Mortgage Servicing News articles from June 2005

Mortgage Servicing News archives from June 2005

Countrywide Is First Servicer to Reach $1 Trillion.
June 1, 2005... Calabasas, CA -- Countrywide Fina-ncial Corp. in April officially reached a milestone that no other lender has reached before when its mortgage servicing portfolio exceeded $900 billion. But a deeper look at the numbers reveals another...

Top Residential Servicers at March 31, 2005.
June 1, 2005... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA 2 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage San Francisco, CA 3 Washington...

TRIA Disruption Feared.(Terrorism Risk Insurance Act )
June 1, 2005... Chicago -- If the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act is not extended this year, there could be a more profound impact than the impact felt immediately after 9/11, according to Daniel Rubock, a vice president/senior credit officer with Moody's...

Focus Put on Foreclosure.
June 1, 2005... Washington -- High foreclosure rates in low-income neighborhoods are prompting community development organizations to become more active in foreclosure prevention and working with lenders and servicers to help troubled borrowers. ...

Top Gainers in Housing Receivables, Q1 2005.
June 1, 2005... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 CDC IXIS Real Estate Captial New York, NY 2 Wachovia Charlotte, NC 3 Opteum...

GMAC Adds Holding Unit.
June 1, 2005... Detroit -- General Motors Acceptance Corp. here has restructured its residential mortgage business, placing GMAC Mortgage Corp. and Residential Funding Corp. under a new holding company. The move - long anticipated - came in early May,...

FHA Servicers Now Face Threat of Treble Damages from HUD.(Federal Housing Administration )
June 1, 2005... Washington -- Federal Housing Administration servicers are facing the threat of severe penalties if they don't do everything possible to help delinquent borrowers avoid foreclosure. Under a final rule that goes into effect May 26, the...

M&A Vet Teams up with RMIC.(Republic Mortgage Insurance)(Charbonneau, Larry)
June 1, 2005... Houston -- Merger and acquisitions veteran Larry Charbonneau has teamed up with Republic Mortgage Insurance to form a new advisory firm offering consulting services to the mortgage industry. Republic Strategic Advisory Inc., which is based...

Subprime Servicers at 3/31/05 (A Sample).(Brief Article)(Illustration)
June 1, 2005... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Organization Name Location Aurora Loan Services Inc. Aurora, CO Cimarron Mortgage Jackson, MS CIT Group Consumer Finance Livingston, NJ ...

Opteum Goes Private-Label to Brand Servicing Business.
June 1, 2005... Atlanta -- Opteum Financial Services, a Paramus, N.J.- based mortgage lender, said it has begun to service the company's originated and purchased mortgage loans under its own name. The move will affect more than 45,000 loans in the...

Servicing Bolsters BoA's First Quarter.(Bank of America)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Charlotte, N.C. -- Benefiting from its acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Corp., Bank of America reported record quarterly earnings of $4.7 billion in the first quarter of this year, despite a sharp decline in mortgage lending volume. ...

The Rise of ARMs.(Adjustable rate mortgages)
June 1, 2005... The Mortgage Bankers Association released some stunning data in early May that may have ominous implications for mortgage servicers. Adjustable-rate mortgages and interest-only products accounted for 63% of mortgage originations in the second...

Nonprime Growth Requires Leaders with the Right Stuff.
June 1, 2005... Mr. Glass is managing partner, R.T. Glass & Associates, Sacramento, Calif. Mr. Glass has served the mortgage banking industry since 1983. Before opening his own firm, specializing in nonprime executive search, his previous practice led the...

Is a 20% Servicing Market Share Possible?
June 1, 2005... Ten years ago Countrywide Home Loans was the nation's No. 1 ranked residential servicer with $110 billion in housing receivables on its books and a market share of 3.23%. Today, Countrywide is once again No. 1 - after a few years of being...

Falling Prepays Highlight Extension Risk.( Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage)
June 1, 2005... NEW YORK -- Prepayment rates of 30-year Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities fell significantly in April, and analysts at Bear Stearns & Co. cautioned that this should serve as a reminder of extension risk. Speeds on...

Moody's Revises Hybrid, ARM Analysis.
June 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...

