Late this past week several advisors to the mortgage industry were saying that PNC Bank may be taking a close look at some of MetLife's mortgage divisions. Both institutions declined to comment to National Mortgage News. But one unit that PNC won't be buying is MetLife's warehouse group. PNC exited the warehouse business for good a year ago. Meanwhile, the executive running warehouse for PNC back then, Paul Best, is doing quite well over at People's United…
We're told the PNC mortgage executive to watch is Todd Chamberlain, who joined the bank a few months back from Regions. Supposedly, PNC is also looking at Regions as an acquisition target. Small world…
And in case you missed the scoop on the NMN website, Bank of America is telling certain of its warehouse clients “hasta la vista.” For the full story see
FANNNIE AND FREDDIE: RIVALS UNTIL THE DEATH OF ONE OF THEM? Fannie Mae wants a “fee for service” structure to replace the minimum GSE servicing fee. Freddie Mac is fine with the status quo or the MBA idea of a 20 basis point minimum and a 5 bp reserve. We're told there's one certain Fannie executive pushing the pedal to the floor for FFS who may not be there come January. (We told an anti-FFS broker this news and he shouted out “Hooray.”) Meanwhile, it strikes some in the industry as odd that the GSE is doing this at a time when it's moving to control more of its own MSRs. Is Fannie trying to carve out a space for itself in the servicing business, but without being the actual processor? (Nah.) The rumor mill has been running wild this past week with plenty of talk, some of it off base. Bottom line: Fannie has “force-placed” a dozen or so MSR portfolios the past year with more to come. That's for sure. For the full story see the Monday weekly edition of National Mortgage News. Don't subscribe? Call: 800-221-1809…
Meanwhile, early this fall our sister publication American Banker filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FHFA on Fannie's purchase of MSRs but was turned down. The FHFA, however, told the newspaper that it has 381 documents related to its request…
The man in charge of distressed servicing for Fannie is Kevin John, who works for the GSE down in Texas as a vice president. John's resume includes a two-year, four-month stint at Countrywide Home Loans (practically a Fannie subsidiary during the go-go years) and Phoenix Capital, Denver, a servicing brokerage/evaluation shop…
Servicing executives said Phoenix has some type of consulting contract with Fannie, but a GSE spokeswoman said that such talk is not true…
Phoenix was founded by Rick Barnes, who left the firm earlier this year. Today, Barnes is involved in philanthropy and other work. According to the Phoenix website, Barnes “refounded the Denver Voice, a newspaper publication devoted to facilitating a discussion about homelessness and poverty issues that exist within metropolitan Denver and surrounding areas”…
One item that doesn't get reported much is the low delinquency rate on VA loans compared to FHA. One firm, NewDay, is actively marketing its services to correspondent originators in the VA sector. Don Schmaltz is the company's president…
HUH?: Builders are planning more what in South Florida? NMN's Lew Sichelman reports that although some 4,700 units remain unsold from the last condo boom in South Florida, developers are now proposing to build 20 more towers in the tri-county area of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach...
How time flies. It's 10 years since Enron went bust and what better time to bring up this little reported scoop: When Fannie Mae was at the height of its political power, then-chairman and CEO Franklin Raines was contemplating naming Enron chairman Ken Lay to the GSE's board. Raines was a Democrat, and Lay was tight with then-president George W. Bush…
According to a recent report in The Orange County Register, U.S. Realtors put 3.6 billion miles on their cars a year shuttling clients around from house to house or previewing properties for clients. But what about retail loan officers? Do you still make house visits or is it all done online and over the phone? Send me your comments and I'll post a few here. Email
WASHINGTON NEWS: NMN's Brian Collins reports that the Federal Housing Administration is considering raising insurance premiums on loans above $625,500. In testimony before a House committee this past week, HUD chief Shaun Donovan said FHA is looking at how it should price premiums for higher-balance loans of up to $729,750.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Default management services vendor ServiceLink this week named Chris Azur as its new president. Azur had served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of ServiceLink for the past four years. The Conference of State Bank Supervisors named Chuck Cross senior vice president of its newly established Consumer Protection & Non-Depository Supervision unit.
MUST ATTEND MORTGAGE SHOWS: From April 17-19 National Mortgage News and SourceMedia will hold their annual Mortgage Servicing Conference at the Omni Mandalay Hotel in Irving, Texas. For more information see the ads on our website or click here
DATA NOTE: NMN is in the process of collecting its third-quarter surveys. If you would like to participate in our survey, send an email to
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WHAT I'M READING NOW: “The Reversal” by Michael Connelly. He also penned “The Lincoln Lawyer,” made into a recent movie.
