THIS JUST IN: He's back. Or, perhaps, we should say he's trying to get back in. The "he" is John Robbins who everyone knows well for AmNet Mortgage of San Diego. He sold the nonbank to Wachovia in 2005 and is hunting for opportunities in Mortgageland. Late Friday he sent an e-mail to National Mortgage News confirming what we've been hearing for a few weeks: "Yes, I am looking to get back in the industry." More details to come as we get them...
We understand there is a mortgage banking affiliate of a somewhat large homebuilder that's negotiating a new warehouse deal with a lender. If you hear anything drop me a line at
God, it's good to be an investment banker. Follow my logic here. RBS was issuing subprime ABS left and right during the housing boom. It was pretty tight with subprime giants Ameriquest and Argent, both of which were controlled by industry veteran and Bush friend Roland Arnall (the late Roland Arnall, that is). RBS would've gone bust but the British government stepped in to save the day. RBS also hired a bunch of former mortgage traders who worked at Bear Stearns until the firm (another huge subprime player) went up in flames two years ago. And guess which Wall Street firm is the lead underwriter of the new FDIC MBS backed by performing loans? Answer: RBS. Who knows, maybe RBS will get a piece of the GMAC/ResCap IPO, too...
Hey, whatever happened to Ameriquest executive Adam Bass?...
Next Friday is "E-Day" as the new government unemployment numbers will be released. According to Barclays Capital, "While some leading indicators are coming off their highs, we still project that a firming labor market will engender sustainable expansion. As the global recovery enters its sixth quarter, a double dip would be historically unusual." Barclays was a Wall Street player in subprime. But who wasn't?...
SORRY ABOUT THAT: For readers who have been trying to post a comment to the end of this column I would like to apologize. As you know, we improved the look of our website greatly the past two weeks but in outsourcing some of our Web posting functions, they missed a few minor details like taking care of the function of posting to "What We're Hearing." Let's just say that outsourcing doesn't always work perfectly and that the firm doing the work for us isn't living up the "Pro" moniker suggested in its name. Hopefully, the problem will be fixed soon...
NOT EXACLY A BARNBURNER OF A PROGRAM: The May report shows that the Hope for Homeowners program helped seven underwater borrowers with conventional loans refinance into a new FHA-insured loan. Six H4H transactions were completed in May.
WASHINGTON NEWS: Loan officers at banks, thrifts and credit unions will have to sign up with a nationwide registry starting next year under final rules issued by the federal banking regulators this week. The federal agencies expect to have the registry ready to accept LO registrations by the end of January. However, LOs at depositories will not start registering until their regulator notifies them. After notification, LOs will have 180 days to complete the process. Under the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, loan officers working for federally insured depositories and their subsidiaries must furnish registry information and fingerprints for background checks. NMN's Brian Collins has been reporting on all this for several months. Have any insight? Drop him a line at
OUR POLITICAL POLL: Just 17% of our readers tell us that the Dodd-Frank bill will be good for the mortgage industry. To vote go to the main NMN Web page at
DATA STUFF: As I noted recently, the 1Q edition of the Quarterly Data Report is now out. (We are now busy working on the 2Q edition.) 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
OUR RESEARCH REVEALS: Loan volume fell 30% in 2Q from a year ago. But the numbers are preliminary.
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THE LAST WORD: A prediction: the jobs number that comes out the first Friday in August will be stronger than most analysts are predicting.
