Originations

Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, has assigned Pete Wissinger, the chief executive of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Des Moines, Iowa, to coordinate the company's retail insurance business and create and execute a companywide strategy for its activities in this area.His duties at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage will be split between Cara Heiden, the head of National Consumer Lending, and Mike Heid, WFHM's chief financial officer. Both are executive vice presidents of Wells Fargo Bank NA. Ms. Heiden will be responsible for institutional lending, retention, marketing and cross-selling, servicing, and post closing, as well as retaining her role running National Consumer Lending. Mr. Heid's new responsibilities include capital markets and credit, strategic design and integration, and the Wells Fargo Three-Step Refinance System. He will still oversee the finance and corporate real estate teams. Both Ms. Heiden and Mr. Heid will report to Mark Oman, group executive vice president of the Home and Consumer Finance Group.

Fannie Mae is celebrating National Homeownership Month in Nevada by promoting employer-assisted housing programs as a way to recruit and retain quality employees.The government-sponsored enterprise said it will address the topic in a forum in Henderson, Nev., in cooperation with the city and the Henderson Chamber of Commerce. Fannie Mae provides free technical assistance to employers that are interested in developing EAH plans, which can provide benefits such as downpayment and closing-cost assistance, interest rate buydowns, and free homebuyer education. Fannie Mae can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.

Moody's Investors Service has launched the Web version of its Moody's Commercial Mortgage Metrics, which was jointly released earlier this year by the rating agency and Torto Wheaton Research, a Boston-based property research company.CMM can serve as an early warning system for banks and other commercial real estate lenders when examining potential defaults and loss given default, Moody's said. The system's credit-risk metrics can also be used to more efficiently size capital allocations and price new loans. A number of different loan types (such as construction loans) are included in the new version. Also included are cross-collateralized and cross-defaulted loans, single loans on a portfolio of properties (such as a single loan on 10 buildings spread across the country), and multiple loans on a single property, Moody's said. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

A division of Fair Isaac Corp. has launched myFICO Identity Theft Security, a line of products and services aimed at protecting against consumer identity theft.The division, myFICO.com, said the product line provides the ability to monitor more than 400 sources of public data for "subtle changes to a borrower's personal information, which can be an indication that fraud is being attempted." Russ Mann, vice president of market management at myFICO, said the "critical damage" caused by identity theft is often not the fraudulent charges. "What is most critical is the amount of time it takes to resolve identity theft issues and the damage it can do to your FICO credit score, which may increase the interest rates you pay on credit cards and home loans, and in some cases can make credit unavailable when you need it most." The company can be found online at http://www.myfico.com.

American Business Financial Services, Philadelphia, has reported the acquisition of certain assets of ESI Mortgage LP, a subprime wholesale lender based in Austin, Texas.The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Touting the company's "expanding broker origination channel," Anthony J. Santilli, chairman and chief executive officer of ABFS, said the Texas operation "fills an important market for us as we establish a national footprint and increase loan origination volume. May 2004 was the third-biggest month in ABFS history, with $160 million in loan originations." In a related matter, the company announced that Lisa Kelly has been named senior vice president of Home American Credit Inc., which does business as Upland Mortgage. Ms. Kelly had been president of ESI Mortgage.

New Jersey makes it difficult for mortgage lenders to comply with its predatory lending law because the language is conflicting and hard to understand, according to Adam Bass, senior executive vice president of Ameriquest Mortgage Co., who addressed the Subprime Lending Symposium Tuesday in San Francisco.The keynote speaker said the New Jersey Senate Banking Committee has just passed amendments to the law eliminating the tangible net benefit and removing a "flipping" provision on repeat refinancings. Mr. Bass said the amendments are expected to be passed by the full Assembly by the end of the legislative session on June 24. Illinois is another state where it is virtually impossible for lenders to do business, he said. Lenders in Chicago must deal with the city ordinance, the Cook County law, state laws governing mortgage origination, and the newest state anti-predatory-lending law, along with federal law and the Illinois Interest Act. Mr. Bass also cited New Mexico's law as one of the toughest in the nation, causing many lenders to avoid doing refinancings. The law is subjective and offers no strict compliance standards for subprime lenders to follow, he said.

