This just in: Credit Suisse First Boston has extended the expiration date on its option to buy subservicerSelect Portfolio Servicing. The option to buy SPS -- formerly known as Fairbanks Capital -- was originallyset to expire on July 31...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development held its third RESPA "rumble" (or is it "grumble")on Thursday with housing secretary Alphonso Jackson telling participants that the agency dearly wants theirinput but cautioning that "this isn't negotiated rule making." He reminded real estate and mortgagefinance-related professionals that RESPA was born 30 years ago. Back then Mr. Jackson said he was driving a 1966Comet and had an afro. That garnered a few laughs, given the fact that Mr. Jackson is now, well, quite bald. Hispoint though, was this: it's time for change. During Thursday's forum broker officials made it quite clear thatthey adamantly oppose disclosures on yield spread premiums -- especially since mortgage bankers don't have to makeYSP disclosures when they sell product into the secondary market. One broker told HUD officials that, "Whenyou give a consumer too many choices they can't decide. If they have too many choices they can't make a decision."In attendance at the third forum were industry luminaries Anne Canfield of the Consumer Mortgage Coalition,Joe Falk of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, Mark Goldhaber of Genworth,and Countrywide's Sandy Samuels. Interestingly, the National Association of Mortgage Brokershas been well represented at all three RESPA forums. The Mortgage Bankers Association has not. For the fullstory read the Monday edition of National Mortgage News. Don't subscribe? Call: (800) 221-1809...
Late this past week ACC Capital Holdings Corp., Orange, Calif., said it has set aside $325 million tosettle claims stemming from the residential lending practices of Ameriquest Mortgage, its retail subprimeaffiliate. ACC made the announcement on the legal reserve on Thursday, the same day that President Bushnominated ACC owner Roland Arnall to be ambassador to the Netherlands. See the full story on Friday's MortgageWire...
Morgan Stanley's Ken Posner, addressing the second quarter earnings of Countrywide: "CFC’s2Q05 production margin was weaker than expected, despite booming volumes, a sign that competition is on the rise."Still, Morgan thinks the stock is undervalued, setting a $47.50 target price on it. Late last week the shares weretrading at $35...
In case you haven't noticed, the yield on the 10-yield Treasury has been creeping up a bit lately. It is nowat 4.29%...
The rise of "piggyback" loans in recent years may pose a risk to the financial strength of the mortgagebanking system, according to a study released by PMI Mortgage Insurance. PMI, of course, has been hurt bypiggyback loans...
According to the Federal Reserve's just released 'Beige Book' residential real estate was robust, butit sounds like some of the froth is leaving overheated markets. Cooling was noted in Massachusetts, New Jersey,the condo market in Manhattan, D.C., several Florida markets, and parts of southern California...
But, condo lenders take note: Chicago is expected to add 7,500 newly built condo units this year, a 33% declinefrom last year, but still among the top three markets in the U.S. Only Miami and San Diego are building more units,according to Property & Portfolio Inc., and Reed Construction Data...
Six states account for more than half the nation's foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine,Calif.-based company that claims the largest national database of troubled properties...
On Monday morning the Washington Post reported that the Washington area housing market -- oneof the hottest in the nation -- appeared to be slowing down.Then at 10 a.m. the National Association of Realtorsreleased figures showing that sales of existing homes set a record in June with home prices shooting up at thefastest pace in nearly 25 years. Then on Wednesday figures were released showing that new single-family home salesjumped 4% in June, setting a new monthly and quarterly record. Meanwhile, the general press (and business press)continue to explore stories about the housing and mortgage industries. Businessweek recently rana headline "A Housing Boom Built on Folly" while the New York Times penned a story entitled"Which Mortgage? A Complicated Tale," complete with a comic entitled "Don't be rubes in the woods"...
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY:This August is the 20th anniversary of the Centennial Savings collapse. Basedin Guerneville, Calif., Centennial was a sleepy little S&L that (after S&L deregulation) got jacked upon brokered deposits and started speculating in real estate. (Sound familiar?) Centennial was cooking its booksand a few of its executives were sent to the Big House. Centennial's collapse -- and the decline of many thrifts-- was well documented in the pages of National Thrift News (now called NMN) which won a PolkAward for its coverage. It was also featured in the book, Inside Job, the Looting of America's S&Ls,authored by reporters Steve Pizzo, Mary Fricker and some other author...
WASHINGTON NEWS:Twenty congressmen, including nine Republicans, are urging the Federal Reserve Boardto collect more Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, such as credit scores and loan-to-value ratios, to determinewhether subprime lenders are treating borrowers fairly.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE:IndyMac Bancorp has promoted Richard Wohl to president of its bank affiliate.In this newly created position he will oversee the primary business divisions of IndyMac Bank in both itsthrift and mortgage banking segments. The lender also named Frank Sillman chief executive officer of IndyMacMortgage Bank.Fidelity Southern Corp. named Todd Trainer manager of its Fidelity Bank mortgageunit. Michael E. Wade has been named to the newly created position of vice president for externaloperational risk management at Freddie Mac. Real estate industry veteran David Miller has been namedexecutive vice president of national sales at the Real Estate Solutions division of Fidelity NationalFinancial.
DATA NOTICE: The brand new "eMID" is now ready. The online, web friendly product featuresthree modules -- one each for lenders, servicers, and commercial mortgage bankers. Key features include rankingsand profiles on the top 400 firms plus an exclusive ranking of the nation's top loan brokers. For more informationcontact
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@SourceMedia.com
@SourceMedia.com
