Mortgage Servicing News articles from August 2004

Mortgage Servicing News archives from August 2004

Delinquency Rates Keep Falling.
August 2, 2004... The Mortgage Bankers Association reported declining delinquencies in the first-quarter and projected that delinquencies will continue to fall over the next few years, but not as much as they would have a decade ago due to the increase in the...

Top Subprime Servicers at 03/31/2004.(Illustration)
August 2, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name, Location 1 CitiFinancial, Baltimore, MD 2 Household Financial Services, Prospect Heights, IL (1) 3 Countrywide Financial Corporation,...

New Name Caps Fresh Start for Fairbanks.(Select Portfolio Servicing)
August 2, 2004... Capping a year-long shakeup to address allegations of improper collection practices, Fairbanks Capital Corp. has chosen a new name: Select Portfolio Servicing. The name change may be appropriate, because just about everything else about...

Home Equity Overdues Drop at Banks.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Banks reported significantly lower consumer loan delinquencies during the first quarter, with home-equity products participating strongly in the improvement. The home-equity loan delinquency rate fell 13 basis points from the fourth...

Overall Delinquencies Hit 3-Year Low.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
August 2, 2004... Foreclosure Quarter Total Past 30-day 60-day 90-day Inv. 1st '03 4.85% 3.18% 0.80% 0.86% 1.43% 2nd '03 4.97% 3.18% 0.84% 0.95% 1.35% 3rd '03 ...

Lenders Fear FHA Rule Could Cripple Program.(Federal Housing Administration)
August 2, 2004... Lenders and servicers are warning the Department of Housing and Urban Development that a proposal to impose severe penalties for loss mitigation violations could undermine the Federal Housing Administration loan program. Under a HUD...

Small Rate Dip Won't Restart Refi Boom.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The refinance boom is over. Finished. Kaput. May it rest in peace. Its death was confirmed last month by David Berson, chief economist at Fannie Mae. That was before rates fell just below 6% in the first week of July, according to the...

President Signs Flood Renewal Bill.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... President George Bush signed the flood insurance bill on June 30 that extends the National Flood Insurance Program for four years. NFIP was due to expire after June 30, but the president signed the bill just in time and the Federal...

Moody's Promotes Analysts in Servicing Unit.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Moody's Investors Service has promoted Warren Kornfeld, a senior credit officer in its residential MBS group, to head its mortgage servicer ratings unit. He will also remain a member of the rating agency's residential MBS group. He...

Harland Buys Mitek Check Imaging Technology.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Harland Financial Solutions, owner of the Interlinq loan servicing system, has acquired certain assets and distribution and licensing rights related to the CheckQuest item processing and CaptureQuest electronic document management services from...

ACH Provider Expects Check Conversion to Gain Steam.(Automated Clearing House)(Ventanex)
August 2, 2004... Ventanex here, a privately held technology firm that facilitates electronic payments, is making a push into the mortgage banking arena, in part because the firm believes demand for "check conversion" services is on the rise. Company...

OCC: Banks Face Risk From Mortgage Spread.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... National banks have been loading up on mortgage loans and securities over the past few years and they could get into trouble as interest rates rise, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. "A number of banks have chased...

Help from your Enemies?
August 2, 2004... Over the past three years, litigation related to the servicing of subprime mortgage loans has cost participants in that industry close to $1 billion, according to one of the consumer advocates who was instrumental in bringing scrutiny to...

Housing Giants Pose Risks: "The Hazard is that the firm will respond to these incentives by increasing risk to imprudent levels.".(Government Sponsored Enterprises)(Excerpt)
August 2, 2004... This is an excerpt from an article the three economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis wrote for the Bank's quarterly publication, The Regional Economist. The full article about Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank...

Refinancing Storm Takes a Toll on RBC.
August 2, 2004... Standard & Poor's has placed RBC Centura Bank, Rocky Mount, N.C., on "CreditWatch" with negative implications, citing "operational disruptions" at its mortgage banking subsidiary. RBC Mortgage, which is based in Chicago, saw first-quarter...

Trouble at RBC Mortgage?: Quarterly Funding and Revenue.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
August 2, 2004... 1Q '04 4Q '03 3Q '03 2Q '03 1Q '03 Fundings ($ bil) $3.5 $6.3 $7.9 $7.2 $7.3 Revenue ($ mil) $27 $6 $61 $52 $53 Source: RBC Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

Colombia Plans New Nonperforming Deal.(Titularizadora Colombia)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Colombia's Titularizadora Colombiana plans to bring its next nonperforming loan deal to market this August, TC president Alberto Gutierrez told attendees at the International Union for Housing Finance World Congress here. Colombia...

