Mortgage Servicing News articles from March 2004

Mortgage Servicing News archives from March 2004

Industry Cracks $7 Trillion Mark.(mortgages)
March 1, 2004... At year-end, the available pool of residential servicing rights cracked the $7 trillion mark, according to figures compiled by Mortgage Servicing News. Moreover, the dollar volume of outstanding loans increased by 12% from year-end 2002 to...

Top Residential Servicers at December 31, 2003.(Illustration)
March 1, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Company Location 1 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 2 Wells Fargo Home Mortg. S. Francisco, CA 3 Countrywide...

VA Restarts REO Loans.
March 1, 2004... The Department of Veterans Affairs is starting up its vendee program again so it can finance buyers of its foreclosed properties. VA abandoned its financing program for REO (real estate-owned) under pressure from the Bush administration in...

Duration Extending?
March 1, 2004... If the experts are right, then mortgage duration should begin extending again as interest rates edge upward this year. Forecasting interest rate movements is always a dicey proposition, but most economists believe that economic growth is...

Cendant Quietly Shops Loan Unit.(Cendant Mortgage Corp.'s financial reports)
March 1, 2004... Cendant Mortgage Corp., which is quietly being shopped around by its parent company, posted record revenue of $1 billion in 2003, a handsome increase of 114%. But in the fourth quarter, Cendant Mortgage, like many residential finance...

FASB to Consider 'Fair Value' for Servicing Rights.
March 1, 2004... The Financial Accounting Standards Board has decided to consider the pros and cons of applying fair-value accounting to mortgage servicing rights. The board members agreed to start the mortgage servicing rights project at the request of...

Regions Merger with Union Planters Creates a Top 20 Servicer.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... When Regions Financial here merges with Union Planters Corp., Memphis, Tenn., it will create a Southeast-based regional mortgage giant that will rank 20th among all residential servicers nationwide, according to figures compiled by Mortgage...

Freddie Expects Renewed Focus on Data Integrity in '04.
March 1, 2004... With the refinancing boom leveling off and portfolio churning expected to ease this year, Freddie Mac thinks that servicers and their business partners will have more time to focus on technology improvements. Janet Eakes, vice president of...

Industry Leaders Hope to 'Loosen' REMIC Restrictions.(Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit)
March 1, 2004... The Mortgage Bankers Association and the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association are taking advantage of a "window of opportunity" to try to "loosen up some of the restrictions" on the Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit structure,...

Deficit Is Bad News.
March 1, 2004... After three years of record refinancing, with interest rates repeatedly scraping up against four-decade lows, mortgage servicing professionals can be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief as interest rates edge up this year. But in the long...

Distressed Assets And the Mysterious 'V'.(Value)(Column)
March 1, 2004... In any distressed asset - or any asset at all - lenders and borrowers alike use the term "loan to value," or "LTV." The "V" holds the real mystery here. The mysterious "V" - the true value - is like truth itself. Everyone has his or her own...

Good News for Workout Experts, Bad News for Uncle Sam.(Column)
March 1, 2004... Workout specialists and scratch-and-dent servicing artists start your engines. Uncle Sam is about to deliver an early Christmas present. It's called the "zero downpayment" mortgage which means if the loan goes south, the Federal Housing...

Prepayment Data Shows Refinancing Turning Flat in January.
March 1, 2004... The speeds of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities slowed across the board in the January reporting period, producing "the flattest refinancing curve we have observed since early in 2001," according to the Bear Stearns...

Refi Encore? Not Likely.(mortgage rates slipping well )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... January began much the way most of 2003 went, with mortgage rates slipping well below the 6% threshold. While the three-year-old refinancing boom may have lived into the beginning of 2004, Doug Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage...

FHLBanks MPF Volume Jumps to $72.1 Billion in '03.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Federal Home Loan Banks Mortgage Partnership Finance program funded $72.1 billion of loans last year, up 158% from the year before. The FHLBank of Chicago, which coordinates the MPF program, also said that 707 FHLB member financial...

GCC Converts Legacy System.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Executives from GCC Servicing Systems here will unveil a new look for its software at this year's MBA conference as well as spend time talking to other attendees about industry trends. GCC has completed a conversion of its legacy system to...

New York Attorney General Is Taking a Look at Foreclosure Threats.(Eliot Spitzer filed a lawsuit on behalf of Richard Hall against First Horizon Home Loan Corp.)
March 1, 2004... First Horizon Home Loan Corp., a subsidiary of the nationally chartered bank, First Tennessee National Corp., has offered to absorb loan payments and reimburse a Rensselaer County, N.Y., homeowner who alleges the bank illegally threatened to...

Job Gains May Be Underreported.(Thredgold Economic Associates meetings)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The jobless economic recovery may not be so jobless after all, according to an economic consultant who spoke at last week's National Real Estate Lending Conference here. Although the "official" government survey of businesses indicates...

