THIS JUST IN: Wells Fargo plans to expand its presence in warehouse lending, giving much-needed relief to non-depositories that need a source of credit during one of the most active refinancing booms in recent memory. Wells isn't starting de novo in this business. It will grow a warehouse division that existed at Wachovia, the ailing bank it bought at year-end. For the full story visit
Meanwhile, most readers know by now that Taylor, Bean & Whitaker has come to the rescue of Colonial Bancgroup, the ailing Alabama bank that is also the nation's largest warehouse provider. TBW (a top wholesaler, too) is leading a group that will pump $300 million into Colonial. However, TBW has several partners on the deal, including other mortgage banking firms. For the full story see the Monday edition of National Mortgage News. Don't subscribe? Call 800-221-1809. Also, lately I've received a few e-mails from mortgage bankers who need warehouse credit. This one comes from Advance Mortgage & Investment which writes: "We close about $25 million in loans per month and are looking for a line around $15 million to $20 million"...
There's one thing I don't understand about all the recent bank and S&L failures, so perhaps readers can enlighten me. During the S&L and bank debacles of the late 1980s and early 1990s the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. hired an army of law firms to sue the executives of defunct institutions. The goal, in many cases, was to go after the D&O (directors and officers) liability insurance that these professionals had as a benefit. The FDIC sued and usually the cases were settled out of court and paid for (sometimes) with money that came from those D&O policies. My question is this: How come the FDIC isn't suing any former managers? Was the present debacle caused by bad managers or were these managers just victims of a very bad economy? I assume D&O policies are still around...
Is former American Home Mortgage chairman and CEO Michael Strauss looking to start a new mortgage company? A source familiar with the matter tells us that Strauss is working with another former AHM executive, Richard Loeffler, and that the two, for now, are working on loan modifications. The source said, "They apparently are first focusing on loan mods and then will go from there. They are acting as a net branch." Stay tuned...
What a bunch of "re-TARPs"! The following banks this week signaled their official intention to turn in their "gummint" cash, telling the U.S. Treasury "thank you very much but we don't need your darn money": Iberia Corp. of Louisiana, Old National Bank of Indiana, Bank of Marin (headquartered in Jerry Garcia country) and Signature Bank, which is based in the city that never sleeps. Iberia soon will hand Uncle Sammy $90 million, Old National $100 million, Signature $120 million and Marin $28 million. That's $338 million in cash (presumably) that goes back to the U.S. Treasury. Of course, in the scheme of things $338 million is equal to what American International Group lost each business day last year. Meanwhile, a new Government Accountability Office audit says eight banks that took TARP money failed to pay $150,000 in dividends to the Treasury. The GAO did not name the banks...
It's the end of the road for super jumbo lender Thornburg Mortgage of Santa Fe, a once high-flying publicly traded REIT. Thornburg said it plans to discontinue operations after winding down through a bankruptcy filing. For a while there, it appeared the company might survive...
It case you've been on vacation the past month, the stock market has rallied 25% from its recent lows. At press time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was around 8,000. But will it last? A West Coast scratch-and-dent investor I know (a guy who has called many things right the past two years) predicts the Dow will be at 5,000 come September...
One of the greatest ironies of the current mortgage/credit mess is this: there are now more subprime borrowers than ever before. Of course, there are no subprime lenders left in America to serve them, but according to the new, 4Q edition of the Quarterly Data Report consumers owe roughly $830 billion on their subprime loans. Roughly 35% of these are in some form of delinquency. To order the QDR, send an e-mail to
WASHINGTON NEWS: Concerned that "bad actors" may be originating or brokering Federal Housing Administration-insured loans, housing secretary Shaun Donovan said the government is sending out SWAT teams unannounced to check up on problem lenders. In Senate testimony on April 2, Mr. Donovan acknowledged that the number of FHA-approved brokers now stands at 36,000 compared to just 16,000 in mid-2007. The number of FHA-approved lenders has grown by 525% since 2006 to 3,300. Senators serving on a HUD subcommittee fear that FHA delinquency rates are rising rapidly and that problem lenders that used to fund subprime mortgages are now facilitating FHA products.
MORTGAGE SPORTS NEWS: Some wags (and bloggers) are predicting that the New York Mets will not win a World Series this century. Why? Because their brand-spanking-new stadium in Queens is being sponsored by Citigroup, which has received several zillion dollars in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. Say it ain't so! Good thing the Yankees didn't get that Bank of America sponsorship deal for its new stadium...
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Pennant Capital Management, the largest shareholder in PHH Corp., is seeking to install former Freddie Mac CEO Greg Parseghian and another candidate on the lender's board. In a new public filing, Pennant, a hedge fund, says it wants Mr. Parseghian and Allan Z. Loren elected as directors at the PHH annual meeting in June.
DATA STUFF: Need a list of delinquencies ranked by servicer? What about top jumbo lenders and alt-A servicers? See the new Quarterly Data Report. To order, e-mail D
SURVEY NOTICE: Responses are pouring in for the annual National Mortgage News/American Banker residential lending and servicing survey ritual. Results will wind up in the eMortgage Industry Directory as well as the two newspapers. There is still time to give us your numbers. If you're a mortgage lender/servicer send an e-mail to
MUST ATTEND CONFERENCE: There's still time left - but not much. National Mortgage News/SourceMedia's third annual servicing conference is gaining a lot of sign-ups. The show will be held this weekend, April 6 and 7 at the Marriott Dallas/Fort Worth. Topics include REO, loss mitigation and much more. For more information call 800-803-3424.
DATA NOTICE: The Mortgage Industry Directory is still available as well as the online version of the book, the eMID. If you need rankings on the top 400 lenders and servicers, loan brokers and much more this could be your product. Order the MID and receive a free Quarterly Data Report, too. The MID/eMID also provides executive names and telephone numbers, mailing addresses and delinquency info, and news updates (the eMID only). Buy the book and receive a free Quarterly Data Report. For more information e-mail
