THIS JUST IN: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. may want to start staffing up on workout attorneys and loan liquidation experts. (We know the agency is concerned.) According to a new report by JPMorgan Chase, depositories and investment bankers could be on the hook for $341 billion in mortgage-related writedowns in the years ahead -- both residential and commercial. The report, which has not been issued publicly, notes that 75% of these writedowns will be borne by federally insured banks. For the full story see Monday's National Mortgage News. Don't subscribe? Call: (800) 221-1809...
ATTENTION READERS: Will the subprime industry come back, and if so what will it look like in the future? In 50 words or less send me your thoughts and I will post the best ones (spelling counts) in next week's column. You have to use your real name and firm. Send responses to
I'm looking for insights on Bill Dallas and Ownit Mortgage -- what really went wrong and who at Merrill Lynch was responsible for the company investing $100 million in Ownit. Drop me an e-mail at the above email address...
C-BASS was once a leading issuer, servicer and investor in what it called "credit-sensitive residential mortgage assets," better known as subprime CDOs. The company is more or less gone but sources tell us that three of its top executives are in the process of starting their own hedge funds to bottom fish in the distressed asset market. I can only imagine that these distressed assets will include subprime bonds, including CDOs...
In last week's column I asked for the names of firms engaged in old fashioned "hard money" lending where the mortgage banker actually does an appraisal, looks at a borrower's credit history (with a fine-toothed comb) and only makes LTVs of 60% to 70%. Based on the responses I received here's a list of firms that are active in the market: Excelsior Fund (contact: Rick Baldwin), U.S. Bank Consumer Finance (contact: Dale Kincaid), Red Hills Funding (contact: Mike Parthasarathy); RBA Capital (no contact given) and FCI Lender Services (contact: Gordon Albrecht). I encourage these firms to let themselves be known by posting on NMN's Grapevine website but do NOT make your posting an advertisement. Visit Grapevine at
WASHINGTON NEWS: The Department of Housing and Urban Development expects to issue the new loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Housing Administration loans by March 7, sources have told NMN's Brian Collins. Congress raised the loan limits as part of the economic stimulus bill that President Bush signed on Feb. 13. Lenders are waiting for HUD to compute the new loan limits, which are based on 125% of median home prices, with a $729,750 cap. Any insight into this matter, send an e-mail to
MUST-ATTEND MORTGAGE MEETINGS: SourceMedia will hold its second annual Mortgage Servicing Conference at the Westin Park Hotel in Dallas on April 17 and 18. The keynote speaker is Paul Bennett, chief economist for the New York Stock Exchange. For more information visit
DATA NOTE: According to the Quarterly Data Report, there is $1.2 trillion in outstanding subprime loans, 23% of which are in some stage of default. (To order the QDR send an e-mail to
DATA NOTICE: The Mortgage Industry Directory and the online version of the book are still available. Besides listing detailed information on the top 400 lenders and 300 servicers in the U.S., the MID ranks the nation's top funders of commercial mortgages. There's also information on loan brokers. The book has valuable contact information on the top executives and department heads at each firm. For more information e-mail
