Mortgage Servicing News articles from April 2005

Mortgage Servicing News archives from April 2005

Lenders Spruce Up Communication.
April 1, 2005... New York -- In the wake of increased regulatory pressure, many servicers of nonprime mortgage loans are paying more attention to borrower communication, according to subprime servicers and rating agency analysts. But that isn't the only...

First Liens a Growing Problem for Seconds.(LienWatch)
April 1, 2005... Dallas -- With the home-equity market growing fast, second-lien holders face increasing anxiety about protecting the lien in the event that a borrower defaults on the first mortgage. First American Real Estate Information Services has...

A Sale Near for PHH?(PHH Mortgage)
April 1, 2005... Mount Laurel, NJ -- PHH Corp. here, the nation's 10th largest servicer, has adopted a policy of not entering into "employment agreements" with any of its executives or workers, a move that some industry executives say could be a precursor to a...

Senate Passes Bankruptcy Bill.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Washington -- The Senate has passed a major overhaul of national bankruptcy laws, clearing the measure for quick action in the House. The consumer bankruptcy bill, which addresses some foreclosure issues, easily cleared the Senate by a...

No Movement on Servicing Fees.
April 1, 2005... Washington -- Top officials at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have expressed their willingness to some industry leaders that they would like to slash the minimum servicing fee but for now it appears that no action is imminent. Mortgage banking...

Top Residential Second Lien Servicers at Dec. 31, 2004.
April 1, 2005... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Chase Home Finance Edison, NJ 2 Bank of America Charlotte, NC 3 Countrywide...

B&C Servicers Want to See More Loans Being Escrowed.
April 1, 2005... Orlando, FL -- Servicers of subprime mortgage loans face a perplexing conundrum. Only about a quarter of the loans include escrow accounts to ensure payment of insurance premiums and property taxes, yet subprime borrowers are the least likely...

Small Lenders Lobby for 'Flat' G-Fee.
April 1, 2005... Washington -- A legislative proposal that would mandate all lenders pay Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac the same flat guarantee fee is gathering serious traction on Capitol Hill, according to industry officials. If the idea becomes law it would...

Extension Again Sought for TRIA.(Terrorism Risk Insurance Act)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Washington -- A bill has been introduced to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 which is due to expire by the end of the year. The Terrorism Insurance Backstop Extension Act of 2005 seeks to extend the insurance backstop...

'Flips' Dominate Fraud Caseload.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Washington -- Almost half of all mortgage fraud cases currently under investigation by the government involve land flips while just 6% involve "double-sold loans," a senior FBI official said last week. Speaking at an industry conference,...

Servicer Designation Added to MBA Education.
April 1, 2005... Washington -- The Mortgage Bankers Association has launched the industry's first formal training program for loan administration professionals. The MBA has added a "certified mortgage servicer" designation to the roster of credentials it...

2nd Thoughts on 2nd Homes.
April 1, 2005... Time was, about 90% of home purchases were made by people who planned to use the property as their primary residence. Not any more, according to the National Association of Realtors. Last year, investment properties and vacation homes accounted...

Technology and Teamwork.
April 1, 2005... Ms. Coon is a shareholder in the Michigan based law firm of Trott & Trott. This viewpoint is the first part of an article she wrote about the foreclosure process. The second part will run in the May edition. Foreclosure works to make...

Let Me Try to Explain High Cost Housing.
April 1, 2005... I live in a sociable neighborhood where the parents (of which I'm one) get together for the occasional barbecue or New Year's Eve party. After we're done discussing our kids' academic or sporting achievements or ringing our hands about too much...

MBS Prepayment Speeds Edge up Again.(mortgage-backed securities)
April 1, 2005... Prepayment rates for 30-year Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities rose modestly in February, according to Bear Stearns & Co. For Fannie 30-year MBS issues, the aggregate prepayment rate increased by 4.7% in February,...

More Chase Executives Head to WaMu.(Appointment)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Seattle -- Washington Mutual continues to pluck former J.P. Morgan Chase executives to lead its revamped mortgage lending operations. John Berens has been named head of service delivery for Washington Mutual's mortgage unit, joining new...

