Even though the nation's megabanks are getting hammered by loan repurchase requests from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, small- to medium-sized nonbanks are escaping mostly unscathed, according to one mortgage advisor.
Larry Charbonneau, managing director of Charbonneau & Associates, said very few of the mortgage banking firms he has reviewed since January are suffering from the repurchase plague.
"Since January I have reviewed 41 mortgage companies from coast to coast and not one has had buyback exposure of more than five or so loans," he said in an interview with National Mortgage News. "These are firms doing $300 million to $3 billion a year in originations."
He said his experience applies not only to this year, but 2009 as well. Based in Texas, Charbonneau & Associates offers advisory services to mortgage firms on mergers and acquisitions and related services.
Charbonneau made his name in the business a couple of decades back with Charbonneau-Klein, a servicing brokerage and advisory firm.
