgage-backed securities from three issuers have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

C-BASS Subprime Classes Downgraded

Five classes from the Credit Based Asset Servicing and Securitization LLC series 2004-CB8 transaction have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fannie Prices BenchNotes

Fannie Mae has priced $3 billion of 2.375% two-year Benchmark Notes at 99.834. (Read More)

Index: Consumers Ogling Home Prices

The percentage of consumers who believe homes are attractively priced has increased to a record high even as concerns about higher prices for other items has dropped overall consumer confidence to lows not seen since the early 1980s, according to a University of Michigan index. (Read More)

Bank of England Cuts Base Rate

The Bank of England has cut its bank rate by 25 basis points to 5.0%, noting among other concerns what appears to be a worsening availability of credit. (Read More)

RealtyTrac, Reliance Network Join Forces

RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace, and Reliance Network LLC, a developer of Web-based real estate applications, have announced a strategic partnership that will allow Reliance Network's clients to have real-time access to RealtyTrac's nationwide foreclosure database. (Read More)

CityView Names Prez/COO

Sean Burton has been named president and chief operating officer of CityView, a national institutional real estate investor based in Los Angeles. (Read More)

Grubb & Ellis REIT Names EVP

Danny Prosky has been named executive vice president of acquisitions at Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT Inc., Santa Ana, Calif. (Read More)

Radian Obtains Credit Waiver

Radian Group Inc., a Philadelphia-based mortgage insurer, has announced its entry into a waiver agreement with its lenders that suspends the ratings covenant under its credit facility. (Read More)

FHLBanks Price $3B Global Bond

The Federal Home Loan Banks have priced a $3 billion, 2.625%, three-year global bond due May 20, 2011. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes FirstAm's IDR

The issuer default rating of First American Corp., a Santa Ana, Calif.-based provider of title, mortgage, and other business information, has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

First Franklin Subprime Classes Downgraded

Eight-five classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates from 11 transactions issued by First Franklin Mortgage Loan Trust have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Feedback

Do borrowers sometimes make you laugh? (Read More)

Clayton Okays Merger Pact

Clayton Holdings Inc., a due diligence and surveillance provider based in Shelton, Conn., has announced its entry into a merger agreement with an affiliate of a fund managed by Greenfield Partners LLC, a private equity firm. (Read More)

Triad Still Writing MI, Eyeing Rebirth

Triad Guaranty Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., has issued a statement assuring the market that it is still writing new mortgage insurance business and is pursuing negotiations to create a new mortgage insurance company. (Read More)

Deutsche Bank: Capital Crisis Will Continue

Resolution may be near for the market's funding crisis, but capital concerns are likely to persist until the housing market recovers, according to a recent Deutsche Bank report. (Read More)

Hope Now Sees Loan-Mod Progress

Nearly half of all loan workouts on subprime mortgages in January and February involved loan modifications, according to the latest update by Hope Now servicers. (Read More)

CapSource Buying Assets of Fremont Sub

CapitalSource Inc., Chevy Chase, Md., is acquiring the deposits, the assets, and the branch locations of Fremont Investment & Loan, the industrial bank subsidiary of Fremont General Corp., Brea, Calif. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Dive With Dow

Fourteen of the 15 mortgage-related stocks tracked by MortgageWire declined Friday as the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 256 points to close at 12,325. (Read More)

Integration Streamlines Flood Certification

Mortgage Builder Software Inc., a Southfield, Mich.-based vendor of loan origination systems, has integrated with First American Flood Data Services. (Read More)

Amex Notifies Hanover of Possible Delisting

Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., Edison, N.J., has announced the receipt of a notice from the American Stock Exchange that the company does not meet certain continued listing standards. (Read More)

S&P Outlook Negative for UK Mortgage Lender

Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook for Britannia Building Society, a United Kingdom mortgage lender, to negative. (Read More)

Moody's Eyes 468 RALI Tranches

The ratings of 468 tranches from 24 transactions issued by Residential Accredit Loans Inc. have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

Ninety-three additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on April 11 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades 2nd-Lien MBS Classes

Twenty-three certificates in second-lien mortgage-backed security transactions from four issuers have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

OFHEO: GSEs 'Significant Supervisory Concern'

Even though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have made "good progress" in fixing the operational problems that led to their respective accounting scandals, the two remain a "significant supervisory concern," according to a new report issued by their regulator. (Read More)

GSEs Riskier Than Broker-Dealers?

