In what might be a sign of the times subprime giant Aegis Mortgage has tossed its correspondent divisionoverboard. The privately held lender apparently bought its last loan in December, one official told us. Aegis isstill active in wholesale and retail but what, exactly, is going on at the firm is unknown. Aegis spokeswoman KarenBowers did not return telephone calls last week and loan brokers were churning out rumor after rumor on BrokerUniverse,a wholesale/broker portal owned by National Mortgage News. For the full story see the Monday editionof NMN...
So, which firm wound up with the $19 billion in servicing that Waterfield Mortgage is unloading? Thatstory too is in Monday's NMN. Don't subscribe? Call: (800) 221-1809. The broker on the Waterfieldportfolio is believed to be Phoenix Capital of Denver...
NMN's Tony Garritano reports that Bank of America is giving qualified loan brokers 25 basispoints for transacting business with them electronically...
With the yield curve so flat and loan volumes slowing, the merger and acquisitions market is expected to heatup. (It's already getting warm.) To get a handle on deals of the past few years, readers may want to check outNMN's "M&A Database" product. For more information email:
In yet another bad, bad sign for the Government National Mortgage Association market, loans insured bythe Veterans Administration declined by 44% in 2005 to the lowest level in 20 years...
ECC Capital, the parent of wholesaler Encore Credit, saw its stock hit a new 52-week low on Friday.A few weeks ago ECC cut 440 workers, or 27% of its staff...
On Friday's MortgageWire Brian Collins reported that Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspanis not going gentle into that good night in regard to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In a letter toSen. John Sununu, R-N.H., the departing central banker (a long-time GSE critic) once again argues that thetwo should focus on securitizing mortgages instead of holding them in portfolio...
Speaking of New Hampshire, did you know that this once Republican stronghold is raising real estate taxes onhomeowners based on how good the scenic view is? I kid you not -- and vacation homeowners are not happy...
Entertainer/stock expert Jim Cramer who hosts CNBC's 'Mad Money Show' is mad about Accredited HomeMortgage. Big Jim had this to say about the company: "You buy it at 45, maybe take a little offat 50. But this stock is in bull market mode." A few industry executives suggested to us that Accredited mightbe for sale but a spokesman there told us there are no such plans. As for Cramer (not to be confused with Seinfeld'sCosmo Kramer though watching Mad Money you have to wonder) he is not so bullish on HomeBanc...
SOME GOOD NEWS FOR NEW ORLEANS: The Housing Policy Council of The Financial Services Roundtable ismoving its annual meeting -- originally slated for Chicago, May 17-19, to New Orleans. The trade group said, "Inlight of Hurricane Katrina that dramatically damaged the Gulf Coast, the HPC Executive Council has decided to movethe meeting to New Orleans as a show of support and strength to the city's rebuilding efforts."
SURVEY NOTICE: Calling all warehouse lenders including Wall Street 'gestation repo' lenders: NMN soonwill launch its annual warehouse lending survey. If your firm would like to provide us numbers (and get rankedin the newspaper) send an email to:
WASHINGTON NEWS: Recently, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued approval lettersto three national banks allowing them to take equity stakes in real estate projects. Of course, The National BankAct prohibits OCC banks from investing in real estate though there are exceptions for office and back office spacewhere depositories conduct business. Students of the banking (and thrift) industry might recall the S&L crisiswas fueled, in part, by deregulation (remember the Nolan Act?) that allowed institutions to invest in large commercialreal estate projects. Remember Charlie Keating and Lincoln Savings?
NO LONGER WITH US: William B. O'Connell, 82, former president of the U.S. League of SavingsInstitutions. Mr. O'Connell managed the former thrift trade group through the height of S&L scandal. Mr.O'Connell, however, did not exactly distinguish himself during the crisis, underestimating the size of the S&Lbailout, and having his trade group lobby against a Federal rule that would severely limit risky "direct investments"by thrifts. Mr. O'Connell died January 10 at a retirement home in Illinois. Also no longer with us: soul legendWilson Pickett. He wasn't in the mortgage business but he probably had a mortgage somewhere along the way.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Citigroup has named Al Tappe chief operations officer for real estatelending. Mr. Tappe will be responsible for supporting all real estate
originations operations. He joins Citi from Countrywide Home Loans. Joel Furst has been namedpresident of First Continental Mortgage, a nonprime wholesaler. Jeffrey Johnson has resigned as presidentand chief executive of Franklin Credit Management Corp., a New York-based finance company specializing inresidential mortgage loans.
DATA NOTICE: For a limited period of time NMN is discounting its "Loan Broker Database."The sale price is $350. Order the new one and get the 2006 database (coming out in May) at a discount as well.For details, email:
