If you're looking for ground zero in the foreclosure crisis it's not necessarily California, though the GoldenState, indeed, has its fair share of problems. This past week I had the opportunity to interview Jim Rokakis,the treasurer of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, home to the Indians, the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and PereUbu. What Mr. Rokakis said wasn't pretty and the statistics he gave me on bad loans funded by Argent Mortgageraises many troubling questions. Here's just two startling facts: Homes funded in Cuyahoga County by Argent havenegative equity of $230 million and 25% of the homes funded by Argent (11,075 units) have gone into foreclosure.Loan brokers were major players in this mess and Mr. Rokakis is mad -- and rightfully so. Of course, Argent isno longer the problem of its past owner Roland Arnall, the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands. Citigrouprecently bought Argent, reportedly for a song. I just hope the folks at Citi don't live to regret the deal. Thestatistics compiled for Cuyahoga prompt me to ask this one question: Where were the state AGs when they were probingthe lending practices of Ameriquest, Argent's sister company? Did they ever look at Argent? For the fullstory see the Monday issue of National Mortgage News, which will be distributed at the annual conventionof the Mortgage Bankers Association in Boston...
I have an idea about improving loan quality. Here goes: when the deed-of-trust is recorded in the county courthouse, let's also record for the record the name of the loan officer and loan broker on the transaction. Why not?This way we can track the quality of individual mortgage professionals. It's just two extra names to input. Bydoing this we can track the quality of all loan professionals and how their loans perform. The more I think aboutit, the more I like it. Jonathan Kempner of MBA feel free to run with this idea. I'm sure both MBA and theNational Association of Mortgage Brokers will back it...
A current employee of Countrywide Financial Corp. is auctioning off his "Protect Our House"wristband on eBay! At press time the last bid was $70.69. (Some wise-acre suggested to me that CFC shouldsell all of its wrist bands on eBay and use the money to fund subprime loans.) CFC is asking that its employeessign up for the "POH" campaign which asks them to (more or less) accentuate the positive...
Meanwhile, CFC has plenty to worry about these days: it's facing a second-quarter loss that could top $2.5 billion,not to mention tons of negative publicity concerning its loss mitigation efforts on delinquent loans. But now itmay have a new worry. Loan brokers that use the company for table funding say its service is getting worse. Onebroker told us, "Ever since they closed local offices in Fresno their Sacramento office has no clue of whatthe hell is going on. I never get any of my calls returned and my clients tell me: 'Why would I want to put theminto loan with Countrywide?'" CFC releases earnings on Oct. 26...
If you want to see CFC REO inventory visit this website: CFC REO
Investors on Wall Street (and elsewhere) are continuing to shortthe ABX Index, believing that a second wave of subprime delinquencies could hammer an already-decimated subprimemarket. However, a new research report issued by Friedman Billings Ramsey questions whether this "secondwave" of delinquencies will occur, citing progress in loan modifications...
WASHINGTON NEWS: The Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment is (once again) close to sending a RESPA proposal to the Office of Management and Budgetthat revamps the good-faith estimate and HUD-1 settlement sheet. Who says so? Answer: HUD assistant secretary BrianMontgomery. See Brian Collins' exclusive interview with Mr. Montgomery in Monday's NMN.
DATA NOTICE No. 1: The new Home Mortgage Disclosure Act database is now available from the datadivision of National Mortgage News. Want production details on the 8,783 mortgage bankers that were in businessin 2006? E-mail Deartra.Todd@SourceMedia.com...
IMPORTANT UPCOMING MORTGAGE SHOWS: This Sunday the MBA kicks off its annual convention in Boston. (GoRed Sox!) U2's Bono is among the key-noters. If you're attending, enjoy. On Nov. 30, SourceMediawill host its "Mortgage Outlook 2008 Conference" in New York. Mortgage Outlook 2008will discuss such issues as: "The GSEs -- What Does the Future Hold?" It will also focus on opportunitiesin the "scratch and dent" market. For more information telephone (800) 803-3424 or (212) 803-6093.
DATA NOTICE No. 2: Need rankings and profiles on the top residential lenders and servicers? Need hardstatistics on these firms and who their CEOs, servicing and production chiefs are? Need commercial mortgage bankinginformation as well? NMN has just published the brand-new eMortgage Industry Directory, anonline book that tracks the nation's top 400 lenders, 300 servicers, top 85 subprime and much, much more. The e-bookalso provides a special analysis on America's subprime crisis. To order, e-mail
