Mortgage Servicing News articles from July 2006

Mortgage Servicing News archives from July 2006

Mozilo: MSR Growth Key to Profitability.(Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide Credit Industries Inc.'s market share)
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Countrywide has made no bones about its ambitious growth plans, and in a recent speech to investors, chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo illustrated how the company plans to leverage its huge mortgage servicing portfolio to generate...

BSI Starts Subservicing.(BSI Financial Services)
July 1, 2006... IRVING, TX -- Mortgage subservicing is traditionally a business dominated by a handful of well-established firms, but now one off-shoring entrepreneur sees an opportunity to make inroads into the market with a new entrant. BSI Financial...

Bernanke Sparks Rate Rally.(Ben Bernanke of Federal Reserve Board )
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke helped spark a rally in 10-year Treasuries in June by reiterating a policy of "vigilance" in fighting inflation, which the market largely interpreted as foreshadowing additional hikes in...

Regions, AmSouth Create Big Servicer.(Regions Financial Corp., AmSouth Bancorp.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... BIRMINGHAM, AL -- The merger between bank holding companies headquartered here, Regions Financial Corp. and AmSouth Bancorp., will double each firm's individual mortgage production capacity as well as create the nation's 22nd largest mortgage...

Average Loan Size Rises.(mortgages)
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- The nation's top 75 mortgage servicers reported an average increase in loan size of about 11% at March 31, 2006, according to MSN's Quarterly Data Report. Two of the country's top 10 servicers recorded the highest loan size...

Top Residential Servicers at 3-31-06.(Table)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... (Dollars in Millions) Servicing Volume % Market Mkt Shr Rk Organization Name 3/31/06 3/31/05 Change Share % pt. +/- 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. $1,152,651...

Sale of Irwin Mortgage Getting Closer?(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... FISHERS, IN -- The sale of Irwin Mortgage here, a top 40 ranked lender and servicer, could be announced soon according to industry sources. Late last month, details were still being worked out with a buyer, sources said. Officials familiar...

Brookfield Buying Trizec Properties.
July 1, 2006... CHICAGO -- Brookfield Properties Corp., together with the Blackstone Group, is acquiring Trizec Properties and Toronto-based Trizec Canada in a transaction valued at a total of $8.9 billion. Brookfield, a New York-based office real estate...

Freddie also Now Faces Threat of Portfolio Limits.(Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.)
July 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight could impose portfolio limits on Freddie Mac, the company's chairman warned investors last week, which would potentially put Freddie in the same boat as Fannie Mae. The new...

Popular Financial Forms Servicing Unit.(Popular Mortgage Servicing Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... MARLTON, NJ -- International financial services company subsidiary Popular Financial Holdings Inc. has created a new mortgage servicing subsidiary called Popular Mortgage Servicing Inc. The company said the new unit is "the culmination of a...

A.M. Best Foresees Deterioration In Consumer Credit Fundamentals.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Consumer credit may be poised to deteriorate as a confluence of rising interest rates and slowing home-price growth puts pressure on debtors, according to A.M. Best Co. Noting that consumer and mortgage debt levels have risen...

Fallout from Fannie, Freddie.(Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., Federal National Mortgage Association)
July 1, 2006... More than three years after Freddie Mac first acknowledged that it may have made accounting errors in what some people think was an effort to "smooth out" earnings, both Freddie and secondary market rival Fannie Mae remain mired in efforts to...

Stressed Servicing Sector Finds Relief in .Net Technology.(MortgageFlex Systems Inc.)
July 1, 2006... James Dowell is executive vice president and chief operating officer of MortgageFlex Systems Inc., a mortgage technology innovator, headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. Servicing technology's longstanding, second-class status is not likely...

Housing Turnover Fuels Rise in Prepayments.
July 1, 2006... Prepayment rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities increased by a constant prepayment rate of 1.2 in May, or 11%, according to the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary. Overall speeds on...

Franklin Credit Sees Higher Revenue.
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Franklin Credit Management, a company that acquires, originates, services and resolves performing and troubled residential mortgage loans, saw revenue rise 43% to $38.7 million in the first quarter. However, net income declined...

GSEs Remain Far from Sound in Regulator's Eyes.(Department of Housing and Urban Development. Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, government-chartered housing enterprises )
July 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- It could be "several years" before the scandal-wracked government-chartered housing enterprises are out of the woods, their safety and soundness regulator told Congress. Even Freddie Mac, which had been thought to have turned...

BOK Uses PAR3 System to Minimize Charge-Offs.
July 1, 2006... SEATTLE -- As part of an attempt to increase its customer contact rate and reduce account charge-offs, both while decreasing its overdraft operating expenses, mortgage originator and servicer BOK Financial Corp. has enlisted the services of...

