Mortgage Servicing News articles from December 2004

Mortgage Servicing News archives from December 2004

Servicers See a Silver Lining.
December 1, 2004... 2003 was the worst of times and the best of times for the mortgage servicing industry, according to data culled from the MBA's annual cost study. First, the bad news: servicers lost more money per loan than ever before, due to heavy...

WaMu Evaluates Hedging Strategy.(Washington Mutual Corporation)
December 1, 2004... Washington Mutual's said its mortgage banking unit returned to profitability in the third quarter, largely because of better servicing performance than in the second quarter. But even as the company benefited from its hedging of mortgage...

Eric Christensen.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Applied Financial Technology has hired Mr. Christensen as vice president of sales. He will market AFT's prepayment scoring modeling tools and will report to AFT executive vice president Kevin Williams. Mr. Christenson most recently was director...

CFC Regains Top Spot...
December 1, 2004... Servicing consolidation picked up steam in the third quarter with the nation's top-ranked firms controlling more of the nation's housing receivables. According to exclusive survey figures compiled by Mortgage Servicing News, the nation's...

Servicers Ranked by Number of Loans Serviced at 9/30/04.(Illustration)
December 1, 2004... (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA 2 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage San Francisco, CA 3 Chase Home Finance Edison, NJ 4...

...and Cracks $800B Mark.
December 1, 2004... In October, Countrywide Home Loans here passed the $800 billion mark in servicing rights aided, in part, by its purchase of an $8 billion portfolio from Guaranty Residential Lending, Austin, Texas. Investment bankers familiar with the...

Freddie's Appetite Grows For Adjustable Loan Products.(Freddie Mac)
December 1, 2004... Freddie Mac is finding attractive pricing on adjustable-rate mortgages, including subprime interest-only loans, according to the company's top investment officer Patricia Cook. "Agency and AAA-rated non-agency ARM products currently...

Capstead Sees Net Decline.(Capstead Mortgage Corporation)
December 1, 2004... Third-quarter operating income declined for Capstead Mortgage Corp. here from the second quarter this year as lower financing spreads offset the benefits of portfolio growth from acquisitions of adjustable-rate mortgage securities. The...

Web Firm Adds Servicing.(MortgageHub)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... MortgageHub here, an industry Web-service provider, has added an online customer service solution to its menu of systems that decreases origination time and cost for mortgage wholesalers. The new solution will allow lenders to offer...

Key Treasury Aide to Leave Amid GSE Debate.(Government Sponsored Enterprise)(resignation of undersecretary)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance Brian Roseboro has resigned from the agency after seven months on the job. Mr. Roseboro, who was quoted on issues affecting the housing GSEs, will leave the agency effective Jan. 1. As...

Top Subservicers at 9/30/04.(Illustration)
December 1, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Dovenmuehle Mortgage (E) Schaumburg, IL 2 Cenlar FSB Ewing, NJ 3 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage ...

Manufactured Housing Still a Drag on MBS Performance.
December 1, 2004... While upgrades of bonds backed by residential mortgage loans continue to outpace downgrades, some aspects of the housing-related securities market do not look so bright. Manufactured housing bonds continue to be the weakest segment of the...

C-BASS Buys B&C Servicing Portfolio.(Credit-Based Asset Servicing and Securitization L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... C-BASS here has acquired $8 billion in subprime housing receivables and two servicing offices from PCFS Mortgage Resources, Cincinnati. A spokesman for PCFS said C-BASS is expected to keep the unit's Atlanta platform, but plans to phase out...

Election Implications.
December 1, 2004... The votes have been cast and counted, and this time there is no dispute about the winner. George W. Bush will be sworn in for a second term as president in January with a much stronger mandate than he had last time around. Moreover, the...

FHA Remains Vulnerable To Residential Loan Fraud.(Federal Housing Adminsitration)
December 1, 2004... Mr. Donohue is the inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This viewpoint is an excerpt from his recent congressional testimony before a House Financial Services Subcommittee. Of all homes purchased in the...

The U.S. Deficit and Rates: Two Ticking Time Bombs.(United States)
December 1, 2004... Here's a little confession: I voted for Bill Clinton back in 1992. I voted for then-Gov. Clinton not because I liked him a whole lot better than George H. Bush but because he promised to fix the economy and reduce the deficit. In...