Ginnie Mae Prepayments Outpace Other Classes of MBS.
August 2, 2004... Prepayment rates for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities slowed significantly among 5.5%-6.5% coupons in June, while Ginnie Mae MBS speeds held steady or slowed only moderately. According to the Bear Stearns Prepayment...

Murrayhill Deal Raises $41.7 Million of Capital.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The Murrayhill Co., a credit risk management firm that seeks to improve the performance of fixed-income securities, and Boston-based TA Associates, a private equity and buyout firm, said that TA has completed a $41.7 million recapitalization of...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
August 2, 2004... The name of Jim Stewart, president of Nationwide Title Clearing, was misspelled in a caption in the June edition of Mortgage Servicing News. MSN regrets the error. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

GCC Servicing Develops Tool for Bank Tellers.(Glenn Computer Corporation)(GServ)
August 2, 2004... GCC Servicing Systems here is currently developing a new tool, GServ, that will allow bank tellers and loan officers access to a customer's mortgage loan information. GCC says it is one of the first companies in the industry to offer this...

Fog Cutter Sells Credit For Wilshire Servicing.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Fog Cutter Capital Group here has sold its Wilshire Credit Corp. prepaid loan servicing credit for $1.7 million in cash. The loan servicing credit was originally acquired by Fog Cutter in 1998, when it was an affiliate of WCC. The loan...

WaMu Revision Puts Focus on Basis Risk: By Ted Cornwell.(Washington Mutual)
August 2, 2004... A number of factors contributed to Washin-gton Mutual's recent announcement that it was reducing earnings guidance for this year, with an expected decline in mortgage origination volume playing a big role in the company's anticipation that...

CMBS Performance Beats Other Asset Classes.(Commercial mortgage backed-securities)(Investment grade)
August 2, 2004... With the economy having taken off and delinquencies on commercial mortgage loans probably already having peaked in the current economic cycle, defaults are probably not uppermost on most servicers' minds right now. The recent downturn has been...

Job Turnover Hurts Criimi Mae's Ratings.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Fitch Ratings, New York, has downgraded Criimi Mae's special servicer rating to "CSS3+" from "CSS2+" and primary servicer rating to "CPS2-" from "CPS2," while affirming the Rockville, Md.-based mortgage real estate investment trust's master...

Europe at 'Interesting Crossroads' in Servicing.(Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities )
August 2, 2004... Europe is at an "interesting crossroads" when it comes to servicing, according to Michael Gutierrez, head of Standard & Poor's servicer evaluations group. Mr. Gutierrez, who has been observing the market since S&P began expanding its...

Margins Just as Thin For Overseas Firms.
August 2, 2004... Although there still may be some hope that European markets can avoid the problems seen in the United States, the servicing profit squeeze does appear to be occurring in both markets, Standard & Poor's credit analysts said in a recent webcast...

Signature Bank Turns to AHM for Private-Label Help.(American Home Mortgage Corp.)
August 2, 2004... American Home Mortgage Corp. here is providing private-label mortgage processing services for Signature Bank, New York, through its online channel, Mortgage Select. In addition, another American Home Mortgage division will provide loan...

EverHome Makes Freddie's Loan Servicer 'Hall of Fame'.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Freddie Mac has named EverHome Mortgage, a member of the EverBank family of companies, to its 2003 Tier One Hall of Fame. It marks the fourth consecutive year that EverHome has received Tier One recognition, making it one of eight firms out...

Home Builders Are Upset with FHA's 'Credit Watch' Actions.(Federal Housing Administration's)
August 2, 2004... The mortgage lending affiliates of homebuilders are starting to get clipped under the Federal Housing Administration's Credit Watch program and they want the agency to change the default standards so that they are not penalized for...

Experts See More Identity Theft and Application Fraud.
August 2, 2004... There has been a notable increase in mortgage identity theft and application fraud, according to fraud prevention technology vendors who spoke as part of a panel on high-tech lending fraud recently. "A year-and-a-half ago we started doing...

Mortgage fraud trends application fraud remains high.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... 2003 2002 2001 2000 Applications 60% 61% 68% 62% Tax & Financial Statements 38% 32% 25% 26% Verifications of Employment 12% 14% 17% 19% Verifications of Deposit 12% ...

Terrorism Coverage Rule Extended One Year.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The Treasury Department has extended a key provision of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act that requires commercial property and casualty insurers to offer terrorism insurance policies for another year. Treasury officials had until Sept. 1...

Wells Fargo Mortgage Executives Get New Responsibilities.
August 2, 2004... Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, has transferred Pete Wissinger, the chief executive of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage here from that job to a position where he will coordinate the company's retail insurance business and create and execute a...