The possible need to provide public support to the housing GSEs in the current financial crisis poses a greater risk to the U.S. government's top triple-A ratings than the potential need to support broker-dealers, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)

RealtyTrac: Foreclosures Rise Again

New foreclosure filings rose 5% in March and were 57% higher than the level recorded a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif. (Read More)

Wachovia Takes Mortgage-Linked Loss

Wachovia Corp., Charlotte, N.C., has reported a net loss available to common stockholders of $393 million ($0.20 per share) for the first quarter, citing the decline in the housing market as one of the reasons and announcing a reduced quarterly dividend. (Read More)

JPMorgan: Crisis to Affect Pricing for a Decade

The current financial crisis "will affect market structure and pricing for at least a decade," according to a new report from JPMorgan Securities Ltd., London. (Read More)

Solon Pushing Mortgage Restructuring Provision

As Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives put together a foreclosure prevention bill, Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., is trying to get a controversial provision added to the package that would allow bankruptcy judges to restructure mortgages. (Read More)

Bear Reports EMC Civil Probe

Bear Stearns said in a recent SEC filing that it generated a $115 million net profit in the quarter ended Feb. 29 and indicated that developments in the troubled period since then have included a civil investigation of its EMC Mortgage Corp. unit. (Read More)

FGIC Eyeing Strategic Options

FGIC Corp., the New York-based parent of Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., is in negotiations with potential investors about "strategic alternatives" for the troubled financial guaranty unit. (Read More)

FHA Secure Changes Beneficial, CBO Says

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that several hundred thousand borrowers could benefit over the next few years from an expanded FHA Secure program and that it would encourage lenders/servicers to restructure more loans. (Read More)

FirstAm CoreLogic Unveils Title Insurer Portal

First American CoreLogic, a provider of property and ownership information, analytics, and services, has announced the release of a Web-based gateway to real estate information for title insurance companies. (Read More)

Urdang Closes $463M RE Fund

Urdang Capital Management, a real estate investment manager based in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., has announced the closing of the Urdang Value-Added Fund II LP after raising $463 million in equity. (Read More)

NYSE Suspending Trading in Fremont

NYSE Regulation Inc., the regulatory arm of the New York Stock Exchange, has announced that it will suspend trading in the common stock of Fremont General Corp., Brea, Calif., before the start of trading on April 17. (Read More)

Carrington B&C Classes Downgraded

Fifteen classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates issued by Carrington Mortgage Loan Trust have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings as a result of changes to the rating agency's subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Housing Starts Fall to 17-Year Low

Single-unit housing starts fell to a 17-year low of 680,000 in March as worries about the overall economy continued to take their toll on the market. (Read More)

OTS Refi Proposal Termed 'Elegant'

The Office of Thrift Supervision has come up with an "elegant" way to avoid moral hazard and provide an incentive for investors to write down a loan and for second-lien holders to participate in Federal Housing Administration refinancings of troubled subprime mortgages, according to Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. (Read More)

Some Good News: Wells Earns $2B in 1Q

Wells Fargo & Co. -- which is poised to unseat Countrywide Home Loans as the nation's largest residential lender -- posted a $2 billion profit in the first quarter on record revenue of $10.6 billion. (Read More)

As Expected, WaMu Posts Huge 1Q Loss

Hammered by rising residential loan delinquencies, Washington Mutual, the nation's sixth-largest originator, lost $1.14 billion in the first quarter, compared with a profit of $784 million in the same period a year ago. (Read More)

JPMorgan Earnings Dive Linked to Mortgages

JPMorgan Chase & Co., New York, has reported net income of $2.4 billion ($0.68) per share for the first quarter 2008, down 50% from $4.8 billion ($1.34 per share) a year earlier, a nosedive linked to mortgage-related writedowns. (Read More)

FDIC Seeks Comment on Covered Bond Policy

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has adopted and is seeking comment on an interim policy statement that aims to "reduce market uncertainty and the additional costs of U.S. covered bond transactions" while regulators evaluate the benefits and risks of the products. (Read More)

Applications Rise

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, rose from 725.6 to 743.4 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended April 11, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

Canyon-Johnson Closes $1B RE Fund

The Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a partnership of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson, have announced the closing of a $1 billion real estate development fund. (Read More)

