THIS JUST IN: MetLife Bank has been mentioned as a possible bidder on a $23 billion servicing portfolio auctioned off this past week by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. But our sources say the portfolio wasn't necessarily sold in one piece and that another bidder was involved. The FDIC had no comment. MetLife said it doesn't comment on "rumors on speculation." Its off-the-record comment to me was: "We don't comment on rumors and speculation" but they did wish me a nice weekend. The FDIC receivables hawked belonged to the now-defunct AmTrust of Cleveland…
As mortgage bankers navigate through the refi boom they're also wondering what's in store for them if home purchases don't increase significantly in the coming quarters. Some lenders and servicers are even contemplating the hard money business. Dan Perl, who manages Citadel Loan Servicing of Southern California, said he has begun making a handful of hard-money loans and would like to increase his volume. He even is accepting business through loan brokers. Citadel is a specialty servicer and an investor in nonperforming notes…
Rumors abound that a new trade group is forming to represent jumbo mortgage lenders. If you have any information drop me a line at
Also, we understand that Moody's is making it next to impossible for nonbanks to sell jumbo loans to conduits that want to securitize the product. Moody's is being so tough on its ratings of nonbanks that it is essentially taking these firms out of the jumbo production business…
We heard that Shea Mortgage, which is an affiliate of a homebuilding firm, is in the middle of negotiating some new warehouse lines—and at very favorable terms…
National Mortgage News has put the finishing touches on its list of the top 100 lenders in the second quarter. Among the top 15, originations are down across the board compared to 2Q09 but PHH Mortgage fared the best with fundings slipping by just 8%. To receive a copy of the top 100 list, which is part of our Quarterly Data Report product, send an e-mail to
What ever happen to the cap on “loans-to-one-borrower rule”? I have no idea but consider this situation from CVB Financial of California: "Recently, our single largest borrower informed us that they were not able to make principal and interest payments on their loans as scheduled and wanted to negotiate an alternative repayment schedule." As Scooby Doo might say, "Rut Roh." This borrower, reported to Paul Garrett, a cattle rancher and chairman of a real estate development firm called The Garrett Group, caused the bank to put $48 million of the loans on nonaccrual status in early September, while charging off $34 million.
Last week we mentioned that subprime veteran Neil Kornswiet is now running the residential mortgage division of a Southern California bank. Well, it now appears that the bank—Pacific Mercantile of Costa Mesa—is in trouble with the FDIC…
GO EAST YOUNG MAN: A new report says that by 2020 China will surpass the U.S. as the largest credit card market in the world. Can the residential loan market be far behind? After all, they do outnumber us by 1.3 billion to 310 million.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: President Obama said an announcement of a nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is coming "soon." All eyes, of course, are on Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard professor and TARP overseer. Mortgage brokers, of course, should be quite familiar with Warren who has made (you might say) some unkind comments about the industry.
WASHINGTON NEWS: Congress returns this week. Look for a midweek update from the House Financial Services Committee on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
DATA ANNOUNCEMENT: The new 2Q edition of the Quarterly Data Report will be out later this week. The QDR provides industrywide composite data on loan production and servicing and specific figures on the top 100, including delinquencies. 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
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THE LAST WORD: What I'm reading now: “Theodore Rex,” a biography of Theodore Roosevelt. My early impression is this: if he were alive today Fox News would be calling him a communist and anti-capitalist. Teddy was a trust-buster.