Texas Mortgage Bankers Host Servicing Conference.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Austin, TX -- The Texas Mortgage Bankers Association recently hosted a loan servicing workshop in Dallas that drew more than 250 industry participants, the TMBA said. Attendance was so strong that the original meeting space proved too...

U.S. Bank Gets 'Tier One' Recognition.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Minneapolis -- U.S. Bank Home Mortgage, which recently achieved Freddie Mac's "Tier One" performance rating for excellence in investor reporting and default management for 2004, is among 23 servicers recognized for maintaining a Tier One rating...

Colonial Savings Is Hall of Famer.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Fort Worth -- Colonial Savings has been selected for Freddie Mac's 2004 Tier One Hall of Fame, the second consecutive year the bank has received this recognition for investor reporting and default management. Colonial Savings was one of 12...

First American Acquiring United General Title Insurance.
April 1, 2005... Santa Ana, CA -- Fitch Ratings, Chicago, has affirmed its ratings of First American Corp. here following the announcement of the title insurer acquiring another underwriter, United General Title Insurance Co., Denver. Fitch said it...

Robert Douglass and Vicki Chenault.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... First American Real Estate Information Services said that Mr. Douglass has transitioned his duties as president of First American Flood Data Services to Ms. Chenault, who has been named president for that unit. Mr. Douglass will now concentrate...

M&A Deals: Capital One Buys Hibernia, Regions Sells.
April 1, 2005... McLean, VA -- Credit card giant Capital One Financial here has agreed to buy Hibernia Corp., New Orleans, one of the largest lenders in Louisiana, for $5.3 billion in stock and cash. The deal, once completed, will bolster the credit card...

Balboa Introduces Risk-Based Pricing For Lender-Placed Insurance Services.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Calabasas, CA -- The Balboa Insurance Group, a subsidiary of Countrywide Financial Corp. here, has developed a new risk-based pricing program for lender-placed property hazard insurance. Typically, such insurance is provided on a "one...

Cogent Migrates to New Platform.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... San Francisco -- Cogent Economics, a developer of loan quality control and compliance tools, is migrating its CogentQC suite of applications to Microsoft's .NET platform. Cogent's chief software architect, Bob Wong, said the migration is a...

Imaging Spreads through Companies as Doc Management Tool.
April 1, 2005... Bellevue, WA -- Once companies start imaging documents, the benefits of spreading imaging across an enterprise become more apparent. At least that's the way technology provider Captaris sees it. And their customers seem to be backing them...

Electronic Recording Gaining Steam.
April 1, 2005... Miami -- Electronic recording is picking up momentum as more counties come online and could soon be the common way of recording a loan, panelists at the 8th Annual Mortgage Technology Conference here said. "We on the county level simply...

California Bankers Sponsor E-Summit.(California Mortgage Bankers Association)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Sacramento, CA -- To herald creation of what one speaker touted as the coming deployment of "the largest and most advanced system of electronic recordation in the nation," the 2005 California E-Recording Summit was held here in February. ...

Delinquency Rates Fall for all Asset Classes.
April 1, 2005... Delinquencies on commercial mortgage-backed securities have declined simultaneously across all of the four major property types for the first time in several years, Fitch Ratings reports. The rating agency's U.S. CMBS loan delinquency index...

Capital Still Flowing into Real Estate.
April 1, 2005... Pittsburgh -- Improvements are in store for all the property types this year, on account of continued improvement in the national economy and a sustained inflow of capital into real estate, according to PNC Real Estate Finance. Nicholas...

Criimi Mae's Earnings Rise.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Rockville, MD -- Criimi Mae has reported fourth-quarter net income of $5.4 million ($0.34 per share), a 108% increase from net income of $2.6 million ($0.17 per share) for the fourth quarter of 2003. And for the year ended Dec. 31, 2004,...

CBA Securitizes Its First CMBS Deal.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Stamford, CT -- CBA Commercial has issued its first securitization backed by small balance commercial mortgage loans for a total of $102 million. The loans include 265 commercial, mixed-use and multifamily mortgage loans with an average...