Countrywide Confident it Can Manage a $1.5 Trillion Asset.(Angelo Mozilo is the man behind the goals)
March 1, 2004... Angelo Mozilo, the chairman and CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp., has a history of setting some pretty ambitious goals for his company. And he also has a track record of reaching his goals, which is one reason why so many people in the...

Biggest Real Estate Banks See Improvement in Loan Quality.(Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase )
March 1, 2004... For the most part, banks saw their nonperforming assets decline in the fourth quarter, according to quarterly financial results that have been released. Some of the biggest real estate lenders - Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, Citigroup...

AICPA to Focus On Disclosure.(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has decided to change the focus of its loan loss reserve project, which had run into strong objections from federal banking regulators and the banking industry. "We are going to...

GMAC Restructures to Strengthen Subservicing Appeal.(GMAC Mortgage Corp.)
March 1, 2004... By the end of March, GMAC Mortgage Corp. said it plans to finish its year-and-a-half company restructuring process that will allow GMAC to better control risk and increase subservicing volume while using an integrated Internet platform managed...

New Century Returns to the Loan Servicing Business.(New Century Financial Corp.)
March 1, 2004... There are those that wish they could start over with a clean slate, keeping only the best of what had happened before. New Century Financial Corp. here had the opportunity to do that with its servicing portfolio. It sold the portfolio in...

ACB Renews Partnerships with GSEs and Countrywide.(America's Community Bankers with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Countrywide Home Loans.)
March 1, 2004... America's Community Bankers has renewed its secondary mortgage market partnerships with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Countrywide Home Loans. Now in its fourth year, the pact with Fannie Mae is the cornerstone of the ACB's mortgage solutions...

Venture Encoding Complements Paper Products with Electronic Technology.
March 1, 2004... Kenny Hargis, president of Venture Encoding Service Inc. here, is bringing to the Mortgage Bankers Association servicing conference his company's most important showcase: technology. What he is looking forward to the most though, is direct...

Documentum Wins CFC as New Client.(Countrywide Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Countrywide Financial Corp. here has selected Documentum 5, the latest version of the Documentum ECM platform, which provides digital asset management and records management functionality. Using this solution, Countrywide will now have a...

OTC Chief Urges Lenders to Prepare for Higher Interest Rates.(Office of Thrift Supervision director James Gilleran)
March 1, 2004... The Office of Thrift Supervision wants thrifts to prepare for rising interest rates and the agency plans to issue new guidance to the industry soon. "We are closely monitoring how thrifts transition from the current intensive 'mortgage...

Banks Anticipate Handling More Home Equity Products this Year.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Banks and thrifts are expecting to see a big jump in home equity lending this year, according to a real estate lending survey by America's Community Bankers. The 11th annual real estate survey found that 56% of the 403 respondents expect...

OwnersWorry About Bubble.( real estate bubble brewing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A growing number of affluent Americans are worried that there is a real estate bubble brewing, according to a study conducted for the McDonald Financial Group, a subsidiary of KeyCorp here. When asked if they believed real estate was...

Downey Financial Misses 4th Q Target.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Downey Financial Corp. here reported that net income for the fourth quarter fell to $23.8 million, or $0.85 per share, from $40 million, or $1.43 per share in the fourth quarter of 2002. Net income for the full year was also down, totaling...

International Outsourcing Helps Fidelity Leverage Efficiency.
March 1, 2004... Fidelity Information Services here plans to let those attending the Mortgage Bankers Association's national servicing conference this year know that it has literally been looking far and wide in its efforts to give the clients the...

Dexma Brings in a DocuTech Executive.(Mr. Anderson )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Dexma Inc., Edina, Minn., has hired Mr. Anderson away from DocuTech, where he held the title of executive vice president. As Dexma's EVP for business solutions, Mr. Anderson will focus on new business initiatives. Mr. Anderson recently received...

AU Systems Need FHA Link by May First.(Technology Open To Approved Lenders)(automated underwriting systems)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... All automated underwriting systems must be linked to the Federal Housing Administration's TOTAL Scorecard by May 1 to continue processing FHA single-family loans, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. "The Total...

Market Capitalization of Publicly-Traded Technology Firms.(statistics)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
March 1, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Company Location Electronic Data Systems (EDS) Plano, TX Fiserv, Inc. (FISV) Brookfield, WI Fidelity Nat'l Financial (FNF)...

Exec: Offshore Processing Saves 25%.(David Rogers, cto of GreenPoint Mortgage)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Taking some of your mortgage processes offshore to India could reduce your costs by 25% on those processes, according to David Rogers, chief technology officer for GreenPoint Mortgage, in Novato Calif. Mr. Rogers made his comments at...