Happy Days Are Here Again for Hedge Managers.
June 1, 2005... As Charles Dickens once wrote: "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." The first quarter may have seen a falloff in loan origination volume, but most big lenders posted solid gains from their mortgage servicing portfolios as...

Seattle FHLBank Hires Black Rock, OCC Veteran.(Comptroller of the Currency)(Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Washington -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle has hired Black Rock Financial and a firm headed by former Comptroller of the Currency Eugene Ludwig to assist it in getting its finances and management practices in order. According to...

Servicing Income Rises For Banks and Thrifts.(Brief Article)
June 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...

S.A. Ibrahim.(Appointed S.A. Ibrahim as Chief Executive Officer)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Radian Group Inc., Philadelphia, has appointed Mr. Ibrahim, a 27-year veteran of the banking and mortgage industries, as chief executive officer, effective May 5. Mr. Ibrahim succeeds Frank Filipps, who is retiring from Radian and joining...

Treasury Bank Adds Seller Access Features to CARD.(Custody Analytic Reporting Delivery)
June 1, 2005... Alexandria, VA -- Treasury Bank, a subsidiary of Countrywide Financial Corp., has added seller access features to Custody Analytic Reporting Delivery, its Web-based reporting system for document custody clients. CARD, which was launched a...

Centex Rating Affirmed.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... New York -- Fitch Ratings has affirmed Centex Home Equity Co.'s residential primary servicer rating for subprime product at "RPS2+," citing the company's experienced management team, reliable loan administration processes and controls,...

Rate Rise Pushing Consumers toward ARMs.
June 1, 2005... Washington -- Adjustable-rate mortgages and interest-only products accounted for 63% of home loan originations in the second half of last year, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Origination volume in the second...

Cash-Out Refinancing Rises with Interest Rates.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... McLean, VA -- The number of home loan refinancing transactions declined in the first quarter of this year, but that didn't stop a lot of homeowners from continuing to tap into their equity. Cash-out transactions, in which a homeowner...

Roundup: Fed Sees Loosening of CRE Underwriting.
June 1, 2005... Washington -- Banks' commercial real estate lending underwriting standards have eased slightly over the past three months while standards for residential mortgages remained more or less unchanged, the Federal Reserve said in its most recent...

Capstead and CREE Form Joint Venture.
June 1, 2005... DALLAS -- Capstead Mortgage Corp. and Crescent Real Estate Equities have entered into a $200 million joint venture to invest in commercial real estate mezzanine loans. The two companies are forming two partnerships to target investments...

New SEC Rules Require More Data from Servicers.(United States. Securities and Exchange Commission)
June 1, 2005... The Securities and Exchange Commission's rules relating to disclosures on asset-backed securities are currently in effect on a voluntary basis, in a transition period, and the disclosures will be compulsory beginning Jan. 1, 2006. Initial...

Rumor Mill Has Washington Mutual Talking to Suitors.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Washington -- Is Washington Mutual, Seattle, the nation's largest thrift - and third-largest mortgage servicer - on the auction block? Last week the company declined to comment, but investment banking officials told this newspaper that...

Regions Gets Rating For Alt-A, Subprime.
June 1, 2005... New York -- Fitch Ratings has assigned new mortgage servicer ratings to Regions Mortgage for the management of alt-A and subprime credit quality loans. Fitch assigned a "RPS2-" rating to Regions for both loan types. Fitch said its...

Countrywide Pays $30 Million in Call Center Suit.
June 1, 2005... Calabasas, CA -- Countrywide Financial Corp. here has settled a class-action lawsuit for $30 million filed by call-center employees who were seeking to be compensated for overtime. According to a copy of the settlement notice on the website...

Moody's to Add Plus and Minus.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... New York -- Because the significant increase in the number of rated servicers and the amount of data these servicers provide to rating agencies, Moody's said it is adding "plus" and "minus" signs to its servicer quality ratings. When added...

Clayton to Combine Forces with Murrayhill.(Clayton Holdings)(Clayton Services)
June 1, 2005... Shelton, CT -- Clayton Services and the Murrayhill Co. have united under a newly formed holding company, Clayton Holdings, to combine their front-end and back-end mortgage analytic businesses. And in a related coup for Clayton Holdings,...

