Citigroup is doing away with its CitiFinancial subprime brand. The company will continue fundingsubprime loans but the name CitiFinancial will be retired. Company official William Magee wrote to us saying"the line between prime and subprime has become blurred." Citigroup will no longer disclose to NMN(and other trade periodicals) its subprime fundings each quarter...
Wall Street is becoming a bear on loan buybacks. One warehouse executive told us recently that sellers are beingoffered a choice: either repurchase early defaults or the correspondent buyer will renegotiate the price, resultingin what could be a hefty cash payment. For the full story see the Monday, April 24 edition of National MortgageNews. Also, sources tell us that loan buybacks played a role in the recent collapse of Acoustic Home Loans.Acoustic's owner, Metrocities Mortgage, did not return several telephone calls placed to it by NMN...
Also in Monday's NMN, see Bonnie Sinnock's story on a Canadian company offering what is believedto be the first 50-year subprime loan. Don't subscribe? Call: (800) 221-1809...
Is the Federal Reserve close to be finished with its tightening? This past week oil topped $74 a barrel.Oil -- as any fool economist can tell you -- is the prime driver behind the scary inflation numbers. As we wentto press, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 5.04%...
How are rising interest rates affecting the mortgage business, and how will lower volume affect NMN'slist of "20 Mostly Private Firms to Keep an Eye in 2006"? To view the report contact
It was about two years ago that insurance company Principal Financial exited the residential mortgagebusiness, weeping about tight profit margins. Well, now it's back -- sort of. Principal Bank and partnerLendTrade are rolling out a correspondent program focused exclusively on second mortgages...
A new poll by Experian-Gallup found that 71% of consumers say it is likely a housing bubble and collapseof prices could occur in the U.S. within the next 12 months. About 32% expect the collapse of a housing bubblewithin their own area in the next year...
So, you think you're one of the nation's "elite" mortgage brokers? If so, give Quentin Caruanaa call. He's launching Sage Credit Co. of Irvine, Calif. In a statement, Mr. Caruana says he will employonly "elite industry performers with proven track records for success"...
Single-family housing starts plummeted 11.2% in March from record levels in January and February. Is this beginningof the end? Probably not, but according to the National Association of Home Builders, construction executivesare viewing the current state of the housing market as a period of "transition" (also the name of a decentVan Morrison LP.) Builders are seeing slackening demand from what they call "investors/speculators"and also blame rising mortgage rates for their blues...
WASHINGTON NEWS: Former OFHEO chief Armando Falcon Jr. said in a speech last week thathe didn't have much of an opinion on whether the GSEs should shrink their portfolios until his last year or twoon the job. His official position is now: shrink those babies. Mr. Falcon left OFHEO about a year ago. The WhiteHouse has yet to name a permanent successor and given all the turmoil on Pennsylvania Avenue these days it likelywon't happen anytime soon. Meanwhile, a new article in Rolling Stone questions whether GeorgeW. Bush may be the worst president in U.S. history, an issue raised a year ago by MortgageTechnologycontributing editor Stephen Pizzo in his daily blog (
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: CitiMortgage of St. Louis has named Ed Abufaris national sales director for correspondentlending. Metrocities Mortgage has named senior loan consultant Kathy Tower to run its Worcester, Mass-basedoffice. Freddie Mac hired Gareth Davies as senior vice president of enterprise operational risk.
MY GUEST COLUMNIST: Last week, NMN ad maven James Israel filled this space with his ramblings,and needless to say the response was so overwhelming he may be back soon. A former typesetter and rugby player,Jim holds the distinction of being the first and only Helvetica Bold major of Columbia University.
MORTGAGE DATA & RESEARCH: NMN is still offering its new research report on "Loan OriginationSystems." For pricing information contact: (202) 434-0320. Also available is the Mortgage IndustryDirectory which boasts rankings and contact information on the nation's top 400 lenders, top 300 loan officersand much more. Each new MID buyer gets a free QDR. For more info on that offer: e-mail
