Mortgages

Management at Ally Financial Corp. is considering throwing part of its mortgage division into bankruptcy and then executing a sale of most of its "good" assets, investment banking sources said late Thursday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is willing to back a GSE-related refinancing bill introduced by Sen. Al Franken, D., Minn., but wants assurances that the industry will no longer be hit with buyback requests on loans that are several years old.

For the second time in less than a year, Colony Financial Inc., Los Angeles, has raised fresh capital through a stock offering.

The Lawyers' Committee and counsel Davis Polk & Wardwell filed a lawsuit this week in New York Supreme Court in Nassau County on behalf of 18 homeowners claiming that a network of for-profit loan modification companies conducted a scam on them.

It is better to address the future of the GSEs now rather than wait for stability in the market because if it is done at that time, it would reintroduce instability, Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan told the Regional Conference of the Mortgage Bankers Associations in Atlantic City.

What's the most common complaint I hear these days from mortgage executives? Answer: too much regulation. I'm not going to sit here and tell you to "get used to it" but we all know that given the continued housing recession/depression that there will be no easing up on the regulatory climate any time soon.

Mortgage originators have a moment now that could be their defining moment in dealing with consumers, declared Barry Habib, one of the industry's top trainers. I had the opportunity to once again listen to Barry give his views on the mortgage market, this time at the Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations in Atlantic City.

California is taking aim at the prices banks and insurers charge for force-placed home insurance, the state announced on Wednesday.

Even though national foreclosure filings decreased in February, 21 states posted annual increases in foreclosure activity, according to new figures compiled by RealtyTrac.

The apartment market is recovering nicely and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are enjoying the ride.

The inaugural Zillow Rent Index shows "a healthy and growing rental market" across most of the country, even as home values continue to fall. And according to Zillow's chief economist Stan Humphries, rents are not rising at the expense of home values. "The opposite is true."

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and three other residential servicers agreed to pay $25 million to New York State to resolve certain monetary claims over the use of the MERS database after reaching a $25 billion national settlement on robo-signing charges.

Two small Massachusetts mutual thrifts are planning to join forces in hopes of gaining the scale to better compete against larger lenders.

GMAC Mortgage has hired another former top executive from MetLife Home Loans, this time Randy Levine, who will serve as Southwest regional manager for the national lender.

It's one thing for consumers to vote for the lender which offers the best customer service, but it's a step up when the ballots are cast by a company which earns its own reputation on the reputation of the companies with which it does business.

Remember the good old days when mortgage bankers were considered the "good guys," the ones who put people in houses? And remember when it appeared that plenty of outside capital was itching to get into this industry?

The Obama administration's latest "housing scorecard" suggests there is some progress when it comes to servicers' ability to fulfill the aims of regulatory programs that encourage mortgage rehabilitation, according to one expert.

The size of the residential loan market over the short-term will be determined by the definition of 'qualified mortgage,' which is more important to the industry than the definition of 'qualified residential mortgage,' declared a top lending executive for BB&T speaking at the Regional Conference of the Mortgage Bankers Association in Atlantic City.

The National Council on Aging has created a new website, http://www.HomeEquityAdvisor.org, to help older adults make informed decisions regarding using their home as a tool to help finance their retirement lifestyle.

In my last article I started by saying that whether you like it are not, you are a manager. The only question: Are you a good manager?