This just in: Mortgage Lenders Network of Connecticut issued a short statement early Friday afternoonsaying it is still actively funding and servicing loans. The question, of course, begs: why did it issue such astatement? Rumors were circulating about the company in regard to -- shall we say -- its future. One Californiamortgage executive told us he recently tried to recruit a "team" from MLN. At press time, MLN was notelaborating about the release...
Yet another publicly traded subprime lender is for sale. To find out which one read the exclusive in the Mondayedition of National Mortgage News. We'll give you a hint: Lehman Brothers is believed to bethe investment banker on the deal. Don't subscribe? Call: (800) 221-1809...
It's official. An "offering book" is now circulating on ABN Amro's mortgage unit...
The biggest story this past week, hands down, had to be the failure of OwnIt Mortgage, a subprime lender20% owned by Merrill Lynch. On Wednesday's NMN's Brad Finkelstein broke the story on MortgageWire,the daily online version of our newspaper. Sources tell us that 60 days ago OwnIt auctioned off $20 million indefaulted paper (buybacks) at a price of 70. (Par is 100.) Recently, it tried to sell $70 million in bad paper.The bids, we're told, were under whelming. Merrill owns somewhere between 20% and 25% of OwnIt. One mortgage executivetold us that some Merrill officials are calling its $100 million investment in OwnIt one of the worst investmentsthe mortgage group has ever made...
Meanwhile, Merrill is paying more than $1 billion for First Franklin Financial Corp., another subprimelender. (By the way, we're told that some key FFFC managers have already left or are looking to leave. Question:so what is Merrill really buying?) What does FFFC and OwnIt have in common? Answer: Bill Dallas, who foundedboth, and was busy making speeches while his baby (OwnIt) was closing its doors. (Bill, give me a call.) We'realso told that some OwnIt account executives will not be getting paid for their November closings. Merry Christmas...
Another wholesale lender that closed recently is Sebring Capital of Texas. On Thursday, Nov. 30 a reporterfrom NMN called the company asking about a possible shutdown. The person answering the phone denied it.The next day the lender closed...
Fannie Mae last week finally unveiled its long-awaited earnings restatement for 2001 to 2004. It lost$6.3 billion during those years, not $10.8 billion as earlier estimated. That's the good news. The bad news: boy,it's really bad at estimating. Another interesting fact: So far, the restatement has cost the firm more than $1billion. I would venture that most of the $1 billion has gone to accounting, and law firms. See Ted Cornwell'sstory in Monday's NMN...
This little posting appeared on NMN's Grapevine message board and references the closing of OwnItMortgage: "The bloodbath is just beginning, folks. Wait 'til you see what the next 12 months brings. Smokeem if ya got em." -- by KathyLee (Dec. 5)...
Genworth Financial says it has received the first authorization to incorporate a mortgage insurance companyin Mexico...
WASHINGTON NEWS: As Congress moved to adjourn this week, rumors were swirling that language would bepassed allowing consumers to deduct mortgage insurance payments from their federal income taxes. The MI deductionhas long been sought by the MI industry.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: The retail division of American Home Mortgage named Michael J. Wheelersenior vice president and regional manager for five states in its Western sales division. He comes to AHM fromNational City Mortgage. Ralene Ruyle, chairman and CEO of EMC Mortgage Corp., said she willbegin to transition out of a day-to-day role in the company and will "officially" retire at the end ofnext May. EMC is owned by Bear Stearns.
DATA NEWS: Looking for a great contact directory on mortgage bankers, servicers, brokers and loan officers?What about a database on every multifamily lender in the U.S.? That would be the Mortgage Industry Directorywhich is available online as well as in print. The MID/eMID also has exclusive rankings on lenders and servicersthat you cannot get elsewhere. The online version also provides recent news articles on lenders and servicers rankedin the book. For more information e-mail
