Mortgage Servicing News articles from December 2001

Mortgage Servicing News archives from December 2001

WaMu Will Break $500B Mark Soon.(Washington Mutual Inc. will exceed $500 billion in housing receivables in 2001)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Washington Mutual here is likely to break the $500 billion mark in housing receivables by year-end, maybe even by early December. According to figures compiled by Mortgage Servicing News, the giant West Coast thrift, for the second...

Servicers Face Likely Record Runoff Rate.(mortgage refinancing to set record in 2001)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... With 30-year mortgage rates slipping to a three-decade low, there is no longer any doubt that 2001 will be a record year for refinancing activity and mortgage lending volume. Even before the average commitment rate on 30-year loans hit...

Anthrax Causes Few Delays.(in mail sent to mortgage companies)
December 1, 2001... The anthrax threat that closed major postal facilities in Washington, D.C. and New Jersey in November has not caused widespread delays in the receipt of mortgage payments, according to several leading lenders. A spokesperson for J.P....

Impairment Strikes Lenders But Is Offset By Front-End Gains.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... As anticipated, mortgage firms - both large and small - began announcing servicing- related writedowns as third-quarter earnings reports rolled in. Mega lender/servicer Washington Mutual, Seattle, disclosed a $451.5 million servicing...

MSN/SPECIAL REPORT.
December 1, 2001... REO Management Rising unemployment creates more defaults and foreclosures. That means firms that help lenders manage real-estate owned are being called into duty. Page 13 Inside VIEWPOINT Subprime woes may grow page 4 ...

Top Servicers.(table of top 30 mortgage servicers)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name Location 1 Washington Mutual (1) Seattle, WA 2 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Des Moines, IA 3 Chase Manhattan Mortgage ...

Almost $32 Billion of Subprime Loan Receivables For Sale.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Fairbanks Capital here, which likes to buy receivables from ailing companies, is eyeing assets at two of the nation's most troubled subprime firms: EquiCredit of Florida, and the New York-based Alliance Funding. Late last week, Fairbanks...

Guaranty Federal Sells Residential Servicing Portfolio.(Guaranty Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Guaranty Financial Corp., which operates primarily through subsidiary Guaranty Bank, has joined the list of small lenders that have sold their mortgage servicing portfolios. In its third-quarter earnings report, Guaranty Bank said it has...

Prepay Worries Fuel MPF Growth.(Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago says its Mortgage Partnership Finance program still growing)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Despite heavy refinancing, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago reports that the volume of outstanding loans held by its Mortgage Partnership Finance program continues to grow. Outstanding MPF loans totaled $21 billion as of Sept. 30, up...

Wells Fargo Selects Site Near Charlotte.(Wells Fargo Home Mortgage mortgage servicing center.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Wells Fargo Home Mortgage has selected a site for its Charlotte-based mortgage servicing center. Wells Fargo & Co. will be the first tenant when it relocates its 700 employees to a new three-story, 165,000 square-foot facility in a new...

Roundup: Sept. 11 Serves as Disaster Recovery Wake-Up Call.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Two months after terrorist attacks claimed nearly 5,000 lives, destroyed 13 million square feet of office space and severely damaged twice as much space, many people and businesses in New York City are still reeling from the events of Sept. 11....

Gone Is the Long Bond.(30-year Treasury bond has been retired; may affect mortgage market)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... The announcement that the federal government will discontinue the 30-year Treasury Bond came as something of a surprise. It was an ironic moment, in some ways. The 30-year bond is no longer necessary because low interest rates and a string of...

The Worst Is Yet To Come.(recession will lead to increased loan losses)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Dennis R. Capozza is founding principal of University Financial Associates in Ann Arbor, Mich. and a professor of finance at the University of Michigan. He has extensive consulting experience with lenders and real estate-related firms and has...

Mortgage Scene: Should Fannie and Freddie Fear Ginnie Mae 'Choice' Proposal?(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Do Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac really have much to worry about if the recently-introduced Ginnie Mae "Choice" program becomes operative? Ginnie Mae Choice would allow the government agency to securitize privately-insured mortgages for the...

Speed Watch: Market Sees Prepayment Rates Spike Upward in October.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Prepayment rates for agency mortgage-backed securities rose dramatically in October partly as an indirect result of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, according to the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary. The average speed of Fannie Mae,...

Credit Counselor: Appraisal Fraud Can Come Back to Haunt Lenders.(Senate investigation)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Today, it's the rare legislative mortgage bill that doesn't have at least a few clauses stating that a lender or broker is prohibited from giving false information and pressuring a borrower into doing something that might not be in their best...