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 568.8 to 600.6 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended June 11, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications rose 16.3% on the week but were down 63.1% from the level of a year earlier. The Purchase Index rose from 432.2 to 449.5 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the Refinance Index rose from 1363.2 to 1479.4. Refinancings represented 33.8% of total applications, up from 32.6% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 34.7%, the MBA said. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose from 6.25% to 6.34%, and points (including the origination fee) fell from 1.36 to 1.29 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Single-family housing starts rose 1.4 % in May, and construction activity remained strong despite rising mortgage rates.The U.S. Census Bureau reported that single-family starts increased from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.62 million in April to 1.64 million in May. Meanwhile, multifamily housing (five or more units) starts fell 15.8% from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 323,000 in April to 272,000 in May. The Census Bureau's construction statistics can be found online at http://www.census.gov/const/www/index.html.

Six classes of First Union National Bank - Chase Manhattan Bank Commercial Mortgage Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1999-C2, are being reviewed for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service.The affected securities are classes G, H, J, K, L, and M. Moody's attributed the actions to concerns about the pool's performance and potential losses on specially serviced loans. About a third of the pool is on the master servicer's watchlist, including five of the top 10 loans, the rating agency said. "Since securitization, 28 loans have been liquidated from the trust, resulting in realized losses of approximately $6.8 million," Moody's reported.

Seven classes of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2001-FL2, are being reviewed for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service.The affected certificates are classes G, H, J, K, L, M, and N. The actions stemmed from interest shortfalls caused by the Main Street 200/300 Office Building Loan and expected losses on the liquidation of the San Tomas Business Park Loan, the rating agency said. "As of the June 2004 distribution date, the master servicer will no longer advance principal and interest on the Main Street Loan, which is expected to cause interest shortfalls on classes J, K, L, M and N," Moody's said.

Criimi Mae, a commercial mortgage real estate investment trust based in Rockville, Md., has received a commitment for a $500 million nonrecourse warehouse facility that it intends to use to finance commercial mortgage originations.The facility is priced at the London interbank offered rate plus 75 basis points, Criimi Mae said. The REIT said it intends to hold the commercial mortgages originated until there is enough volume to securitize them. In addition, the REIT is paying off $293 million of recourse debt with proceeds from the issuance of a nonrecourse senior interest in its BB-plus rated securities, proceeds on the liquidation of hedging instruments, and drawings on a new four-year repurchase facility. Deutsche Bank is purchasing the senior interest and is also providing the two new financing facilities, Criimi Mae said. Criimi Mae can be found online at http://www.criimimaeinc.com.

John M. Robbins Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of AmNet Mortgage Inc., has been nominated as vice chair-elect of the Mortgage Bankers Association.The mortgage banking veteran will be elected to the post at the MBA's annual convention in San Francisco in October, the association said. Mr. Robbins is serving his third term on the MBA's board of directors and has twice been elected to its board of governors, according to the MBA. Mr. Robbins is the founder of American Residential Mortgage Corp., which was sold to Chase Manhattan Bank in 1994. The MBA can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Licensed mortgage brokers will be able to originate loans for the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency's homeownership programs beginning Oct. 1, ending the agency's tradition of barring third-party originations.Brian A. Hudson Sr., executive director of the PHFA, said the change is long overdue. "Mortgage brokers are important participants in the homebuying process, and will help us extend PHFA's programs to a lot of families we couldn't reach before now," Mr. Hudson said. The agency can be found online at http://www.phfa.org.

