Servicing

Mack-Cali Realty, a real estate investment trust based in Edison, N.J., has been designated the "Bear of the Day" for Aug. 29 by Zacks Equity Research, Chicago. The Bear of the Day is a stock expected to underperform the markets over the next three to six months. Zacks said it is maintaining its Sell recommendation on the office REIT "due to macroeconomic factors" and that suburban office landlords are expected to "have a tough time over the next 12 months." Office occupancies in the company's core markets have risen rapidly, making it difficult to hold occupancy and increase rents, the research firm said. Zacks can be found online at http://www.zacks.com, and Mack-Cali can be found at http://www.mack-cali.com.

Fannie Mae says it will not purchase "subprime loans" as defined by a recently passed New York lending law that goes into effect Sept. 1. "Fannie Mae will not purchase or securitize any mortgage loan that meets the definition of a subprime loan under New York law, regardless of whether any provision of the law is pre-empted by federal law with respect to a particular mortgage or for a particular originator," according to Fannie announcement 08-21. The New York legislature created a new category of subprime loans that falls between prime and higher-cost loans. "The [subprime] threshold is so low that FHA loans and lower-grade Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans get dangerously close to crossing the threshold, and in some cases cross the threshold," said Don Romano, president of Shelter Rock Mortgage Corp. in Lake Success, N.Y. On Aug. 12, Freddie Mae said it would not purchase New York subprime loans. Fannie can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.

The upward swing in delinquency and foreclosure rates that began in mid-2007 is still climbing and "still getting worse," according to Sam Khater, a senior economist at LoanPerformance CoreLogic. For alternative-A and subprime loans, "it is literally like a 45-degree angle going up," he told MortgageWire. LoanPerformance data show that 28% of subprime loans are 60 days or more past due or in foreclosure as of June 30, up from 15% in June 2007. Meanwhile, the percentage of alt-A loans 60 days or more past due hit 13.6% in June, up from 3.8% a year ago. "They are not going to plateau anytime soon irrespective of the loan modifications or repayment plans," Mr. Khater said.

Wachovia Corp., the nation's largest payment-option ARM investor ($122 billion at last count), is treating its portfolio like a "distressed asset" and will be taking more hits on the loans, according to a new report issued by Sandler O'Neill. Wachovia, whose option adjustable-rate mortgage product is called "Pick-a-Pay," is trying to refinance some of its customers into Federal Housing Administration loans, Sandler reported. Wachovia inherited much of its option ARM exposure from Golden West Financial of Oakland, a thrift operated by the husband-and-wife team of Herb and Marion Sandler. Wachovia bought the lender two years ago, right before the housing market began its historic decline. Sandler analyst Kevin Fitzsimmons and other investors recently met with new bank chief executive Robert Steel, who indicated that Wachovia is trying to get foreclosures off its books as quickly as possible. The bank is forecasting 12% losses on its Pick-a-Pay portfolio.

Fifteen classes of notes issued by two Nautilus collateralized debt obligations linked to alternative-A and subprime residential mortgage-backed securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. All the downgraded classes were removed from Rating Watch Negative. The affected securities are as follows: eight classes from Nautilus RMBS CDO IV Ltd./LLC and seven classes from Nautilus RMBS CDO III Ltd./LLC. Both are static cash flow CDOs. The downgrades were attributed to credit deterioration within the portfolio and underlying exposure to alt-A and subprime RMBS.

RBS Greenwich Capital, Greenwich, Conn., has announced an expansion of its mortgage business via the addition of 16 professionals to its mortgage-backed securities team, 15 of them from Bear, Stearns & Co. Leading the new hires is Scott Eichel, who will co-head asset-backed and mortgage trading with RBS veteran David Cannon. The other 15 new employees include seven traders and eight salespeople who join RBS's institutional MBS sales team, the company said. RBS, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland, can be found online at http://www.rbsgc.com.

Unused commitments on home equity lines of credit shrank by $9 billion in the first quarter and by $31 billion in the second quarter as banks and thrifts reduced their exposure to rising losses. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data also show that chargeoffs on HELOCs have jumped from 50 basis points in the third quarter of 2007 to 200 bps in the second quarter. And chargeoffs on closed-end junior liens have jumped to 3% during the same period. "The chargeoffs are beginning to look like unsecured consumer loans," said FDIC senior banking analyst Ross Waldrop. He noted that the chargeoff rate in credit card loans is 5%. But junior liens are at 3% and climbing.

Wells Fargo executive vice president Mark Oman -- who made the bank into the mortgage powerhouse it is today -- says he will retire from the company by the end of 2009. Mr. Oman oversees four business groups, including mortgages and card services, which will continue to report to him for the time being. Wells is the nation's second-largest residential lender and servicer, second only to Bank of America/Countrywide, according to figures compiled by the Quarterly Data Report. Over the past 15 years Wells has grown rapidly in mortgages by purchasing nonbank residential firms and merging with other depositories. Under Mr. Oman, Wells also ventured into subprime lending -- once ranking first in that niche -- but has yet to suffer the traumatic losses experienced by other firms. Mr. Oman joined Wells' predecessor bank, Norwest, in 1979 and was named mortgage chief in 1985. Wells Fargo can be found on the Web at http://www.wellsfargo.com.

Five classes of notes issued by Trainer Wortham First Republic CBO V Ltd., a collateralized bond obligation linked to subprime residential mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. The downgrades were as follows: class A-1, from AA to A-minus; class A-2, from A-plus to BBB-minus; class B, from A to B; class C, from BBB-plus to CC; and class D, from BB-plus to C. All the downgraded classes were removed from Rating Watch Negative. The downgrades were attributed to collateral deterioration in the portfolio and underlying exposure to RMBS, of which 35.6% are subprime.

Five classes of notes issued by Commodore CDO II Ltd./Corp., a collateralized debt obligation linked to subprime residential mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. The downgrades were as follows: class A-1MM, from A-minus/F1-plus to BBB/F2; class A-2(a), from BBB-minus to BB; class A-2(b), from BBB-minus to BB; class B, from CCC to CC; and class C, from CCC to C. All the downgraded classes were removed from Rating Watch Negative. The downgrades were attributed to "significant collateral deterioration" in subprime RMBS, which constitute nearly half of the portfolio. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.