Loan Think

THIS JUST IN: Back in the day Angelo Mozilo once dreamed of Countrywide Home Loans having a 25% origination market share. We all know what happened to that dream (and Countrywide). As I recall, Mozilo once thought that such a goal might be achievable, but it would probably require Countrywide combining forces with a megabank such as Wells Fargo.

At the annual SourceMedia Mortgage Servicing Conference in Dallas, attendees concerned about the future of their industry discussed at length the pros and cons of recent regulatory changes and still pending rules and requirements they may have to abide with in the near future.

If you, for a minute, believe that Goldman Sachs isn’t dumping Litton Loan Servicing overboard because of the taint of subprime, then I have some Enron bonds I’d like to sell you. As reported by National Mortgage News 10 days ago Ocwen is eyeing Litton, as are two other investors.

Let me see if I can state this plainly: if housing does not recover in any meaningful way the U.S. economy is sunk. This is a platitude that every mortgage banker worth his/her salt knows. But there is one huge stumbling block to a housing recovery: loan standards and the qualified residential mortgage test, which – as presently written – demands a 20% downpayment from a consumer.

Are you getting frustrated that no one is commenting on your Facebook posts? I recommend that about one-third of your posts be about business, while another one-third should be personal, with a short post (and pictures) about what you have been up to lately. And finally, one-third should be fun—such as asking personal questions that you’d like your friends, real estate agents, family and fans to answer.

That quiet sound of nothing really going on is the nonperforming loan market. We continue to hear reports that plenty of NPL packages are being offered, but when it comes to actual sales, that’s another matter.

Is now the time for a contrarian play in wholesale lending? Consider the case of Total Mortgage Services, an up and coming lender based in Milford, Conn. Today it announced that it has hired five new wholesale account executives, bringing to 12 its AE headcount.

Much has been written about mortgage sales people needing to create a social media marketing strategy. It is a great way to get positive buzz about the services provided.

In the first part of May, a prominent Realtor, her son and daughter-in-law pleaded guilty to an expanding mortgage fraud that enabled them to buy expensive vacation homes at Alabama’s Gulf Shores using “straw borrowers” to qualify for credit union loans. Lenders victimized by the scheme were First Tennessee Bank, U.S. Bank and First Choice Funding.

It’s a holiday weekend in the middle of year, and as summer approaches what better time to preview our ’Five Mortgage Firms to Keep an Eye On (And Why)’ report. A more extensive analysis of these five (and five additional companies) will appear next month on the MortgageStats.com website, which features up-to-the minute rankings, analysis and more.