MISMO Releases MXCompliance Certification

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization has announced the release of the MXCompliance Title v2.3.2 Request and Response certification, the fifth MXCompliance certification available for integration in industry-related technology business practices. (Read More)

Hudson City Labeled 'Bear of the Day'

Hudson City Bancorp, Paramus, N.J., has been tagged the "Bear of the Day" for April 16 by Chicago-based Zacks Equity Research, which cited mortgage-related concerns. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

One hundred and eight additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on April 15 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Citi CMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of Citigroup Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2006-C5, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Merrill Takes $4.5B in Subprime Hits

Merrill Lynch -- once the largest Wall Street player in the subprime market -- took $4.5 billion in mortgage-related writedowns in the first quarter and revealed that it has additional asset-backed security exposure of $6.7 billion. (Read More)

Experts Say High Re-Default Rates Inevitable

Many subprime borrowers who receive loan modifications are still likely to fall back into default, according to servicing executives who spoke Thursday at SourceMedia's second annual mortgage servicing conference in Dallas. (Read More)

Comptroller Questions Cuomo's Tactic

The comptroller of the currency says he is uncomfortable with the way New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is trying to impose an appraisal standard on all institutions through a settlement agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)

ValuNet Release Blocks Directed Appraisals

ValuAmerica, Pittsburgh, a developer of settlement services technology, has announced a new release of its ValuNet xsp software aimed at preventing directed appraisals and ensuring compliance with federal valuation requirements. (Read More)

Freddie Touts Jumbo Commitments

Freddie Mac has enlisted three major mortgage lenders to start up its jumbo mortgage program, and it is looking to enter into agreements with other lenders, according to a Freddie executive. (Read More)

Mortgage Stocks Follow Dow's Climb

Thirteen of the 15 mortgage-related stocks tracked by MortgageWire climbed Wednesday as the Dow Jones industrial average rose 256 points to close at 12,619. (Read More)

10-Year Treasury Yield Nears 3.7%

The yield of the long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury note had risen to about 3.7% as of midday Thursday after a notable climb over the previous two days. (Read More)

Fed Reports Tighter RE Credit Standards

Lenders have tightened their credit standards on residential and commercial real estate loans over the past six weeks, but there has been "some stabilization" in single-family originations, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book. (Read More)

WaMu Rejects Call for Board Resignations

Washington Mutual has rejected a call by the CtW Investment Group for the resignation of two WaMu directors because they may not have won a majority of shareholder votes, excluding those cast by brokers. (Read More)

MGIC Reports $34M Loss

MGIC Investment Corp., Milwaukee, has reported a net loss of $34.4 million ($0.41 per share) for the first quarter, compared with net income of $92.4 million ($1.12 per share) a year earlier. (Read More)

30-Year Rate Holds Steady Again

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate held steady again at 5.88% over the seven-day period ended April 17, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

LaSalle Hotel, LaSalle Investment Form JV

LaSalle Hotel Properties, Bethesda, Md., and LaSalle Investment Management, Chicago, have announced a joint venture to seek U.S. hotel investments in urban and resort markets with high barriers to entry. (Read More)

Pew Trusts: 1 in 33 Will Be in Foreclosure

One in 33 U.S. homeowners will likely be in foreclosure over the next two years as a result of subprime loans made in 2005 and 2006, according to a report released by The Pew Charitable Trusts. (Read More)

Loans4Less.com Begins OTC Trading

Loans4Less.com Inc., an online mortgage brokerage based in Redondo Beach, Calif., has announced that its stock has begun trading over the counter on the Pink Sheets. (Read More)

FHLBanks Price $3B Global Bond

The Federal Home Loan Banks have priced a $3 billion, 3.625%, five-year global bond due May 29, 2013. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

One hundred and eighty-four additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on April 16 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Ameriquest Subprime Classes Downgraded

Twenty-one classes of mortgage pass-through certificates from various subprime Ameriquest Mortgage Securities Inc. transactions have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Bush Taps SBA Chief to Lead HUD

President Bush has nominated former investment banker Steve Preston to replace HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who resigned unexpectedly at the end of March. (Read More)

Citi Takes $6B in Subprime Hits

Citigroup Inc. incurred $6 billion in pretax subprime mortgage writedowns/credit costs and took a net $5.1 billion loss in the first quarter. (Read More)

Economist Says 'Stagflation' a Threat

The chief economist for the New York Stock Exchange says rising commodity prices coupled with the housing downturn's drag on the economy is fostering the possibility of "stagflation," a mixture of inflation and economic weakness last seen in the 1970s. (Read More)

Community Bankers Not Facing CRE Problems?