Market Can Withstand Downturn.(commercial real estate investments)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Returns on commercial real estate investments for 2002 should be in the 7%-9% range, "absent an extended economic decline," according to an "emerging trends in real estate" report from Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Lend Lease Real Estate...

Commercial Servicer: Insurance Issues Cloud Aftermath Of September 11 Terrorist Attacks.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... The events of Sept. 11 have left their mark on the commercial real estate world, as on everything else. Of course the attack on the World Trade Center towers - targeting prime commercial real estate in New York City, a bastion of capitalism -...

Hedging: Banks Require Enterprise Wide Risk Assessment.(RiskMetrics Group)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Stock market volatility and unexpected interest rate movements have caught the attention of investors this year. And that may be good news for the people at RiskMetrics. The firm, an offshoot of J.P. Morgan that was spun off in 1994, now...

Bank Charge-Off Rate Surges.(first-half 2001)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... The U.S. Banking industry's net loan charge-offs grew by 45% during the first half of 2001, compared to the same period last year, according to Weiss Ratings Inc. Loan charge-offs - the loss banks take when borrowers default on loans -...

Non-performing Loans as a Ratio to Core Capital And Reserves.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... 1998: 7.05% 1999: 6.71% 2000: 7.89% June 2001: 8.58% Copyright c 2001 Thomson Financial. All Rights Reserved.

RF/Spectrum Offers 'InSite'.(software for mortgage servicers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... RF/Spectrum Decision Science Corp., a unit of Fiserv that provides mortgage valuation software, has released InSite/Spectrum, an application that helps mortgage servicers analyze prepayments and delinquencies. InSite/Spectrum is...

Technology: MERS Initiative Will Reduce Data Entry.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Three lenders have agreed to provide initial funding for a new MERS product designed to make it easier to convert correspondents and brokers into MERS-ready trading partners. Greenpoint Mortgage Funding, Resource Bancshares Mortgage Group...

Retention Firm Sees Volume Surge.(Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp.'s interactive voice-response and Web-response system)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... MGIC reported that its customer retention service, Defender, handled its one-millionth call on Oct. 5 and is experiencing record call volume. Defender is an interactive voice-response and Web-response system that helps lenders handle the...

Ocwen Renames Servicing Product.(to REALServicing)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Ocwen Technology Exchange, a subsidiary of Ocwen Financial Corp., has announced that its "Real-e" servicing platform will now be known as "REALServicing." REALServicing has been used in a production environment at Ocwen Federal Bank since...

Managing REO Special Report.(real estate owned)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... There are not many industries that are gearing up for an increase in business these days, but companies involved in managing and selling real estate that has been acquired through foreclosure say their business is likely to grow. It's no...

LSI Sees Growing Demand for Collateral Assessment Products.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... With the economy cooling off and a growing volume of subprime credit quality loans on the books, Lenders Service Inc. expects to see growing demand for collateral assessment tools. While most property valuation products are used to...

Mike Davis.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Mr. Davis has been appointed chief technology officer of Stewart Information Services Corp., Houston. He will assist in the design, planning and execution of the company's information technology initiatives on the corporate level. Mr. Davis...

CSW Provides Fitch With Automated Home Price Data.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Case Shiller Weiss here has announced an agreement to provide its automated home valuation model to the international rating agency Fitch for use in appraisal evaluations. Fitch will use CSW's CASA portfolio valuation services to detect...

Weak Economy Starting to Test Lenders' REO Strategies.(real estate owned)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... With the economy slowing down and default problems on the rise, now is a good time for lenders to review their procedures for managing real estate owned, according to James Panero, president of AssetOne Marketing Group, a Denver-headquartered...

Insul To Head Field Services Trade Group.(Marc Insul heads the National Association of Mortgage Field Services)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Marc Insul, president and chief operating officer of Fidelity National Field Services, has been elected to a two-year stint as leader of the National Association of Mortgage Field Services trade group next year. As president and COO of...

Fidelity and London Bridge Team Up.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Fidelity National Financial, a provider of title insurance and real estate related products and services, and London Bridge Group, Atlanta, have signed a partnership to offer comprehensive default solutions to the mortgage industry. ...

Bankruptcy Reform Slips Off Agenda.(after terrorist attacks)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... The long-awaited, pro-creditor bankruptcy reform bill that would make it harder for consumers to file, now looks like it may be permanently off the table. For the mortgage servicing industry, the passage of this bill would mean one less...

Servicing People.(in the mortgage servicing industry)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... CALIFORNIA Irvine- Option One Mortgage Corp. has appointed John F. McShane as vice president and general manager of its Alliance division. His experience includes serving as a branch manager for both ITT Financial Services and Banc One...