If you thought RESPA reform was dead, think again. On Monday June 27 Housing and Urban Development secretaryAlphonso Jackson will unveil the agency's roadmap for reforming the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.A conference call on the matter starts at 2 p.m. EDT
If Wells Fargo Bank is wondering what happened to a bunch of employees who used to work in its high-yieldand other departments, it may want to take a little stroll down to Four Embarcadero Center in San Francisco. That'sthe HQ for KKR Financial, a REIT that hopes to raise $800 million-plus through an IPO. The "manager"of the REIT (which technically has no employees) is a little shop called KKR Financial Advisors, which (accordingto a SEC filing) reads like a Wells alumni group. KKR Financial Advisors is headed by Saturnino Fanlo whofounded the high-yield (also known as “junk”) and structured products group at Wells. Mr. Fanlo's second in commandis David Netjes, a former executive vice president at Wells. Both left in summer of 2004. A former high-rankingBush administration official is also part of the group. For the full story see Monday's National MortgageNews. Don't subscribe? Dial: (800) 221-1809
Senate Banking Committee chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., plans to push for a committee vote ona GSE reform bill that would grant a new regulator clear authority to reduce the size of Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac's mortgage portfolios. Sen. Shelby explained his legislative strategy in a private meeting withcommittee Republicans on June 23. Sources say he wants to mark up a GSE bill in mid-July. See Brian Collins'story in Monday's NMN
Sick of reading and hearing stories about those allegedly "risky" interest-only and payment-optionsARMs? It's not over yet. This summer the National Association of Realtors will launch a pamphletcampaign warning homebuyers about the risks. Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association is using the mediato get out its message: IOs and POAs are just fine -- as long as they're used properly
Meanwhile, if you're looking for a ranking of the top IO lenders, check out NMN's new AlternativeProducts Quarterly Data Report. For more information e-mail
@SourceMedia.com
And if you need a ranking on the nation's top 400 lenders (including subprime) plus contact names and much moreyou can now pre-order the 11th edition of the Mortgage Industry Directory, a 1,000-page soup-to-nutstome on the industry. For more info e-mail
SourceMedia.com
Just 4.2% of the Government National Mortgage Association's portfolio includes loans that are backedby homes located in California. Nationwide, California accounts for about 20% of the residential loan market
Commercial mortgage market watches take note: For the third consecutive month, Cambridge Realty Capital reportsthat the total number of loan origination requests for May was significantly higher than the same month last year,but year-to-date dollar volume for 2005 continues to lag modestly behind last year's
Freddie Mac said that more than 11,000 units of new and rehabilitated affordable rental housing will be madeavailable to service men and women and their families through its recent investment in approximately $326 millionin Military Housing revenue bonds
In late 2003 the private-equity firm controlled by Thomas H. Lee made a "significant"(no one knows how much) investment in subprime lender ResMAE of Brea, Calif. This past week, Mr. Lee's pictureappeared in the business section of the Sunday New York Times in a story about the spin-off of theWarner Music Group. Mr. Lee owns 83,000 shares in TMG. Also in the photo is guitar god, Jimmy Pageof Led Zeppelin
Mortgage broker Bonnie Ann Moore of Ketchum, Idaho, was honored recently as the Broker of the Year bythe National Association of Mortgage Brokers. Ms. Moore is owner of Nationwide Mortgage Inc., a companyshe founded in 1991
UP AND COMING NEIGHBORHOODS: On occasion we like to point out once blighted areas that are “turning around”and might prove to be a good place to lend mortgage money in. This week's special: the South Bronx. According toThe New York Times, Bruckner Avenue (See Tom Wolfe's “The Bonfire of the Vanities”) is comingback and now boasts trendy bars and antique shops. And of course the South Bronx has a new nickname that evokesSoHo: SoBro. (I can't make this stuff up. I hope the Times isn't.)
MEETINGS: Investigative reporter Bob Woodward will speak before the National Association ofIndustrial and Office Properties annual conference in Hollywood, Fla., October 18-21. Mr. Woodward, assistantmanaging editor of The Washington Post, will discuss the recent revelation of Deep Throat’sidentity and the Watergate scandal that rocked the Nixon White House.
WASHINGTON NEWS: Thirty-four congressmen have pledged to vote against a GSE regulatory reform bill unlessa provision creating an affordable housing fund is dropped from the legislation. The congressmen, mostly conservativeRepublicans, signed a "dear-colleague" letter that has been sent to Majority Leader Tom DeLay,R-Texas. The letter outlines their opposition to the affordable housing provision, which requires Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac to contribute 5% of after-tax profits to an AH fund. One source said more Republicans oppose the fundeven though they haven't signed the dear-colleague letter drafted by Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Countrywide Home Loans has named Mary Salinas Durón executive vicepresident of its national multicultural sales group. Stewart Title Guaranty has named George L. Houghtonnational independent title agency director. His job will be to promote a smooth delivery system for the company'sindependent agency network.
DATA NOTICE: The first-quarter 2005 edition of both the Quarterly Data Report and AlternativeProducts Quarterly Data Report is now available. The AP-QDR features rankings on the top interest-only, alt-Aand jumbo lenders. For more info about these products contact:
@SourceMedia.com
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