Countrywide Financial Corp. is creating a new 15-person unit in Calabasas, Calif., to review the entirecompany's processes from top to bottom, one mortgage executive told us late this past week. "They are goingto review everything," said the executive, requesting anonymity. Is the soup-to-nuts review a precursor toa sale? Probably not -- even though CNBC's court jester Jim Cramer seems to think Merrill Lynchshould buy Countrywide. What did Countrywide have to say about the formation of the new unit? Its spokeswoman hadnot called us back at press time...
As for Merrill, in its first-quarter earnings statement there was no breakout on how much money its subprimeproduction/servicing business made during the period. In the statement, it noted a "difficult environmentfor the origination, securitization and trading of nonprime mortgage loans and securities in the U.S." Merrill,of course, has been one of the toughest Street firms on loan buybacks...
Meanwhile, we continue to hear buyback horror stories from funders that are getting raked over the coals byWall Street. Here's the latest via a source: "The loan was good for two years and then did not pay."The source said the Street firm cited a $1,000 discrepancy on the verification of deposit as a reason for the buyback...
Now that hedge funds are committing to buying subprime shops (the Cerberus purchase of Option One)does that mean the market is reaching a bottom?
Probably not. One veteran B&C executive told us that it will be two years before the industry recovers...
In recent months National Mortgage News has published a handful of stories/columns about the growingsecondary market for delinquent loans, including second liens. A few weeks ago the "going price" fordelinquent seconds was in the range of 15 to 25 cents on the dollar. One mortgage executive -- a former trader-- told us the going price is now four to five cents on the dollar which will not help subprime lenders that aresaddled with bad seconds. (WMC Mortgage take note)...
We continue to hear reports from net branch managers that All Fund Mortgage is stretching outthe time it takes to pay its franchisees. For the complete story see the Monday edition of National MortgageNews. Don't subscribe? Call: (800) 221-1809...
According to a report in MortgageStrategy, a U.K. trade magazine, ABN Amro "claimedit had research showing British home prices were far more vulnerable to a crash than in the U.S." The "buy-to-let"(investor market) has been on fire over there the past few years...
According to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, more Sonoma County homeowners are falling behind onmortgage payments as the housing downturn takes a bigger toll, particularly on those who bought homes within thepast two years. (Sonoma County is the heart and soul of Northern California wine country and home to “InsideJob” author Steven Pizzo.) Mortgage defaults soared to a 10-year high in the county during the firstquarter...
SURVEY NOTICE FOR MORTGAGE BANKING FIRMS: NMN is collecting annual production and servicing datafrom all mortgage banking firms, regardless of charter. To participate (it's free) please
ATTENTION LOAN BROKERS: NMN is conducting its annual survey of brokerage firms. To participatevisit
LO SURVEY NOTICE: Loan officers take note -- NMN's annual survey of LOs also is now ready and
WASHINGTON NEWS: The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and the ranking Republican memberon Wednesday ruled out any type of government bailout for delinquent subprime borrowers. At a news conference,Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said, "This problem can be solved without using"taxpayer money. For the full story see Brian Collins' story in Monday's NMN.
MORTGAGE MEETINGS: It's one of the best subprime shows in the business -- that would be SourceMedia's5th annual "Nonprime Lending Symposium" May 17-19 in Las Vegas. Speakers include EMC'sJohn Vella. For more information call: (800) 803-3424.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Residential Capital Corp. CEO Bruce Paradis is retiring come June 1. AmericanBrokers Conduit, the wholesale arm of American Home Mortgage, has named Katrina Smithsenior vice president for wholesale. Ms. Smith joins ABC from Countrywide where she served as vice president ofnational accounts. Interthinx, a mortgage fraud software firm, has named Marina Marcarian as teamlead investigator for its California office.
DATA NOTICE: National Mortgage News has just published its Annual Data Report, theannualized version for Quarterly Data Report. The ADR has complete rankings on the nation's top 100 lenderswith breakouts on the top 50 subprime. To order e-mail