Community bankers are not "coming to grips" with problems in their commercial real estate portfolios, especially with residential construction loans, according to the comptroller of the currency. (Read More)

Ginnie MBS Issuance Hits 4-Year High

The issuance of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities rose to nearly $15 billion in March, the highest rate since November 2003, according to the agency. (Read More)

Attorney Touts Patented Foreclosure Fix

An attorney in Tucson, Ariz., is touting a recently patented financing method that he says can provide relief to homeowners on the brink of foreclosure without government assistance. (Read More)

PRMI Partners With Mortgage Success Source

Primary Residential Mortgage Inc., Salt Lake City, has announced a partnership with Mortgage Success Source to provide PRMI branches nationwide with training and marketing resources to help increase originations. (Read More)

Firm Offers Aid to Distressed Homeowners

Citing predictions that over 20 million homeowners will be "upside down" -- owing more than their house is worth -- in 2008, Glendale, Ariz.-based WalkAwayPlan has introduced a service that it says will take stress off the homeowner. (Read More)

Colliers: Office Market Faltered in 1Q

The national office market "kicked off 2008 on a lackluster note" as the vacancy rate rose 35 basis points to 12.77% in the first quarter, according to Colliers International, a Boston-based commercial real estate manager. (Read More)

Capmark Names Surveillance Manager

Pamela Dent has been hired as a senior vice president to manage the Global Services Surveillance Group of Capmark Finance Inc., Horsham, Pa. (Read More)

FHLBanks Price $3B Global Bond

The Federal Home Loan Banks have priced a $3 billion, 2.750%, two-year global bond due June 18, 2010. (Read More)

Student Housing REIT Prices Stock

American Campus Communities Inc., Austin, Texas, has priced a public offering of 8 million shares of common stock at $28.75 per share. (Read More)

BioMed Realty Prices Stock Offering

BioMed Realty Trust Inc., San Diego, has priced a public offering of 5.7 million shares of common stock at $25.50 per share. (Read More)

S&P Eyes 331 Classes in CDOs of ABS

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has placed on CreditWatch negative 331 classes from 79 U.S. cash flow and hybrid collateralized debt obligations of asset-backed securities. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades ABFC B&C Classes

Thirty-seven classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates issued by Asset Back Funding Corp. have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings as a result of changes to the rating agency's subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades Meritage B&C Tranches

Nine tranches from Meritage Mortgage Loan Trust 2005-3, a subprime residential mortgage-backed securities deal, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Basic Subprime Tranches Downgraded

Five tranches from Basic Asset Backed Securities Trust 2006-1 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Feedback

Can a broker closing an FHA loan in a wholesale lender's name charge discount points, even though the points are not buying the interest rate down? (Read More)

BoA's 1Q Earnings Plummet

Bank of America's earnings per share fell 80% in the first quarter from those of a year earlier as a nearly $5 billion increase in the credit loss provision dragged down the company's results. (Read More)

Dodd Frowns on Bush's HUD Nomination

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., is apparently not impressed by President Bush's decision to nominate a new HUD secretary with little experience in the housing field. (Read More)

Ex-Fannie Execs Settle Earnings Allegations

Franklin Raines and two other former Fannie Mae executives have dodged a regulator's wrath by agreeing to pay relatively minor fines and surrender "underwater" stock options to settle allegations of earnings manipulation during their tenure at the government-sponsored enterprise. (Read More)

OFHEO Cautions GSEs on Fair-Value Issue

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight wants to ensure that Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's application of fair-value accounting promotes transparency and consistency in financial reporting and will take corrective actions if the practice "distorts earnings or capital," according to newly issued examiner guidance. (Read More)

Rising Dow Lifts Mortgage Stocks

Eleven of the 15 mortgage-related stocks tracked by MortgageWire climbed Friday as the Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 229 points to close at 12,849. (Read More)

Survey: Housing Outlook Still Dim

The housing sector will continue to slow over the next six months, according to 90% of respondents to a National Association for Business Economists survey taken in late March and early April. (Read More)