2005 Could Spell Relief for Servicers.
April 1, 2005... Most economists expect mortgage rates to rise gradually over the balance of this year as a strengthening economy encourages the Federal Reserve Board to raise rates. Rising rates should be good news for mortgage servicing managers, even if...

IL County Bonds Get a Downgrade.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... New York -- Will County, Ill.'s student housing revenue bonds (Joliet Junior College project), series 2002A, and taxable series 2002B, have been downgraded from C to D by Fitch Ratings. The downgrade to default status was attributed to a...

Wells Offers Budget Tracking to Consumers.(Wells Fargo & Co.)
April 1, 2005... San Francisco -- Wells Fargo & Co. has launched a new online service designed to provide an overview of all the spending activity of an account holder by tracking all financial venues they use: credit cards, debit cards, online bill payment,...

Risk Edges Up For Nonprime Home Loans.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ann Arbor, MI -- The risk that newly originated, nonprime credit-quality mortgage loans will end up in default is pretty much steady for the winter of 2005, according to a risk index published by University Financial Associates here. But...

Oil Patch Still Looking Good.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ann Arbor, MI -- The same six states, including four known as oil-producing areas, remain on University Financial Associates' Nonprime Mortgage Report Best Places to Lend. The fall 2004 list includes Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi and...

Moody's Refines Analysis of Subprime Hybrid Loans.
April 1, 2005... New York -- Moody's Investors Service is refining its loss coverage methodology for subprime hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages The rating agency said it would apply this revised methodology to subprime securitization deals closing on or...

Fitch Sees Strong Compliance with 'High Cost' Rules.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... New York -- Based on results of the transaction loan sampling over the past 22 months, Fitch has determined that there has been excellent compliance with Fitch's high-cost loan criteria. Effective immediately, Fitch will no longer require...

B&C Volume Soars: Subprime Production.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
April 1, 2005... (Dollars in Billions) The Total Res. B&C B&C % Year Prod. Volume of Total 2004 $2,790 $608 21.8% 2003 $3,904 $390 9.9% 2002 $2,787 $241 8.6% ...

Countrywide Chief Fears Crowd Could Sink Subprime Market.
April 1, 2005... Park City, UT -- On the heels of a new report that found one in four home loans originated in last year's fourth quarter were subprime comes a renewed warning that one misstep by a mono-line nonprime lender could cast a pall over the entire...

Vanderbilt Mortgage Buys $4B MH Portfolio.(Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Knoxville, TN -- Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance Inc. here has agreed to purchase the $4 billion manufactured housing loan portfolio owned by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., New York. Terms of the deal were not disclosed A spokesman for J.P....

Tom Couture.(appointment at PlainsCapital McAfee Mortgage)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... PlainsCapital McAfee Mortgage, Lubbock, Texas, has promoted Mr. Couture to chief executive officer. Mr. Couture is a mortgage industry veteran with more than 25 years experience and previously served as chief operating officer. Copyright...

Residential Interest-only Lenders in Q4 2004.
April 1, 2005... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage San Francisco, CA 2 Aurora Loan Services, Inc. Aurora, CO 3 GreenPoint Mortgage...

Fieldstone Goes Public.(Fieldstone Investment Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Columbia, MD -- Shares of Fieldstone Investment Corp. here began trading publicly on Feb. 3, after the Securities and Exchange Commission signed off on the nonconforming lender's registration statement. The company received authorization to...

Foreclosure.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... In an ideal world, there would never be a right time for foreclosure. But in a world where some borrowers stop making mortgage payments, and phone calls and mail get no response, the servicer has to do something. The truth is that in many...

TFH Uses VOIP to Automate Delinquency Management.
April 1, 2005... New York -- Delinquency management company TFH here recently upgraded to a VOIP platform to more effectively apply its best practices expertise to better serve the mortgage industry. "We've recently upgraded our platform so it's almost...

