Servicing

Fannie Mae purchased $52 billion worth of loans in August, its second-worst showing of the year.According to a new analyst report issued by Bernstein Research, the weak showing was caused by a strong adjustable-rate mortgage market and a robust appetite for mortgages by depositories. In connection with the weak numbers, Bernstein slightly reduced its 2005 earnings estimate for Fannie. The research firm says it believes Fannie Mae is now losing market share. Bernstein analysts Jonathan Gray and Adam Weinrich also commented on media reports that the mortgage giant may have smoothed out earnings, saying, "as far as we are aware, the 'smoothing' has been one-sided, deferring, rather than accelerating, earnings recognition." They added: "The only question would appear to be whether accounting rules were violated." Fannie Mae can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.

Freddie Mac has announced that its previously reported mortgage relief for victims of Hurricane Charley and Hurricane Frances has been extended to victims of Hurricane Ivan.The relief is available to families whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Ivan in locations declared Major Disaster Areas. Under its disaster relief policies, Freddie Mac encourages its servicers to reduce or suspend mortgage payments for up to 12 months, waive the assessment of penalties or late fees, not report forbearance or delinquencies caused by the hurricane to credit bureaus, and expedite the release of insurance proceeds.

Temple-Inland has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Guaranty Residential Lending, Austin, Texas, plans to sell its third-party mortgage servicing portfolio."The sale of this asset will further reduce costs, earnings volatility, and exposure to changing market conditions," Temple-Inland said. The parent company said it does not expect the sale of mortgage servicing rights to have a significant effect on its earnings. Temple-Inland, a manufacturer of corrugated packaging and building products with a diversified financial services operation, can be found on the Web at http://www.templeinland.com.

Bimini Mortgage Management Inc., Vero Beach, Fla., a real estate investment trust that invests chiefly in residential mortgage-backed securities, has announced the pricing of its initial public offering of common stock at $14.50 per share.Bimini was formed in September 2003 to invest primarily in residential MBS issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. The managing underwriter for the offering is Flagstone Securities LLC. The underwriters have been granted an option to buy up to 750,000 additional shares at the IPO price to cover any overallotments, the REIT said. The company's class A common stock began trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BMM.

Class B of Asset Backed Funding Corp. mortgage loan asset-backed certificates, series 2001-AQ1, has been downgraded from BBB to BB by Fitch Ratings.Fitch attributed the downgrade to monthly losses that have an averaged over $157,000, about $23,000 more than the average monthly excess interest. In addition, 90-day delinquencies have averaged 24.3% of the current pool balances, the rating agency said.

Four classes of IndyMac ABS Inc. home equity issues have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: series SPMD 2000-C group 1, class MF-1, from AA to A, and class MF-2, from BB to CCC; and series SPMD 2000-C group 2, class MV-2, from A-minus to BBB, and class BV, from BBB-minus to B. In addition, the ratings on three other classes in the home equity deal were affirmed. Group 1 originally contained 12.65% of manufactured housing collateral, but the percentage had increased to 35.9% as of August, the rating agency said. In group 2, manufactured housing collateral originally accounted for 9.51% of the pool, and it accounted for 25.14% as of August. "To date, MH loans have exhibited very high historical loss severities, causing Fitch to have concerns regarding the adequacy of enhancement in this deal," Fitch said. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Meanwhile, Fannie Mae has expanded its previously announced mortgage relief for families whose homes have been damaged by recent hurricanes by temporarily allowing servicers to quickly release insurance money.Fannie Mae said the temporary changes permit servicers to immediately release insurance funds up to $20,000 as long as the borrower has a contractor's estimate for the repairs, is current on payments, and has a good mortgage payment record. The government-sponsored enterprise said it is also encouraging servicers to counsel homeowners that they should hire only "licensed and qualified" contractors to complete home repairs.

Fannie Mae is expected to issue guidance on mandatory arbitration clauses within three weeks, sources have told MortgageWire.However, Fannie Mae officials have not set an effective date yet. A Fannie spokeswoman declined to confirm the timing, but she said the guidance will be issued "very soon." Freddie Mac implemented a ban Aug. 1 on MACs in the subprime loans it purchases. However, the secondary-market agency did not provide any guidance, which has angered lenders. "We are certainly talking to the industry about mandatory arbitration," a Freddie Mac spokesman said. The result of those talks will determine whether guidance is needed, he said. Fannie Mae can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.

The inventory of foreclosed residential properties rose less than 1% in August, according to Foreclosure.com, an online foreclosure listing service based in Boca Raton, Fla.There were 22,733 new foreclosed residential properties listed in the United States in August, and such properties totaled 72,303 overall, the company reported. The data indicate that "new foreclosure activity has leveled off across the country, which is a strong indicator of the sustained strength of the real estate market," said Greg Sullivan, vice president and co-founder of Foreclosure.com. The data also show that the inventory of active properties "has remained relatively flat for the third straight month, indicating lenders have been successful in maintaining a balance of foreclosure sales against new foreclosure inventory," he said. The company can be found online at http://www.foreclosure.com.

Foreclosure.com, Boca Raton, Fla., has announced an agreement to provide listings data to Domania, a Boston-based operator of a consumer real estate website.Under the agreement, Domania (a unit of LendingTree Inc.) will private-label Foreclosure.com's national database of foreclosure listings. "Foreclosure.com offers the industry's most thorough and trustworthy foreclosed home property data, which will be a great benefit to Domania.com users who utilize online research to supplement their home buying and selling experiences," said Ben Joslin, Domania's general manager and vice president of marketing. The companies can be found online at http://www.foreclosure.com and http://www.domania.com.