THIS JUST IN: Over the past few weeks some investment bankers have been chattering about WL Ross & Co. taking a look at some of the mortgage assets of Residential Capital Corp. Wilbur Ross, of course, is a well-known bottom-fisher who (as everyone knows) pays up for nothing. It's hard to gauge whether the rumor is true, but if it is, that means Uncle Sam may realize that taking Ally Financial public with ResCap as part of the IPO is going to be extremely difficult, a task made more difficult thanks to ResCap's foreclosure screw-ups. We analyze the future of ResCap/GMAC in the Monday edition of National Mortgage News. (Don't subscribe? Call 800-221-1809)…
Meanwhile, the revelation that GMAC is halting (temporarily) certain foreclosures in 23 states because of technical defects and procedural problems should surprise no one in the mortgage industry. Lenders and servicers are constantly being sued by attorneys for violations both real and imagined. OK, that's a gross over-simplification of the situation, but let's face it: servicers are swamped by the foreclosure tidal wave sweeping the nation. Smart servicers should heed this bit of advice: don't be cheap. Go out and hire more people to work in your foreclosure department. This way you can avoid being written about in National Mortgage News, American Banker, The Washington Post and other reputable publications. But here's the real upside of hiring more people: you give someone a job who might really need one and maybe some day that person will turn around and become a mortgage customer…
And one last little item about ResCap/GMAC: in Ally Financial's last 10-Q filing it valued the firm's $370 billion in mortgage servicing contracts at $2.98 billion. That's about 80 basis points…
If you're looking for a list of the nation's top 100 residential servicers and their delinquency figures plus FRMs vs. ARMs serviced, check out the new 2Q edition of the Quarterly Data Report. To order drop a line to
We understand that one more warehouse lending employee has left Southwest Securities in Dallas. SWS is a depository that until a few months ago was actively seeking out new clients. NMN has been reporting on the situation for several weeks…
Brian Benjamin of Two River Mortgage of Northern New Jersey is starting a new trade group for mortgage professionals in the state. More to come next week…
WASHINGTON NEWS: Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee is trying to secure a one-year extension of the $729,750 GSE loan limit in a continuing resolution the Senate is expected to pass next week.
MUST ATTEND MEETINGS & CONFERENCE: In late October the Mortgage Bankers Association will hold its annual convention in Atlanta. In November SourceMedia is holding its distressed mortgage and servicing show. For more info on that e-mail
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Mary Lou Christy, who at one time led the mortgage-backed securities trading desk at Fannie Mae, has joined a number of former agency and government officials at The Collingwood Group, a Washington-based business advisory firm. Christy will be a senior vice president, supporting the private equity and hedge fund advisory practice at Collingwood.
DATA ANNOUNCEMENT: As we noted earlier, the new 2Q edition of the Quarterly Data Report is indeed out. The QDR provides industrywide composite data on loan production and servicing and specific figures on the top 100, including wholesale. A new feature for the QDR is our ranking of the nation's top FHA lenders. If you're looking for jumbo production numbers try the Alternative Products Quarterly Data Report. For more info on both drop an e-mail to
I'm
THE LAST WORD: I'm a big fan of comedy and comedians mocking both politicians and the media. (We, and they, deserve it.) But Congress allowing mock pundit Stephen Colbert to testify Friday regarding immigrant farm labor? The problem is this: Steve was “in character” and had nothing real to say. Heads should roll for this one.