The Smart Commute Initiative, which helps homebuyers qualify for a mortgage with savings from the use of public transportation, has been launched in Nashville, Tenn., according to Fannie Mae, a participant in the program.Under the program, if eligible homebuyers choose a home within a quarter of a mile of a Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority bus stop, participating lenders will be able to add a portion of their potential transportation savings to their qualifying income, Fannie Mae said. This could "increase their homebuying power and help them buy more home for their money," the government-sponsored enterprise said. Union Planters Bank, SunTrust Mortgage Inc., and NBC Mortgage will originate the mortgages under the Smart Commute program, and Fannie Mae will purchase the eligible loans.

Arbor Realty Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Uniondale, N.Y., has reported the resignation of Daniel M. Palmier as executive vice president of asset management.Mr. Palmier resigned June 11 to "pursue other professional opportunities," the REIT said. The asset management group will report to Ivan Kaufman, Arbor's chairman and chief executive officer, until a permanent replacement is found. The REIT focuses on investments in real-estate-related bridge and mezzanine loans, preferred equity, mortgage-related securities, and other real-estate-related assets.

Canada's commercial real estate markets continued to outperform those in the United States in the first quarter, Moody's Investors Service has reported.Moody's, which assigns numerical scores to the Canadian CRE markets that support commercial mortgage-backed securities twice a year, said the composite scores for all property types in Canada were "better than, or at least on par with, those of their American counterparts." Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Classes K-JP and M-JP of COMM 2002-FL6 commercial mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded and removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings.The rating agency also upgraded three classes in the deal, affirmed the ratings on 15 classes, and affirmed the ratings on three others and removed them from Rating Watch Negative. Fitch said the downgraded classes represent the B-note portion of a J.P. Morgan Industrial Portfolio loan. The occupancy of the portfolio's Bollingbrook, Ill., property is 88.6%, but Sony Corp. of America occupies 284,000 square feet (65.4%) on three short-term leases, Fitch said. Sony is apparently interested in leasing the entire building, but another tenant is leasing 23% of the space under a long-term lease. The rating agency said market rents in Bollingbrook are lower than the average rent per square foot at issuance. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Affordable Residential Communities Inc., Denver, has selected Origen Financial Inc., a manufactured housing lender based in Southfield, Mich., to provide loan origination and servicing activities for residents in its communities.Besides servicing the loans, Origen will handle the entire application process for ARC residents, from application to processing, underwriting, fulfillment, and funding. "On the heels of our initial public offering and loan securitization, this is another strong endorsement for the Origen brand ...," said Origen chief executive Ron Klein. ARC owns and operates approximately 67,000 home sites located in 304 manufactured housing communities in 29 states.

LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Richmond, Va., has announced the acquisition of House Smart Inc., an Atlanta-based commercial and residential property inspection company, by LandAmerica's subsidiary Inspectech.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. House Smart's primary services include home inspections, commercial and residential facade and moisture assessments, commercial property condition assessments, and reserve studies. LandAmerica said it doesn't expect to change the name of the acquired company, or to lay off employees. Backroom operations will be consolidated into Inspectech's National Support Center in Alpharetta, Ga. LandAmerica can be found online at http://www.landam.com.

Affordable housing advocates say the decrease in government funding for AH programs is likely to attract more private funding into the marketplace and stimulate demand for employer-assisted housing loans.A recent National Housing Conference report, "Private Sector Partnerships: Investing in Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization," found that EAH programs are more popular than ever. "NHC is certain that companies and organizations will be quick to recognize the benefits, not only to their employees, but to their bottom line through less turnover, as well as improved morale and productivity," said NHC chairman G. Allan Kingston, who is also president and chief executive officer of Century Housing, Culver City, Calif. "With federal spending cuts greatly reducing the role that government programs have historically played in providing affordable housing, private-sector partnerships are without question proving highly effective and are growing in popularity as a result." The report said EAH options have served as a workforce retention tool for employers and enabled employees to benefit from living near work.