Growth of Interest-Only Market Raises Red Flags.
June 1, 2005... San Francisco -- The secondary market is beginning to question the unbridled growth of interest-only mortgages, 40-year loans, pay-option adjustables and other products designed to capitalize on the rapid run-up in housing prices. ...

Three Subprime Lenders Achieve Servicer Ratings.
June 1, 2005... New York -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned one and affirmed two SQ2 ratings to servicers of subprime loans. CitiFinancial Mortgage, Ameriquest Mortgage and Wilshire Credit Corporation have all been granted an SQ2 rating as primary...

Index Finds the Risk of Home Price Declines Has Spread.
June 1, 2005... Walnut Creek, CA -- The Northeast and California again top the list of areas with the greatest risk of widespread home price declines, according to PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. And nationally, the risk of widespread price declines in the nation's...

Kroll Looking To Buy Firms?(Kroll Factual Data)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Loveland, CO -- Kroll Factual Data expects to be a major acquirer this year, specifically of a front-end LOS piece, appraisal/BPO application, closing settlement services, and to form a strategic alignment with a title industry player. "We...

Servicing Technology.(servicers focus on customer care)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... The refi boom is winding down (we hope) and that means that servicers, burdened during the past three years with the heaviest volume of loan boarding, payoff and churning activity ever seen, have a chance to sit down and think about what they...

Study Finds More Consumers Turn to 'Expedited' Payments.
June 1, 2005... Elizabethtown, KY -- A study finds that about half of consumers who pay monthly bills such as their mortgage through expedited, electronic payments do so because they "forgot" to pay earlier and are rushing to avoid late payment charges or...

Emergis Deal Strengthens Fiserv's E-Mortgage Plans.
June 1, 2005... Brookfield, WI -- Fiserv Inc. here has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of the e-lending U.S. operations of Emergis Inc., Montreal. Emergis disclosed on its website that the purchase price is $13.75 million in cash. ...

Navy Federal Signs Contract to Use MSP.
June 1, 2005... Jacksonville, FL -- Navy Federal Credit Union has signed a multi-year contract for Fidelity's Mortgage Servicing Package, Fidelity Information Services announced recently. Fidelity said its software processes nearly 50% of U.S. residential...

LoanPerformance Sees Synergies with First American.(First American Real Estate Solutions)
June 1, 2005... New York -- When LoanPerformance held a recent "risk summit" here, CEO Dan Feshbach highlighted some of the reasons the company recently agreed to be acquired by First American Real Estate Solutions. Mr. Feshbach told attendees that...

New Servers Add Power to CREDCO.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Poway, CA -- First American CREDCO here expects its DataHQ data delivery platform to redefine the leading edge in service now that it has adopted IBM's new POWER5 series of processors. A real-time online system, DataHQ delivers more than...

Fidelity Sees Higher Revenue.(Fidelity National Financial Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Jacksonville, FL -- Fidelity National Financial, a provider of title, real estate and loan management services, earned $444.5 million, or $2.51 per diluted share, during the first quarter, compared to $150.2 million, or $0.88 per share, a year...

President Embraces Bankruptcy Reform.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Washington -- President George Bush signed a bill to stop abuses in the bankruptcy system and make it harder for consumers with median incomes to avoid repaying at least a portion of their debts. The president said the bankruptcy reform...

GMAC Funds Foreclosure Prevention Effort.(Homeownership Preservation Foundation)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Minneapolis -- A nonprofit organization funded by GMAC is working on providing options and relief to homeowners facing foreclosure. The Minneapolis-based Homeownership Preservation Foundation is dedicating $1.5 million in 2005 to provide...

Servicing People.(Appointments and resignations)( Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco)
June 1, 2005... ALABAMA Birmingham-Collateral Mortgage Capital LLC has promoted Milwaukee-based James M. Cope to executive managing director. Mr. Cope is a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association and...

FBI Targets Loan Fraud.(United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Washington -- The U.S. government, which is fighting a rising tide of mortgage fraud cases, is pushing for regulations that would require loan brokers to report suspicious activity in the origination process. At a press briefing at FBI...

DOCX Has Patent Pending for RID.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Atlanta -- DOCX, a provider of real estate recording services to the mortgage industry, said the patent application for its RID technology is scheduled for publication. DOCX applied for the U.S. patent in early 2004 for the RID...