We got the chance to conduct a brief interview with Countrywide Home Loans chief Angelo Moziloon Thursday. He seemed a bit perplexed about why the media was going ga-ga (late this past week) about his companylining up $12 billion in additional credit, noting that CFC had been working on beefing up its lines for the past30 days. He also tried to clarify misconceptions in the media about why consumers are going delinquent on theirmortgages. He blames a majority of the problem on job losses and sagging home prices -- not ARM resets. "Resetsare not the issue," he stressed. For the full story see the Monday edition of NMN. Don't subscribe?(The “paper” subscription to NMN includes the online premium daily content found on our website.) Call:(800) 221-1809
Meanwhile, Mr. Mozilo was in Washington midweek to meet with Treasury secretary Henry Paulson,regulators and industry officials about rising home loan delinquencies. He was the only mortgage CEO in on themeeting though several top servicing managers were there
On Tuesday, all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve and the FOMC meeting. The market is expecting a 50basis point cut, which should help the mortgage business. (It can't hurt, can it?) Of course, one of the Fed'smandates is to fight inflation. This past week oil topped $80 a barrel. So can the Fed cut rates when oil is reachingnew highs? This should be interesting
Thanks to all readers who sent in their Roland Arnall/Ameriquest/Argent stories. This week I have a differentquestion. Why were all these subprime firms -- Ameriquest, New Century, BNC, OwnIt,Option One and others -- based in Southern California? Is it the weather? E-mail me your thoughts
Where there's a will, there's a way. We understand that some subprime lenders owned by Wall Street are using"special purpose vehicles" to provide liquidity to the nonconforming market. One executive explainedthat subprime loans bought or funded by the Street are placed in SPVs, which are "off-balance" sheet.These investment vehicles are financed by commercial paper. As details develop we will let you know more
Some 45,000 "mortgage companies" have gone out of business over the past six months -- so says a marketingpiece put together by Lead Management Group. Tim Heck of LMG explained to NMN's NathashaLim that the figures come from "industry statistics." He said his company offers "lists of companiesthat brokers can contact in order to make leads." The 45,000 number is interesting because just 8,800 lenders(mortgage bankers) filed Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reports with the government. And according to researchdone by Wholesale Mortgage Research & Consulting, there were just 53,000 brokerage firms open and operatingat the end of 2006. Sounds like LMG might want to rethink that 45,000 number. LMG's name was not on the mailerthat we received. An 800-number on the mailer is routed to an answering service
According to the Orange County Register, foreclosures in Orange County spiked last month to theirhighest level in nearly a decade. Banks foreclosed on 469 homes in August, the highest since October 1997, thenewspaper said, quoting DataQuick. Foreclosures rose 27.8% from July and 694.9% from August 2006
WASHINGTON NEWS: All eyes will be on the Senate Banking Committee this coming week. The panelwill markup its version of the Federal Housing Administration reform bill. Last week Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.,chairman of the committee, and Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., helped push through legislation that provides $100million in assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Bear Stearns & Co. has hired Peter DiMartino, a well-known researchanalyst, as senior managing director and asset-backed credit strategist. Mr. DiMartino joins Bear -- a top playerin subprime funding and issuance -- from RBS Greenwich Capital.
DATA NOTICE: Need rankings and profiles on the top residential lenders and servicers? Need hard statisticson these firms and who their CEOs, servicing and production chiefs are? Need commercial mortgage banking informationas well? NMN has just published the brand-new eMortgage Industry Directory, an online book that tracksthe nation's top 400 lenders, 300 servicers, top 85 subprime and much, much more. The e-book also provides a specialanalysis on America's subprime crisis. To order, e-mail