Hanover Capital Sees Loss, May Consider Sale of Subsidiary.(Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., REIT)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... EDISON, NJ -- Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings reported a net loss of $700,000, or $0.08 per share, in the first quarter of 2006, citing lower operating income in the company's real estate investment trust segment. The company also said...

Phoenix Advises Netbank on Sale.(Phoenix Capital Corp.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- Phoenix Capital is advising NetBank on the proposed sale of NetBank's servicing platform and servicing rights on a $13 billion portfolio of home mortgages. A spokesperson for NetBank said Phoenix Capital has put together a book...

Analyst Likes Clayton's Stock.(Clayton Group Services Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... CHICAGO -- William Blair & Co. has started research coverage of Clayton Holdings, the newly public information and analytics provider, with an "outperform" rating. Analyst John Neff estimates that Clayton will earn $0.63 per share in 2006...

Analyst Keen on Capital One's Cross Sell Opportunities.
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Credit card giant Capital One Financial Corp. has diversified its business by purchasing banks that have active mortgage units lately, and that's a good thing, an analyst at A.G. Edwards says. Capital One is the nation's fifth...

Mortgage Insurer Looking For Growth North of Border.(PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.)
July 1, 2006... WALNUT CREEK, CA -- PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. here, already with offices outside the U.S. in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Europe, is looking north of the border for its latest international market. The company has filed an...

Radian Declares Regular Dividend.
July 1, 2006... PHILADELPHIA -- Radian Group will pay a two cents per common share dividend on June 20, unchanged from the previous quarter. Radian Group is a global credit risk management company that relies on its core mortgage credit risk expertise and...

Bernanke's Vigilance Could Boomerang.(mortgages)
July 1, 2006... Today, the value of mortgage servicing rights is rising as interest rates edge up and portfolio churning slows down. But if there is one lesson to be learned from recent real estate lending cycles, it's don't count the refinancing business out....

Moody's Evaluates LoanCare Servicing.
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Moody's Investors Service has rated LoanCare Servicing Center with an "SQ3" rating as a primary servicer of prime credit quality home loans. LoanCare, a wholly owned subsidiary of LandAmerica Financial Group, serviced a...

Consolidation Extends to CRE Servicing.
July 1, 2006... Two commercial mortgage servicers are exiting the ranks of major servicers as a result of being acquired, in a sign that acquisitions in the sector are still going strong. In one deal, Wells Fargo is acquiring Reilly Mortgage Group, a McLean,...

Retail, Limited-Service Hotel Sectors Show Better Fundamentals.(markets)
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Two commercial property sectors showed an improvement in the last quarter of 2005, while three showed minor deterioration, reports Moody's Investors Service. The retail and "limited-service" hotel sectors were the ones that...

Fitch Upgrades Prudential's CMBS Rating.(Prudential Asset Resources' commercial mortgage backed securities )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... New York -- Fitch Ratings has raised Prudential Asset Resources' primary CMBS servicer rating to "CPS2" from "CPS2-minus," the rating agency said. Fitch also raised Prudential's special servicer rating one notch to "CSS2-minus" from...

CMBS Delinquencies Decline.
July 1, 2006... New York -- Delinquencies on commercial mortgage-backed securities declined to 0.68% for March, Fitch Ratings reports based on a delinquency index maintained by the credit rating agency. This represents a three basis point decline in...

Proficient Turns Site Visits into Business Prospects.(Proficient Systems Inc.)
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Proficient Systems believes many lenders may be overlooking a goldmine of potential leads: their own websites. The company has developed technology that is designed to help lenders capture more leads from consumers visiting a...

Call Center Analysis Should Focus on Resolving Cases.(inbound call)
July 1, 2006... SAN FRANCISCO -- If you measure agent performance in a call center by the average time it takes to handle an inbound call, you are making a big mistake. That was the message Wells Fargo SVP Gary Class offered attendees at a session on call...

Indian Business Process Firm Gets Footprint in U.S.(Indecomm Global Services, Mortgage Dynamics Inc.)
July 1, 2006... MCLEAN, VA -- Indecomm Global Services has acquired Mortgage Dynamics Inc. here in a continued effort to enter the U.S. mortgage market. MDI is a consulting firm that has serviced the U.S. mortgage market for 18 years. The company was...

Reverse Lender Will Use Loan Protector.(Seattle Mortgage Co., Loan Protector Insurance Services)
July 1, 2006... CLEVELAND -- Loan Protector Insurance Services, a leading independent provider of customizable lender-placed insurance programs for lenders and mortgage servicers, said that Seattle Mortgage Co., a division of the Seattle Financial Group, has...

