THIS JUST IN No. 1: Here's an addendum to our “Obama GSE Plan” story below: The White House will unveil three options for government involvement in the secondary mortgage market. One could mandate that no low-income aide will be provided to homeowners unless it comes through the Federal Housing Administration…
THIS JUST IN: No. 2: A new small balance commercial MBS deal is afoot and could be announced at this coming week's American Securitization Forum meeting in Florida. Details are sketchy, and (of course) the rumor could turn out be false. Supposedly, it's a private placement—and it's not a "resecuritization" of existing product. Meanwhile the names of potential jumbo issuers keep coming. Heading the list is none other than Bank of America. We're told the conduit is probably being planned out of the bank's capital markets group and not home lending. A B of A spokesman said he didn't know anything about the matter but is checking on it for us…
And you can add Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse to the list of firms looking into jumbo conduits. (The story was on the National Mortgage News website on Friday)…
A ranking of jumbo lenders can be found in NMN's Quarterly Data Report, an Excel spreadsheet and database product. To order the QDR send an e-mail to
In case you missed our late breaking story on Friday, the Treasury/White House plan to revamp Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will include a proposal to let the GSE loan limit fall, which should be a boon to the conduits mentioned above. For more details visit
Meanwhile, here's the rub on the jumbo market: supposedly there are plenty of creditworthy borrowers who can't get loans from those stingy portfolio lenders that are being ever so picky on terms. Will the rising conduits (if they rise) be the savior of these borrowers?...
THE MBA OFFICE BUILDING FIASCO: First, off I'd like to thank the trade group for supplying the gang at National Mortgage News such a wonderful story. In case you missed Friday's fireworks here's the thumbnail sketch: A year ago, a somewhat desperate MBA sold its (somewhat) new 10-story office building in downtown D.C. to CoStar Group for $41 million, or $34 million less than what it paid to build the thing the year prior. Thursday afternoon, CoStar very quietly on its website bragged that "Hey, world, we flipped this sucker for $101 million to a bunch of ferners." (My paraphrasing, not theirs.) By now you're reading this and thinking: “Oh, no they dintint!” Answer: Oh, yes they did. Now, if MBA were smart, they'd talk to us and other media about what happened but the gang on L Street is clamming up and one source with close ties to the trade group is suggesting that there's some details here that no one knows about that might put Courson & Co. in a better light. I hope so, I really do. Of course, MBA chief John Courson isn't the guy whose idea it was to build the thing. And he doesn't operate in a vacuum. But if I were an MBA member I'd be willing to join one of them Cairo-like protests outside the trade group's HQ to show my dismay with the deal. I mean, after all, MBA is in the real estate finance business and they should know this one edict: never sell a house in a down market. I'm hoping that when MBA sold the thing to CoStar there was a clause in the deal that pays them (MBA, that is) handsomely in the event of a flip. You can't see me, but I'm putting my hands together and looking up towards the heavens…
In case you missed it, the West Coast nonbank that has big plans for wholesale this year is none other Impac Mortgage, that would be Bill Ashmore and Joe Tomkinson's shop. Impac's rise from the near dead is right up there with Lazarus, or Spock's in the third Star Trek movie…
At close of day Friday the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury was at 3.65% which could end the refi boom, but may also finally move certain home buyers off the fence. Some optimists suggest that certain consumers will move to buy now, fearing that rates may move even higher. Of course, there's all this fear of inflation and hyperinflation. But consider this: the one area that isn't inflating is home prices. More on this topic next week…
WASHINGTON NEWS: It's all Washington news, when you think about it.
DATA STUFF: A ranking of the nation's top 100 servicers can be found in the Quarterly Data Report, an Excel spreadsheet and database product offered by NMN. The QDR also ranks certain firms by their cost to service. To order the QDR send an e-mail to
A MUST ATTEND SERVICING SHOW: The future of the servicing business is up for grabs as the GSEs (or is it the FDIC?) mull over what to do with servicing fees. Will banks dominate the sector or will it deconsolidate and move to nonbanks like IBM? To get the answer to this and other questions you may want to attend SourceMedia's fifth annual servicing show in Dallas April 5-7. Top servicing and subservicing executives will be there. For more information e-mail
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THE LAST WORD: What I'm reading now: Dennis Lehane's new novel.
