This past week was one of the ugliest in recent memory for the industry. Ameriquest Mortgage, once thenation's largest subprime lender, laid off 3,800 workers (one-third of its staff), and closed its traditional retailnetwork all of it. Washington Mutual shut its traditional correspondent division, and late this past weekMerit Financial of Washington State was on the verge of going bust. Meanwhile, sources tell us that twopublicly traded mortgage REITs are on the auction block. The identity of one of the firms has been confirmed. Tofind out which one read the Monday edition of National Mortgage News. Don't subscribe? Call: (800)221-1809...
Also, Atlanta-based NetBank has announced plans to sell its mortgage servicing platform along with mostof its $13 billion in mortgage servicing rights. See Ted Cornwell's story in NMN...
A new research report from the TowerGroup says that with the “gradual decline” in profits and production,lenders looking to maintain a long-term competitive position in the marketplace have increased their focus on technology,business process reengineering, and offshoring in order to improve operational efficiencies...
A J.P. Morgan source told us not too long ago that the company was setting up an investment fund to purchaseoffice properties in, you got it, India...
Meanwhile, plenty of firms have signed up to purchase NMN's new '20 (Mostly) Private Firms to Keepan Eye on in 2006.' For more information email:
Are we going to get a GSE regulatory bill this year? It's not looking particularly good though some Washington-typeswe know believe that the White House may soon soften its stance on portfolio limits as will Sen. Richard Shelby,R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. One FM Policy Focus partisan predicted that ifa bill gets passed Congress won't have to take a serious look at these agencies again for 15 years...
Standard & Poor's says the U.S. CMBS delinquency rate is now at a seven-year low -- 0.58%, its lowestlevel since 1999...
WASHINGTON NEWS: NMN's Brian Collins reports that the Senate Banking Committee hasapproved a regulatory relief bill by a voice vote that removes a "haircut" that banks and thrifts haveto take on the value of purchased mortgage servicing rights for capital purposes. Currently, depository institutionscarry PMSRs at 90% of fair value. The bill would allow the banking agencies to jointly raise the limit up to 100%of fair market value. The regulatory relief bill, sponsored by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, also eliminatesa restriction on loans-to-one-borrower involving development loans for residential housing. Thrifts currently cannotfund such loans if the purchase price of the units exceeds $500,000.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Clayton Holdings, an information and analytics firm, has hired D. Keith Johnsonas president and chief operating officer. Mr. Johnson comes to the company from WaMu where he served as presidentand CEO of its Long Beach Mortgage unit. Mr. Johnson joined WaMu in 2001 when the thrift bought Lew Ranieri'sBank United of Texas.
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SURVEY NOTE: If you manage a mortgage banking firm, a brokerage firm, or happen to be a loan officer,NMN is still conducting annual surveys for these areas. For more information contact:
