Loan Think

THIS JUST IN: Washington Mutual's production chief, Tony Meola, has resigned. Sources sayhe's joining a competitor…

Citigroup is doing away with its CitiFinancial subprime brand. The company will continue fundingsubprime loans but the name CitiFinancial will be retired. Company official William Magee wrote to us saying"the line between prime and subprime has become blurred." Citigroup will no longer disclose to NMN(and other trade periodicals) its subprime fundings each quarter...

A task force for the Mortgage Bankers Association has taken the forceful position of opposing arbitrarycaps or forced reductions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's retained portfolios. Then how come thetrade group hasn't? That's something Countrywide Home Loans -- MBA's largest dues-paying member -- wouldlike to know. In a recent letter to MBA chief Jonathan Kempner, Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, madehis displeasure known, saying the trade group is making a "significant omission" by not taking a publicposition on the issue (even though its task force has). A Washington source provided the letter to NationalMortgage News. For the full story, see the Monday edition of NMN. Don't subscribe? Call: (800)221-1809…

Secondary market buyers of nonprime loans are starting to see a noticeable increase in fraudulent loans. Oneexecutive whose firm conducts due diligence reviews for Wall Street told National Mortgage News thathe was recently handed a package of 270 loans to review. "Of the first 40, we found problems with half,"he said. "This is the next big story for the industry." Stay tuned…

Twice a year National Mortgage News publishes its exclusive research report on "20 (Mostly)Private Mortgage Firms to Keep an Eye On." The new report for 2006 -- featuring some firms that may benew to you -- will be released on Monday. To order a copy e-mail Deartra.Todd@SourceMedia.com. Subscribers to the Quarterly Data Report and Mortgage Industry Directoryare entitled to discounts on the report…

Twice a year National Mortgage News publishes its exclusive research report on "20 (Mostly)Private Mortgage Firms to Keep an Eye On." The new report for 2006 -- featuring some firms that may benew to you -- will be released on Monday. To order a copy e-mail Deartra.Todd@SourceMedia.com. Subscribers to the Quarterly Data Report and Mortgage Industry Directoryare entitled to discounts on the report…

It appears that Alan Greenspan's public hand wringing about interest-only loans and payment-option ARMshas all been for naught. According to the new 4Q edition of the Alternative Products Quarterly Data Report,IO and POA volumes were quite strong in the quarter. Lenders funded $218 billion in IOs and $78 billion in POAs.Wells Fargo, Countrywide and EMC Mortgage ranked first, second, and third, respectively, inIO lending. For more information about the AP-QDR e-mail Deartra.Todd@SourceMedia.com…

Montgomery County politician Tom Perez wasn't a popular person in Maryland mortgage banking circles thispast week. On Friday the news hit -- during a state mortgage broker trade show no less -- that a new county ordinancefining lenders and brokers for loan discrimination was about to go into effect. Mr. Perez sponsored the bill whichlevies minimum fines of $500,000 for "excessive" origination fees on minority loans without definingwhat excessive actually means. Some 40 lenders, after hearing about the ordinance, bolted the county, fearing frivolousclass-action headaches. Tom Shaner, head of the Maryland Mortgage Brokers Association, says manyof his members are hopping mad, particularly Hispanic and Korean loan brokers who are having deals screwed up becauseof the bill. A legal showdown on the ordinance is set for March 7 in Rockville, Md. For more details visit theNational Mortgage News website...

A top-ranked subprime lender is among the finalists for Irwin Mortgage of Indiana, the nation's 35thlargest home funder. To find out which B&C giant it is, read the Monday edition of National MortgageNews. Don't subscribe? Call: 800 221-1809…

What is it with Southern California and nonprime mortgage bankers anyway? Take a look at the top five subprimefirms. According to the Quarterly Data Report, all five are based in SoCal. And 10 of the top 15 are inCalifornia, with the northern part of the state claiming a few HQs as well. As one California executive opined-- the big draw is the weather. "I can play golf in the morning and hit the beach in the afternoon."Now, for the bad news, it appears SoCal-based mortgage firms are shedding not only jobs but office space -- bigtime. For the full story see the Monday edition of National Mortgage News. (Don't subscribe? Call:(800) 221-1809.) Grubb & Ellis executive Oliver Fleener has been witnessing lender afterlender looking to unload their office space via a sublease arrangement. He said that mortgage firms suffering themost are young, net branch operations. He also had this to say about the companies: "It seems all these executivesknow each other"...