BoA Deal Downgraded.(Banc of America Commercial Mortgage Inc. )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... NEW YORK -- Two classes of Banc of America Commercial Mortgage Inc. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2002-PB2, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. Class L was downgraded from Ba2 to Ba3, and class M was...

RealtyTrac Launches New Asset Management Software.
April 1, 2005... Lake Forest, CA -- RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, has released the RealtyTrac Asset Management System to help asset managers and real estate agents to post, market, manage and sell real estate-owned properties....

Fitch Proposes New Default And Recovery Rating Scale.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Fitch Ratings has proposed a new rating scale designed to "provide greater transparency into the interplay between default risk and loss given default than heretofore has been available to the market." Fitch said the new methodology would...

Firm Launches Debt Recovery Unit.(Reward Enterprises starts Customer Solutions Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Houston -- Diversified subprime lending services provider Reward Enterprises has launched Customer Solutions Inc., a customer debt recovery business and subsidiary of its Customer's Choice Financial Services Inc. CSI will be headquartered...

Fitch Praises REIT Servicers.(Real estate investment trusts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... New York -- While mortgage REITs face several obstacles to obtaining high marks from rating agencies, having a capable loan servicing unit can help ease the concerns of a rating agency, according to a recent report from Fitch Ratings. ...

Delinquenies Based on Unpaid Principal Balance at 12/31/04.(Illustration)
April 1, 2005... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Ridgewood Savings Bank Ridgewood, NY 2 Thornburg Mortgage, Inc. Sante Fe, NM 3 Hudson City...

Unifund Targets Indebted Homeowners with Lien Product.(Future Home Lien)
April 1, 2005... Looking for an alternative to foreclosure? Unifund, Cincinnati, has designed the "Future Home Lien" product to help collect debt from defaulted debtors who own a home. This unique product allows for a faster and less work-intensive litigation...

Bank of America Shuts Its Private-Label Outsource Unit.
April 1, 2005... Charlotte, NC -- Bank of America - which has experienced a series of ups and downs in mortgages over the past five years - is closing its private-label outsourcing unit, Financial Services Solutions. The decision to shut FSS comes just 20...

Banks Still Adding Mortgages.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Washington -- Residential mortgage lending and investments at banks and thrifts accounted for 42% of all asset growth in 2004 and 70% in the fourth quarter as federally insured depositories continue to bulk up on mortgage assets. The most...

Mortgage Employment Hits Record.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Washington -- Employment in the overall mortgage industry hit a record 489,400 full-time positions in January but broker jobs appear to be slipping. According to figures compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of real estate...

Lenders Say FHA Needs to 'Modernize'.(Federal Housing Administration)
April 1, 2005... Park City, UT -- An official of the Mortgage Bankers Association suggested here last week that the Federal Housing Administration could eventually be forced out of the mortgage insurance business if it doesn't modernize and keep up with the...

Thrift Regulator Gives Greater Flexibility on CRA Tests.(Community Reinvestment Act)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Washington -- Large thrifts will have more flexibility in meeting their Community Reinvestment Act tests under a final rule approved by the Office of Thrift Supervision last week. CRA scores for thrifts with more than $1 billion in assets...

Servicing People.
April 1, 2005... CALIFORNIA Carson-Document Systems Inc. said that Melanie A. Feliciano and Renee M. Smith have joined the company's in-house legal team as assistant general counsel and staff counsel, respectively. Prior to joining DSI, Ms. Feliciano...

Seattle FHLBank Exits Mortgage Purchase Deals.
April 1, 2005... Washington -- Under regulatory pressure, the Seattle Federal Home Loan Bank is exiting the mortgage purchase business to reduce its interest rate risk exposure and cut operating costs. The bank's board of directors and senior management is...

Nexstar Hires Exec From PHH.(Nexstar Financial Corp. appoints Leonard M. Wagner )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... St. Louis -- Private-label originator Nexstar Financial has hired away a top executive from its competitor, PHH Mortgage, Mount Laurel, N.J. Nexstar has named Leonard M. Wagner - a seven-year veteran of PHH - its national account director....