Wolters Kluwer, FNIS Form Alliance

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, and Fidelity National Information Services, Jacksonville, Fla., have announced plans to integrate certain Wolters Kluwer loan-modification systems and compliance content into the loss mitigation module of FNIS's servicing platform. (Read More)

Freddie Announces Foreclosure-Linked Grants

Freddie Mac has announced $10.5 million in grants to 12 nonprofit housing counseling organizations for outreach, education, and foreclosure prevention efforts. (Read More)

Bank of England OKs Mortgage-Related Swaps

The Bank of England has made plans to address liquidity concerns by allowing banks to temporarily swap certain high-quality securities, including some mortgage-backed debt, for United Kingdom Treasury bills. (Read More)

G&E Realty Makes Liquidating Distribution

Grubb & Ellis Realty Advisors Inc., Chicago, has announced that it will make a first and final liquidating distribution of $6.08929094 per share in connection with the dissolution of the company. (Read More)

Fannie Declares 2Q Dividends

Fannie Mae has announced a common stock dividend of $0.35 per share for the second quarter, unchanged from that of the previous quarter. (Read More)

LaSalle Small-Balance CMBS Downgraded

Eighteen classes from four LaSalle Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc. small-balance commercial mortgage-backed securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

MASTR 2nd-Lien Classes Downgraded

Ten certificates from two transactions issued by MASTR Second Lien Trust have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

American Home MBS Classes Downgraded

Six classes of mortgage pass-through certificates from American Home Mortgage Investment Trust 2005-SDI have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

RBS Takes $12B Hit; Rumors Swamp Sub

Royal Bank of Scotland -- the parent of Greenwich Capital, for years a major player in subprime asset-backed securities -- early Tuesday morning said it would take almost $12 billion in mortgage-related writedowns and raise $24 billion in new capital. (Read More)

State AGs May Sue Industry

A foreclosure task force formed by a group of state attorneys general has worked cooperatively with the industry to date, but one prominent AG says states are considering litigation to promote greater foreclosure relief. (Read More)

Resales Fall in March

Sales of existing single-family homes fell 2.7% in March, erasing a bump up in February, according to the National Association of Realtors, which has detected in a separate survey that 18% of houses and condominiums for sale have negative equity. (Read More)

Downey Posts Big Loss; Average LTV at 65%

Downey Financial Corp., Newport Beach, Calif., lost $248 million in the first quarter, citing "ongoing" weakness in the housing market. (Read More)

BoA Touts Conservative Standards to Fed

Bank of America says it is adopting very conservative lending guidelines as part of its acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp. and is structuring its adjustable-rate and interest-only products to prevent payment shock and provide long-term affordability. (Read More)

Index: Home Prices Down in 28 States

Home prices in 28 states showed a 12-month decrease in February, although the number rises to 36 for states showing a decline over the previous three months, according to the latest LoanPerformance Home Price Index. (Read More)

Trade Groups Oppose Rating Differentiation

The Mortgage Bankers Association and the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association have joined with the Real Estate Roundtable and the National Association of Realtors to oppose differentiation between the ratings of structured finance products and those of other asset classes. (Read More)

Starwood Names Global Development Prez

Simon Turner has been named president of global development at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., White Plains, N.Y. (Read More)

Moody's Downgrades 800+ Subprime Classes

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the ratings of more than 800 tranches in nearly 100 subprime residential mortgage-backed securities transactions from six issuers. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades More B&C Classes

Forty-eight additional classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on April 21 as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

Hersha Okayed for Listing on NYSE

Hersha Hospitality Trust, a Philadelphia-based real estate investment trust, has been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange, according to the REIT. (Read More)

Bond Insurer Takes $1B Mortgage Hit

Ambac Financial Group, whose guarantees stand behind billions of dollars worth of subprime asset-backed securities, lost $1.6 billion in the first quarter, blaming its problems on the company's "direct exposures" to the mortgage-backed securities market. (Read More)

MBA Neutral on FHA 'Underwater' Refi Bill

The Mortgage Bankers Association says it does not support or oppose a House bill that would authorize the Federal Housing Administration to refinance $300 billion in "underwater" mortgages, provided that the investor/servicer writes down the loan amount to 85% of the current appraised value. (Read More)

80 Groups Blast New GSE Pricing

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are abandoning their affordable housing mission by tightening lending practices and imposing new fees that will put homeownership out of reach for minority and low-income homeowners, according to 80 fair-housing and civil rights organizations that are urging the government-sponsored enterprises to reverse course. (Read More)

