Servicing

Freddie Mac has announced the pricing of $1.1 billion of fixed-rate noncumulative perpetual preferred stock at $25 per share.The 44 million shares (CUSIP: 313400673) bear a dividend rate of 5.57%, the government-sponsored enterprise said. Freddie Mac said it will have the option to redeem all or part of the shares on or after Dec. 31, 2011, at $25 per share plus accrued dividends. The preferred stock is being offered via a syndicate of dealers headed by Goldman, Sachs & Co. and JPMorgan.

Foreclosure.com, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based provider of foreclosure property listings, has created the Housing Outreach Partner Effort to provide nonprofit and government organizations with free access to its database of more than 1.2 million distressed real estate listings.The goal of the HOPE program is to provide the organizations with a resource they can use to help families find affordable housing alternatives, the company said. In addition, Foreclosure.com chief executive Brad Geisen said municipal, county, and state government agencies can leverage the data to plot foreclosure activity in their areas. The company can be found online at http://www.foreclosure.com.

Four classes from two Ameriquest Mortgage Securities Inc. home equity issues have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, and one class has been placed on Rating Watch Negative.The downgrades were as follows: series 2003-2, class M3, from BBB-minus to BB-minus, and class M4, from BB to CCC/DR5; and series 2004-R4, class M5, from BBB to BBB-minus, and class M6, from BBB-minus to BB-minus. Class M4 of series 2004-R4 was placed on Rating Watch Negative. In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on 17 classes from three Ameriquest transactions. The downgrades were attributed to monthly losses that have exceeded excess spread, causing a deterioration in the amount of overcollateralization. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, has announced that it will securitize subprime mortgage loans originated by its Long Beach Mortgage division under its WaMu Asset Acceptance Corp. shelf registration in 2007.The name "Long Beach Mortgage Loan Trust" will no longer be used for new securitizations, WaMu said. The thrift noted that the WaMu Asset Acceptance registration is also used for its prime, alternative-A conduit, and subprime conduit securitizations. The new trusts will be designated "WaMu Asset-Backed Certificates, WaMu Series 200X-HEX Trust," WaMu said. Doug Potolsky, WaMu's senior vice president of subprime capital markets, said "many changes" have been made in Long Beach's business model and operations since it was consolidated into WaMu, and "this is a logical next step." The company can be found on the Web at http://www.wamu.com.

Foreclosures soared by nearly two-thirds in the Northeast last year, while the Southeast recorded a smaller surge of 37%, according to ForeclosureS.com, a Fair Oaks, Calif.-based investment advisory firm.The foreclosure spike of 64.6% in the Northeast was fueled by "a fourth-quarter filings scramble" in the New York and Boston metropolitan areas and across northern New Jersey, the company reported. Massachusetts led the way, as foreclosure filings skyrocketed 184.3%, from 8,489 in 2005 to 24,137 in 2006. The region recorded 96,101 filings in 2006, compared with 58,394 in 2005. In the Southeast, a similar "year-end scramble" helped boost foreclosure filings well over 200,000. The region ended the year with 220,189 filings, compared with 160,259 in 2005, according to ForeclosureS.com. Despite the jump, Florida yielded its distinction of leading the nation in foreclosures to California, finishing the year with 120,989 filings (a 26.8% rise), compared with 157,417 for California. The company can be found online at http://www.foreclosures.com.

The delinquency rate on home equity loans declined in the third quarter, while the overdue rate on home equity lines of credit increased slightly, according to the American Bankers Association.The ABA survey found that 1.79% of home equity loans at banks were delinquent in the third quarter of 2006, down 10 basis points from the level recorded in the second quarter. At the same time, the overdue rate on home equity lines of credit increased by 5 bps to 0.57% in the third quarter. HELOCs continued to have the lowest delinquency rate of any consumer credit category tracked in the ABA Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin. Overall, the ABA found that late payments for most types of consumer loans rose in the third quarter, with the credit card delinquency rate rising to 4.57% from 4.41% in the second quarter. The ABA can be found on the Web at http://www.aba.com.

The struggling Mortgage Lenders Network will auction off a bulk package of mortgage servicing rights believed to have a total value of just under $5 billion, investment banking sources have told MortgageWire.The auction is expected to occur this week. Meanwhile, a source inside the Middletown, Conn.-based company -- and others outside the firm -- say Lehman Brothers is talking to MLN about taking over some of its shuttered wholesale assets. Lehman had no comment. At MW's deadline, MLN had not responded to a telephone call and an e-mail message about the matter. In late December MLN, a nonprime lender, shuttered its entire wholesale operation -- which accounts for 90% of its production -- but said it will continue to fund through retail means. (For more details on the servicing sale, see the Jan. 8 issue of National Mortgage News.)

Class B-5 of Structured Asset Securities Corp. residential mortgage-backed certificates, series 2003-AL1, has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings.In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on 11 classes from two SASCO issues. The negative rating action was attributed to a deterioration in the relationship between credit enhancement and expected losses.

The nation's heartland also experienced a dramatic increase in foreclosures last year, according to ForeclosureS.com.The Midwest recorded 204,656 foreclosure filings in 2006, an increase of more than 70% from 120,298 in 2005, the company reported. Iowa and Kansas experienced increases of more than 100% in foreclosure filings, while Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, and North Dakota reported filing surges ranging from 80% to 96%, ForeclosureS.com said.

The Southwest led the nation in foreclosures in 2006, according to ForeclosureS.com, a Fair Oaks, Calif.-based investment advisory firm.California, Colorado, and Texas were among the hardest-hit states in the region, with California topping the list at 157,417 foreclosure filings, up 94.3% from the previous year's level, the company reported. Colorado recorded 68,310 foreclosure filings last year, up 55.4%, while Texas recorded 106,845 filings, up 35.2%. Nationally, 970,948 filings were reported in 2006, up more than 50% from about 641,000 in 2005. Alexis McGee, president of the firm, said she believes the worst is over. "Home inventories are now dropping, and markets are improving," Ms. McGee said. "That means relief to overextended homeowners who bought homes they couldn't afford with the help of little money down and low-teaser-rate mortgages." The company can be found online at http://www.foreclosures.com.