Just when you thought the strange tale of Mortgage Lenders Network couldn't get any stranger, well, itjust did. Late this past week Connecticut slapped it with a cease-and-desist order plus a $7 million fine. Meanwhile,according to the National Mortgage News "Grapevine" website, it appears that many formerMLN account executives who lost their jobs in late December are now trolling for work. MLN CEO Mitch Heffernan-- through a spokesman and occasional press statements -- believes he can still pull the fat out of the fire. Skepticismis running high, though. One investment banker told us the C&D order could drive likely suitors away
Meanwhile, 25 former employees of the now defunct -- and never coming back -- Ownit Mortgage of Californiafound work with FlexPoint Funding of Southern California, a nonprime lender that specializes in hard-moneyloans. For the full story see the Monday edition of NMN. Don't subscribe? Telephone: (800) 221-1809
Also in Monday's NMN: a story about two failures and a large M&A deal
In regard to Ownit, the hottest ticket in mortgage banking this coming week surely has to be the speech by BillDallas before the California Association of Mortgage Brokers. Mr. Dallas is the CEO and founder of Ownit,which is in the process of liquidating. His talk is entitled "A Different Kind of Originator ... What's Next!!"Will Mr. Dallas vilify his Wall Street warehouse lenders for shutting Ownit down? Will he address Ownit's "buyback"woes and all the crummy underwriting? Will he blame loan brokers for giving his AEs crappy loans and those sameAEs for not checking under the hood? CAMB expects a full house
SURVEY NOTICE: Loan officers take note -- NMN's annual survey of LOs is now ready.
The net income of Washington Mutual's home loan segment plummeted by more than $1 billion last year.Overall, though, the company earned $3.5 billion in 2006. Countrywide Financial, the nation's largest residentiallender, will report its earnings soon
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Barclays Bank PLC has agreed to purchase subprime lender EquiFirst Corp.of North Carolina for $225 million. The seller is Regions Financial, an FDIC-insured bank. Did thenew federal regulatory guidance on "exotics" (and threats of more guidance) spur Regions to pull therip cord?...
In a new white paper, Alex Pollock, a former president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago,argues that perhaps FASB has outlived its usefulness. He writes that "typical discussions and journalisticaccounts" of recent accounting scandals "imply that accounting has obviously right answers" andthat "accounting can be 'transparent' and true in some simple sense." He adds, "None of this isbelieved by a single financial professional." Now, I'm only guessing here, but perhaps Mr. Pollock -- theinventor of the much ballyhooed "mortgage partnership finance" program, a product that blew a hole ina few FHLBs, including Chicago -- is shall, we say, rationalizing. At the very least, former Fannie Mae CFO TimHoward should find Mr. Pollock's arguments compelling
Back in April when hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management inked a deal to acquire 51% of General MotorsAcceptance Corp., for $14 billion it said its goal was to grow the business. Last week, it decided to slash1,000 jobs
Two classes of First Franklin Financial Corp. residential mortgage-backed certificates have been downgradedby Fitch Ratings, and three classes have been placed on "Rating Watch Negative." Merrill Lynchbought FFFC and affiliates for $1 billion plus
WASHINGTON NEWS: The Mortgage Bankers Association has inked a deal to buy a new commercial buildingat 1331 L St. NW in Washington. The building is under construction and should be finished by the second quarterof 2008. How much did MBA pay? It's not saying. Who's the construction-to-perm lender? It's not saying. How manymortgage firms will fail in the next year? It's not actually, it is saying. See Monday's NMN.
PEOPLE NEWS: ResMAE Mortgage has named Sue Zanayed regional vice president for its Midwestregion. She will be responsible for sales growth in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Kentucky.Kenneth M. Duberstein, one of the few remaining Fannie Mae directors from the "Raines era," isleaving the board on Feb. 15. In the past, Mr. Duberstein's lobbying firm did work for Fannie. LoanCity,a national wholesaler, has hired John Giagiari and Jeff Minch. They will serve as chief operatingofficer and national sales manager, respectively. FM Policy Focus has named Ed Rothschild its newspokesman.
MORTGAGE MEETINGS: It's the best mortgage technology show in the business. That would be NationalMortgage News/SourceMedia's 10th annual MT conference, which is being held Jan. 28-30 in Tempe, Ariz. For moreinformation call: (800) 803-3424.
DATA NEWS: NMN has just raised prices on its popular Quarterly Data Report and AlternativeProducts Quarterly Data Report. The QDR tracks the nation's top lenders with breakouts on subprime and servicing.The AP-QDR focuses on second-lien funders, alt-A lenders, payment-option funders and more. For more info contact
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