Applications Fall

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 743.4 to 637.6 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended April 18, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)

MRG, Lydian Form Tech Alliance

MRG Document Technologies, Dallas, has announced an alliance with Lydian Data Services, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based provider of end-to-end outsourcing services for mortgage operations. (Read More)

Morgan Raises $2.5B More for RE Fund

Morgan Stanley Real Estate has announced the raising of an additional $2.5 billion of equity commitments for its Special Situations Fund III, more than 60% of it from investors outside the United States. (Read More)

Cohen & Steers Hires RE Fund Team

Cohen & Steers Inc., New York, has announced the hiring of a team to manage a private global real estate fund of funds. (Read More)

Reverse Mortgage Vet Named SFC Prez

Sarah Hulbert, former chairwoman of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, has been named president of Senior Financial Corp., Rocklin, Calif. (Read More)

Florida Resales Record Month-to-Month Rise

Sales of existing single-family homes in Florida totaled 9,142 in March, an increase of 10% from the level recorded in February but a 26% decline from that of a year earlier, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. (Read More)

ARCap CMBS Classes Downgraded

Six classes of ARCap Resecuritization Inc. series 2004-RR3 commercial mortgage-backed securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Morgan Stanley CMBS Classes Downgraded

Two classes of Morgan Stanley Capital I Inc. series 2006-XLF commercial mortgage-backed securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and removed from Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades CRE CDO Classes

Two classes of Anthracite 2004-HY1 Ltd., a commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and removed from Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Westways CDO Notes Downgraded

Three classes of notes issued by Westways Funding XI Ltd., a mortgage market value collateralized debt obligation, have been downgraded and their ratings withdrawn by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

Fitch Eyes CAPCO CMBS Classes

Classes B-3 and B-4 of CAPCO American Securitization Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1998-D7, have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

New-Home Sales Hit 16-Year Low

New-homes sales fell 8.5% in March to the lowest level since October 1991, and it appears that homebuyers are taking advantage of lower prices on existing homes. (Read More)

House Panel Okays Servicing Safe Harbor

The House Financial Services Committee has approved by voice vote a bill that would shield mortgage servicers from investor lawsuits so they can modify loans and help more troubled borrowers avoid foreclosure. (Read More)

Panel Green-Lights $15B in REO Grants

The House Financial Services Committee has approved a bill that provides $15 billion in loans and grants to local governments for the purchase and upkeep of foreclosed properties. (Read More)

Fannie Reconsidering AH Changes

In response to strong criticism from fair-lending groups, Fannie Mae has indicated that it is reconsidering recent moves to tighten underwriting standards on affordable housing mortgages and impose new fees. (Read More)

30-Year Rate Back Above 6%

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.88% to 6.03% over the seven-day period ended April 24, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)

Credit Suisse Takes $2B 1Q Loss

Credit Suisse took a loss of 2.1 billion Swiss francs ($2.0 billion) in the first quarter and 5.3 billion Swiss francs ($5.1 billion) in net writedowns, about 3.6 billion Swiss francs ($3.5 billion) of which appear to be mortgage-related. (Read More)

Economist: $250B in B&C Pain, $150B to Go

To date, financial institutions have suffered $250 billion in losses and writedowns tied to subprime assets and could suffer another $150 billion before the crisis is over, according to Nariman Behravesh, chief economist for Global Insight, Boston. (Read More)

Bear Mortgage Chief Departs for ResCap

Thomas Marano, former senior managing director and global head of mortgages and asset-backed securities for Bear Stearns & Co., has been named nonexecutive chairman of Residential Capital LLC, the parent of GMAC Mortgage and its other residential affiliates. (Read More)

Chicago FHLBank to Stop Buying MPF Loans

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago has announced that it will stop purchasing single-family loans after July 31 but will continue to provide operational support for mortgages it has already bought from members and other FHLBanks. (Read More)

Consultants Form Subprime Task Force

Rust Consulting Inc., Minneapolis, has announced the formation of a task force to deal with developments related to the subprime mortgage crisis. (Read More)

Colliers: Industrial Market Weakened in 1Q

The industrial real estate market "weakened considerably" in the first quarter as the vacancy rate rose 23 basis points to 8.13%, according to Colliers International, a Boston-based real estate services firm. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades ABSC Subprime Classes