Snapshot: Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
August 2, 2004... Servicing Portfolio: $711 Billion Growth Since 3/31 '03: 23% Rank by Dollar Volume: 2nd Largest Source: MSN/Quarterly Data Report. Data as of 3/31/04 Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

Subservicer Adds Due Diligence to Its Menu.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Master Financial plans to build upon its subservicing business by expanding its services to include "due diligence" and "niche" servicing. To facilitate its growth plans, Master Financial has added a new business development manager, Sammy...

Special Report: Legal Services.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The economy is getting stronger and the delinquency rate has edged down on home loans, but the pace of foreclosure starts remains near a record high, according to the MBA's quarterly delinquency survey. And consumer bankruptcies also remain...

System Determines 'Predatory' Status.
August 2, 2004... ComplianceEase said at the RMBS 2004 Annual Strategy Meeting here that PredatorAnalyzer, its industry-standard automated compliance system, has been upgraded to allow mortgage originators and residential mortgage-backed securities issuers to...

Disparate Impact Theory Is Factor In ECOA Lawsuits.(Equal Credit Opportunity Act )(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan has noted a new wave of class-action lawsuits under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act alleging that nationwide, minority classes of consumers pay higher overall interest rates than similarly situated...

First American Buys Namesake Firm.(First American Title Co. of Marin.)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... First American Title Insurance Co. has acquired California-based First American Title Co. of Marin. The title company being acquired has a leading market share position in Marin County, Calif., one of the state's most affluent counties and...

Reaves Takes Helm at First American Default Unit.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... First American Default Management Solutions, a member of the First American Corp. family of companies, has named Caroline Reaves as president of its National Default Outsourcing Co. Ms. Reaves has extensive legal and mortgage servicing...

Roundup: Ukranians Visit Default Conference in the U.S.(United States Foreclosure Network)(Special American Business Internship Training)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... USFN, a not-for-profit association of attorneys, trustee companies and associates that provide default services to the mortgage banking industry, welcomed two Ukranian executives to the group's recent default servicing seminar and technology...

Miss. Bill Affects Foreclosures.(Mississippi )(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Two pieces of legislation recently enacted in Mississippi will affect the rules for mortgage lenders, and one of them focuses on foreclosure sales. The bills were signed by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. H.R. 520 provides for the...

Default Law Firm Expands.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The law firm of Rogers Townsend & Thomas, here said that attorney Ellie Floyd has joined its Columbia office. Ms. Floyd's concentration will be default services relating to mortgage foreclosures, the company said. Prior to joining Rogers...

MI Defaults Outpace Cures.(Mortgage Insurance Cos)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The members of the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America here wrote $19.3 billion of new primary mortgage insurance in May, down slightly over 1% from April's $19.4 billion. In addition, they reported more defaults than cures in May. ...

Countrywide Faces Payoff Fee Lawsuit in New Jersey Case.
August 2, 2004... A statewide class-action lawsuit has been brought against Countrywide Home Loans Inc., one of the nation's largest providers of residential mortgages, for allegedly violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. The lawsuit, filed in...

VA Man Is Sentenced For Land Flip Fraud.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... A Virginia man was sentenced recently in Federal Court here in connection with a land-flip scheme he operated in Westfield, Mass., in 1996 and 1997, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the District of Massachusetts. Angel Serrano...

FTC Takes Aim at Another Credit Counseling Firm.(Federal Trade Commission)
August 2, 2004... The Federal Trade Commission has cracked down on another consumer debt counseling firm for allegedly deceiving consumers about its debt negotiation efforts and charging undisclosed fees. The FTC has filed a complaint against the National...

Freddie Mac Says Earnings Fell Last Year But Remained Strong.
August 2, 2004... Freddie Mac reported decent earnings for 2003 despite its accounting woes but it also warned that its efforts to return to regular and timely financial reporting will take longer than expected. The giant mortgage company posted $4.9 billion...

Complaint Takes Aim at Escrow Practices On Government Insured Apartment Loans.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Four apartment investors have sued Fannie Mae, alleging the giant mortgage company improperly profited from the escrow accounts set aside for their Federal Housing Administration-insured multifamily loans. The plaintiffs claim the Federal...

FHLB's Secondary Market Program Faces New Scrutiny.(Federal Home Loan Bank)
August 2, 2004... Federal regulators have taken aim at the Mortgage Partnership Finance program and they have directed the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago to cap the growth of its mortgage portfolio at 10% a year. Under a supervisory agreement with the...

Servicing People.(appointments)
August 2, 2004... CALIFORNIA Irvine-North American Real Estate Solutions has appointed Kris Ballinger as the director of sales and marketing. Ms. Ballinger brings to her position over 10 years of sales, marketing, technology and real estate experience....