Prepay Rates Edge Up on October Rate Drop.
December 1, 2004... The speeds of 30-year Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities rose moderately in October on the heels of a mortgage rate decline of 17 basis points. According to Bear Stearns analyst Dale Westhoff, the results "show the...

Mozilo Thinks GSEs Should Cut Minimum Servicing Fee.(Angelo Mozilo)
December 1, 2004... Countrywide's Angelo Mozilo has fought many battles in his long and storied career but before he retires he would like to accomplish one more feat of daring - convincing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to slash their minimum servicing fee. Under...

Top Residential Servicers at September 30, 2004.(Illustration)
December 1, 2004... insert p6x (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3...

'Level II' E-Recording Generates Interest.
December 1, 2004... U.S. Recordings, a provider of mortgage recording services, has expanded its Level II electronic recording of mortgage documents with the inclusion of three heavily populated counties to the electronic recording arena. Tarrent County,...

Outsourcing of Jobs Could Affect U.S. Real Estate.(United States)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... About 14 million U.S. jobs are at risk for offshoring, in the sense that they meet the conditions that make them candidates for sending them overseas, according to Dwight M. Jaffee, a finance professor at the University of California at...

United Guaranty Appoints Loss Mitigation Executive.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... AIG United Guaranty has appointed Chris Goodwin to the position of vice president with responsibility for loss mitigation, claims and servicing. Previously, he was assistant vice president for the actuarial department. Mr. Goodwin joined...

Two Minnesota Banks Combine Operations.(Americana National Bank of Albert Lea)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... American Bank has acquired Americana National Bank of Albert Lea, Minn., along with its branch in Alden, Minn., and its mortgage servicing subsidiary, AmeriNational Community Services. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. A fourth-quarter...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2004... An article in the October issue of MSN incorrectly reported the date when Proctor Financial Corp. was founded. The company actually dates its history to 1884. MSN regrets the error. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

CSC to Expand Early Resolution's Default Functionality.(Computer Sciences Corporation)
December 1, 2004... Computer Sciences Corp. said it will enhance its EarlyResolution default management utility by automating more of the manual processes inherent in collections, loss-mitigation, foreclosure and bankruptcy proceedings. EarlyResolution was...

Hotels Starting to Show Signs of Recovery.
December 1, 2004... One property type that is seeing its prospects improve with the economy, after a pronounced downslide in the last few years, is hotel property. The hotel sector has been especially impacted in the recent economic downturn by the drop-off in...

S&P Worries about Deterioration in CRE Underwriting.(Standard & Poor's)
December 1, 2004... Standard & Poor's has expressed concern about certain developing trends related to commercial mortgage-backed securities that could lead to higher risk for investors in future. The credit rating agency said in a written release that it is...

Academic Expert Sees Risks for Commercial Realty on Horizon.
December 1, 2004... Ken Rosen, chairman, Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California at Berkeley, is expecting "a lot of uncertainty" relating to the economy in 2005. At a panel session on the post-election scenario at the...

At a Glance: Risks To CRE Market.
December 1, 2004... * Oil Prices * Terror Attacks * Higher Interest Rates * Lower Job Creation Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.mortgageservicingnews.com

Freddie Opts Out of Hedge Accounting.(Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation)
December 1, 2004... Freddie Mac may be recovering from the biggest controversy in its history, an accounting mess that cost most of its top officers their jobs, but you'd still expect the secondary market giant to have more accounting expertise than just about...

Student Loans, Credit Cards Pose Debt Threat to the Young.
December 1, 2004... A combination of escalating student loan and credit-card debt, rising costs, slow wage growth and underemployment have accumulated debt "unmatched in modern history" undermining the economic security and financial health of young Americans aged...

Snapshot: Generation X Debt Burden Is High.(Illustration)
December 1, 2004... Age 25-34 Average Debt $4,088 % of Income spent on debt services 25% Source: Demos Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

Allied Sees More Loan Fraud.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp. here has branched out to include fraud detection among its specified areas of expertise by creating its own Web-based fraud detection tool. As the industry turns to a purchase market, the instances of...

Study: Mold Is Most Feared Risk.
December 1, 2004... More than 75% of builders and real estate lenders have heard of a party backing out of a real estate transaction because of mold problems, according to a new poll conducted by the Environmental Assurance Group, West Hartford, Conn. In...