Twenty-nine classes of subprime asset-backed pass-through certificates issued by Asset Backed Securities Corp. have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings as a result of changes to the rating agency's subprime loss forecasting assumptions. (Read More)

G-Force CMBS Classes Downgraded

Eleven classes of G-Force LLC commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2005-RR2, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

EquiFirst Subprime Classes Downgraded

Nine tranches from EquiFirst Loan Securitization Trust 2007-1 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades CRE CDO Class

Class G of LNR CDO III Ltd./Corp., a commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation, has been downgraded from BBB-minus to BB by Fitch Ratings and removed from Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Big Builders Told to Pull Back or Fail

The nation's giant homebuilding firms must pull back if they are to survive the current downturn, an analyst with Wachovia Capital Markets in San Francisco warned at the National Association of Home Builders' Spring Construction Forecast Conference. (Read More)

Energy, Food Prices Could Trump Demographics

Homebuilders point to strong demographics in predicting a return to normal production levels once the current downturn ends, but the executive director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies says fundamentals alone may not be enough to float housing's boat. (Read More)

Countrywide, New Vista Form REO Alliance

Countrywide Financial Corp. and New Vista Asset Management have joined together to find qualified borrowers for Countrywide's real-estate-owned properties. (Read More)

FNF Eyes Options for Flood Insurance Biz

Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has announced that it will be investigating strategic options for its specialty insurance business, including flood insurance. (Read More)

Freddie's Lead Director to Resign

Shaun O'Malley, who has been the lead director on Freddie Mac's board for more than four years, will resign from the board at Freddie's annual shareholder meeting on June 6. (Read More)

Fannie Sees Slower Growth in March

Fannie Mae has reported that its total book of business grew at an annualized rate of 6.6% in March, fueled mostly by higher guarantee volume. (Read More)

GSE MBS Issuance Mixed in March

Issuance of mortgage-backed securities by Fannie Mae fell to $50.1 billion in March, down 28% from the previous month's volume, while MBS issuance by Freddie rose slightly to $43.5 billion, according to the secondary-market agencies. (Read More)

ABA, Farmer Mac Expand Alliance

The American Bankers Association and the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. have announced an expansion of their alliance to include special pricing for Farmer Mac's Part-Time Farm program. (Read More)

Helios Assigned CMBS Servicer Rating

Helios AMC LLC, San Francisco, has been assigned a special servicer rating of CSS3 for commercial mortgage-backed securities by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

S&P Downgrades 2nd-Lien RMBS Classes

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered its ratings on 184 classes of residential mortgage-backed securities from 27 deals backed by closed-end second-lien mortgage collateral. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades UBS Subprime Classes

Thirteen classes of subprime mortgage pass-through certificates issued by UBS Mortgage Asset Securitization Transaction Asset Backed Securities Trust have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

ARCap CMBS Classes Downgraded

Eleven classes of ARCap Resecuritization Inc. series 2006-RR7 commercial mortgage-backed securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)

G-Force CMBS Classes Downgraded

Ten classes of G-Force CDO 2006-1, a commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and removed from Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Fitch Downgrades Anthracite CDO Classes

Ten classes of Anthracite 2006-HY3 Ltd./Corp., a commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and removed from Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)

Correction

The Mortgage Bankers Association says it does not support or oppose a House bill that would authorize the Federal Housing Administration to refinance $300 billion in "underwater" mortgages, provided that the investor/servicer writes down the loan amount to 85% of the current appraised value. MortgageWire erroneously reported on Tuesday that the MBA backs the legislation. (Read More)

Feedback

Is it common practice for a lender to require a new employee to sign a noncompete contract? (Read More)

HUD Waives Action on GSE AH Goals

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has determined that market conditions prevented Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from reaching two affordable housing subgoals in 2007, and it will not require the two government-sponsored enterprises to take corrective action. (Read More)

Census Reports 1Q Rise in Vacant Homes

The Census Bureau has reported that the inventory of vacant homes listed for sale rose to 2.3 million in first quarter, up 4.6% from that of the previous quarter, and that the homeownership rate was unchanged. (Read More)

Hope Now: 500K+ Loans Get Workouts

Servicers provided nearly 503,000 loan workouts for homeowners in the first quarter, bringing to nearly 1.4 million the total number of workouts since the Hope Now alliance was created last July. (Read More)

Subprime Defaults Exceed 26%, FBR Says