Report: Americans Are 'Drowning in Debt'.(middle class)
July 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- America's middle class is drowning in debt," according to a new report from the Center for American Progress. The "Drowning in Debt: America's Middle Class Falls Deeper in Debt as Income Growth Slows and Costs Climb" report...

Mold Problems Still Growing for Real Estate Lenders.(mortgage portfolios)
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- The steady growth of mold litigation has not slowed in the commercial and resident real estate industries, according to the Greenguard Environmental Institute, which says this expanding legal gray area has compelled lenders to...

Indianapolis Is Nation's Home Loan Foreclosure Capital.(Indianapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, Memphis and Denver)
July 1, 2006... IRVINE, CA -- Indianapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, Memphis and Denver top the list of the nation's 10 highest metropolitan foreclosure rates, according to RealtyTrac's first annual 2006 U.S. Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report, which ranks the...

Ocwen Servicer Rating Affirmed.
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Moody's has affirmed Ocwen Loan Servicing's "SQ2-" rating as a primary servicer of subprime residential mortgage loans and its "SQ2" rating as a special servicer. Moody's said the servicer quality ratings reflect Ocwen's...

Assignments, Releases & Other Title Issues: County Land Records.(electronic recording)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... With the refinancing boom slowing down, portfolio churning is no longer the bane of servicers. But that doesn't mean that assignments, lien releases and title issues have gone off the radar screen. The paperwork entailed by lien and...

Nationwide Title Clearing Expedites Retrieval Process.
July 1, 2006... PALM HARBOR, FL -- With mortgage lending volume starting to taper off from its recent highs, lenders are desperately seeking ways to trim costs and make their operations more productive. Nationwide Title Clearing recently rolled out a...

Title Insurers Settle with New York's Attorney General.(Fidelity National Title Group Inc., First American Title Insurance Co.)
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- The nation's two largest title insurance companies have entered into a settlement agreement with the New York attorney general's office and the state's insurance department. Both Fidelity National Title Group Inc., Jacksonville,...

California Judge Tosses Out Title Industry Lawsuit.
July 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- A federal judge in the Northern District of California has thrown out a lawsuit by the American Land Title Association against 18 insurance companies or insurance-related corporations which alleged the firms were selling title...

LandAmerica Resolves Captive Reinsurance Case.(LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Nevada Division of Insurance )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... CARSON CITY, NV -- LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Richmond, Va., has entered into a settlement agreement with the Nevada Division of Insurance over captive reinsurance arrangements. LandAmerica has agreed to a settlement of approximately...

Regulators Seek Lender Input on Fraud.
July 1, 2006... CHICAGO -- It isn't rap. It's not rock. Perhaps it's the blues. Whatever the tune, John Robbins says he's hearing something new from law enforcement officials these days. "I'm hearing a different tune," the chairman-elect of the Mortgage...

Firms Team Up For E-Business.(Rekon Technologies and U.S. Recordings)
July 1, 2006... PASADENA, CA -- Rekon Technologies, a software provider for lien release and re-conveyance preparation, and U.S. Recordings, a St. Paul, Minn.-based provider of centralized mortgage recording solutions, have formed a technology partnership to...

WaMu Faces Suit on Alleged Overtime Pay Violations.
July 1, 2006... SEATTLE -- Washington Mutual Inc. here, the nation's third largest servicer and originator of home loans, is the latest mortgage lender to be sued over alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The case was filed by three former...

Thrifts Claim Higher Share.(Savings and loan associations)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Despite a 13% drop in single-family originations, thrift institutions enjoyed near-record profits in the first quarter and their share of the mortgage market increased to 26%, up two percentage points from the fourth quarter. ...

Sercvicing People.(appointments)
July 1, 2006... CALIFORNIA Lake Forest-US Real Estate Services has named Jacksonville, Fla.-based Barry Owens Jr. its Eastern regional executive sales representative. Most recently he ran Owens Consulting, a firm that provided services to mortgage...

Residential Servicers Ranked by Highest Avg. Ln. Size at March 31, 2006.(mortgages)
July 1, 2006... Avg Ln Size Avg Ln Size % Rank Organization Name Location at 3/31/2006 at 3/31/2005 Change 1 First Republic Bank San Francisco, CA $818,274 $772,324 6% 2 Thornburg Mortgage, Inc. Sante Fe, NM ...

FHA Eyes Risk-Based Premiums to Regain Share.(Federal Housing Administration)
July 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Government is famous for moving at a glacial speed. But not the "New FHA." Though the first major congressional overhaul of the Federal Housing Administration's mortgage insurance program in a decade has a long way to go in a...

Farmer Mac Volume Exceeds $6 Billion.(Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., known informally as Farmer Mac, issued a long-term standby purchase commitment on a $479 million pool of agricultural real estate loans recently, bringing Farmer Mac's total portfolio of...