It certainly is starting to get interesting in mortgage land. Here's just a taste: Waterfield Mortgageof Indiana -- which has been around for as long as many folks can remember -- is getting out of the industry whilethe getting is good. The company is selling its production assets to American Home Mortgage of Long Island(which just announced that 4Q earnings are going to be, well, a bit light). And what about Waterfield's $19 billionservicing portfolio? That's going too -- but not to AHM. GMAC Residential is still on the auction blockand it now appears that one leading bidder might be mega-bank Wachovia of Charlotte. (Only a mega-bank canafford GMAC, which by the way, has one of the best franchises in the business.) What other interesting things areafoot? Boston Portfolio Advisors just lost four top managers who are starting their own firm, and just aboutevery nonconforming lender we've talked to is suffering from the flat yield curve and margin compression. Whenwill it all end and will it end ugly or pretty? Good question. For some of these stories read the upcoming issuesof National Mortgage News or Mortgage Servicing News. Don't subscribe?Call: (800) 221-1809...
A fresh ranking of the top lenders and servicers (100 prime and 50 subprime) soon will be available via NMN's4Q Quarterly Data Report. To pre-order e-mail
It was just a matter of time before Hurricane Katrina hit the balance sheets of the nation's mortgage insurers.This past week MGIC said it was on the hook for at least 5,300 Katrina/Wilma/Rita loans that went south.Several other MIs will report 4Q results in the weeks ahead and its guaranteed that more hurricane-related woeswill come to light...
NMN's Brian Collins reports that even though the Bush White House wants to stop growthof domestic programs, the president has vowed not to forget the hurricane victims. Of course, getting money outof Congress -- given the budget deficits -- could be tougher than many think. As far as the cleanup is concerned,debris from Hurricane Katrina is 45 times greater than the debris caused by the collapse of the Twin Towers...
Nonconforming REIT Encore Credit is reorganizing. The lender will consolidate seven wholesale loan processingcenters into three. The three surviving centers are in Irvine, Calif.; Downers Grove, Ill.; and Glen Allen, Va.The company is also shedding 440 employees, or 27% of its staff...
Even though many firms are retrenching Countrywide's bank affiliate is opening a new financial centerin Livingston, N.J. Northern New Jersey continues to be a strong housing market...
On Monday General Motors shares climbed 4.7% to $21.78 on the New York Stock Exchange afterGoldman Sachs raised its rating on GM to "in-line" from "underperform." Goldman is apartner in the purchase of GM's GMAC Commercial unit. Nice call, Goldman...
MORTGAGE CONFERENCE: It's probably the best mortgage technology show of the year. That would be SourceMedia's9th annual Mortgage Technology Conference. This year's event will run Feb. 5-7 in Miami. Keynoters include FreddieMac's Ed Albrigo and National City's Joseph McCartin. For more information call: (800)803-3424.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Cort Horner has joined Lime Financial as a vice president and regionalsales manager. Samuel D. Marsico has been named senior vice president and chief risk officer of GenworthFinancial, which has a mortgage insurance affiliate.
DATA NOTICE: For a limited period of time NMN is discounting some of its technology research reports,including its new "Loan Origination Software Report." For more information e-mail