Schwarzenegger Terminates CA Foreclosure Bill.(Arnold Schwarzenegger)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have prevented California homeowners associations from foreclosing on member homes over small debts. The bill, which passed both Houses of California's legislature by a wide margin, was...

Harland Plans to Offer Anti-Fraud Technology.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... John H. Harland Co., parent of the Interlinq loan servicing and automation software provider, is in the final stage of developing a comprehensive solution for the prevention of the most difficult to catch form of check fraud - the forgery of...

Field Services.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... There comes a time in every mortgage servicing executive's career where they have to get down to where the rubber meets the road, as they say. In the mortgage industry, that means managing real estate-owned. Or, failing that, they have to send...

Safeguard Conference Highlights 'M&M' Changes.(management and marketing)(Safeguard Properties Inc)
December 1, 2004... In what may become an annual event, Safeguard Properties recently gathered about 240 servicers, field services representatives, vendors and other parties in Washington to talk about property preservation issues. Attendees spent a day...

HUD Selects New Roster Of Contractors.(United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The Department of Housing and Urban Development has expanded the number of contractors that provide management and marketing services for HUD-owned property. In a mortgagee letter issued on Sept. 30, HUD said it has entered into new...

Loan Protector Is ISO Approved.(International Organization for Standardization)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Loan Protector Insurance Services, a leading outsourcer of customized mortgage insurance tracking and verification, has completed the certification process by the International Organization for Standardization. The company said it is the only...

First American Sees Acquisitions as an Avenue for Growth.(First American Corporation)
December 1, 2004... The First American Corp. wants the world to know it is not just a title company, though it may indeed be one of the largest firms in that industry. Chairman and CEO Parker Kennedy, who visited with editors of MSN and its sister...

Water Problems Drench Cleveland Properties.(Society of Independent Representatives)(field service contractors)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... If you are managing a vacant property in Cleveland, you might want to make sure the water is turned off. That warning was recently sent out to field service contractors by the Society of Independent Representatives, which is an association of...

Society Promotes Training And Certification Program.(Society of Independent Representatives)
December 1, 2004... The Society of Independent Representatives, which is comprised of contractors who provide property preservation and protection services, believes its members and lenders will benefit from training and certification of field service...

LandAmerica Buys Home Warranty Firm.(LandAmerica Financial Group)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... LandAmerica Financial Group here has closed on its acquisition of Buyers Home Warranty Co./Best Home Warranty Co., based in Burbank, Calif. BHWC is a provider and servicer of home-warranty contracts in California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado,...

Education, Technology Point to Industry Enhancements.
December 1, 2004... In the past few years, technology has reshaped the way parties in the field services business communicate with each other, and industry leaders expect to see more technology adopted by the industry. Leaders of the National Association of...

MSR Jolt Doesn't Derail M&T Bank.(mortgage servicing rights)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... M&T Bank Corp. earned net income of $186 million in the third quarter, or $1.56 per share, under generally accepted accounting principles, despite taking a hit on the value of the bank's mortgage servicing rights. Earnings per share were...

Chase Exec Joins WaMu.(Washington Mutual Incorporation)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Washington Mutual has hired Taj Bindra, former chief financial officer and executive vice president at Chase Home Finance, as executive vice president, finance and servicing operations of mortgage banking. Mr. Bindra, who joined WaMu in...

ARCS on the Auction Block?(ARCS Commercial Mortgage Company)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... ARCS Commercial Mortgage, Calabasas, Calif., one of the nation's largest commercial servicers, is on the auction block, investment banking sources told Mortgage Servicing News. A spokesman for ARCS said the company has hired an investment...

People.(new appointments)
December 1, 2004... CALIFORNIA Newport Beach-Escrowdesk has added Ryan Schley to its management team. As Escrowdesk's director of sales and marketing, Mr. Schley is responsible for the management of the national sales organization, development of new...

2005 Volume: $2.1 Trillion.(trends in mortgage rates)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Mortgage loan originations for 2004 should total $2.7 trillion, but decline to $2.1 trillion next year, according to the chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinancings will make up 45% of this year's origination market...

Fidelity and MBA Provide Servicer Training.(Fidelity Information Services)(Master of business administration )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Fidelity Information Services, a division of Fidelity National Financial, Jacksonville, Fla., will be providing courses on the servicing function for CampusMBA, the educational arm of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. The...