MBA Partners with Blackboard for Online Training.(Mortgage Bankers Association of America for Financial Services Training Package)
March 1, 2004... The Mortgage Bankers Association has teamed up with Blackboard Inc., Washington, to offer Web-based training designed for midsize and large financial institutions. The Financial Services Training Package, or FSTP, combines more than 1,000...

Upcoming CampusMBA Events.(Mortgage Bankers Association of America)(Illustration)
March 1, 2004... Topic Date Location Advanced Fraud Seminar Mar. 4-5 San Antonio School of Mortgage Banking Course I Mar. 14-19 New Orleans FHA Risk Management Workshop ...

MBA Hires New CRE Lobbyist.(Mortgage Bankers Association has appointed Josh Denney)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Mortgage Bankers Association has appointed Josh Denney as director of government affairs and said he will be primarily responsible for lobbying Capitol Hill on commercial real estate issues. Mr. Denney joins the MBA from the office of...

Proposal to Revamp RESPA Rules Continues to Face Opposition.(Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act)
March 1, 2004... The Bush administration is signaling that it plans to issue a final rule to simplify the mortgage application and settlement process soon. President George Bush is talking about Department of Housing and Urban Development's efforts to...

HUD Keeping Tabs on Performance of FHA Lenders.(Housing and Urban Development)(Federal Housing Administration)
March 1, 2004... The Department of Housing and Urban Development is sticking to its regulatory agenda of making Federal Housing Administration lenders more accountable for the performance of their originations. HUD is very close to issuing a controversial...

OCC Defends Dual Banking System.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Since 1863, the OCC has supervised national banks to ensure a safe, sound and competitive banking system, according to Kevin Mukri, spokesperson for the department. The office follows one uniformed set of federal regulations in all 50 states,...

Are Servicers Doing too Much to Offset Interest Shortfalls?
March 1, 2004... The commercial mortgage-backed securities industry is making progress in dealing with the issue of interest shortfalls on deals, but it is possible that the issues could crop up later in a different form. The issue has also raised questions...

Moody's Sees Stronger CRE Markets.(commercial real estate)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The worst may be over for commercial real estate, according to Moody's Investors Service. Based on its quarterly Red-Yellow-Green report, both multifamily and shopping centers are expected to perform well over the next year, the hotel sector is...

Roundup: Midland Plans Push for Its Commercial Technology.(Midland Loan Services)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Midland Loan Services has gone live with its Web-based Enterprise! loan management system. Over $90 billion in commercial real estate loans currently is being serviced on the Enterprise! platform and Midland and several other client...

GMACCM Still on Top.(GMAC Commercial Mortgage )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The latest ranking of commercial mortgage servicers by the Mortgage Bankers Association shows little change at the top. GMAC Commercial Mortgage was the top commercial mortgage servicer at the end of 2003, with a total servicing portfolio...

Fannie Finances $6 Billion of MF.(Fannie Mae)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Fannie Mae made a total investment of about $36 billion in multifamily housing last year, the government-sponsored enterprise has reported. More than 85% of the multifamily units financed by Fannie Mae last year were in the affordable...

S&P: CMBS Issuance Likely Flat.(commercial mortgage-backed securities of Standard & Poor's)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Issuance of commercial mortgage-backed securities is likely to stay flat or drop from its 2003 level of approximately $75 billion, according to Standard & Poor's. Kim Diamond, a manging director in the S&P structured finance rating group,...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2004... Due to data input mistakes, the commercial servicing volumes for two firms were misreported in the February edition of Mortgage Servicing News. The two firms are ARCS Commercial Mortgage, Calabasas, Calif., and Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, Dallas....

Special Report: Escrow Management.(analysis)
March 1, 2004... Many homeowners are perfectly reliable when it comes to paying their insurance and tax bills on their own. But if you've made a loan worth upwards of 80% of the home's value, there's a lot at stake in making sure those payments get made. ...

Law Firm Urges Servicers To Expand Ties to Bankruptcy Trustees.(analysis)
March 1, 2004... While bankruptcy is always disruptive to a mortgagor's payments, a law firm here says that servicers stand to benefit from closer communication with bankruptcy trustees. Increasingly, when borrowers seek Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection, a...

Safeco Reports Its Best Financial Performance in Five Years.
March 1, 2004... Safeco, parent of mortgage industry insurance specialist Safeco FIS, reported net income of $339.2 million last year, or $2.44 per share, for its best performance since 1998. In 2002, the company reported net income of $301.1 million. The...

Fidelity National Buys Sanchez Computer.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Fidelity National Financial here, a Fortune 500 provider of products and outsourced services and solutions to financial institutions and the real estate industry, and Malvern, Pa.-based Sanchez Computer Associates, a company that develops and...

Head of Flood Group Hopes Funds Will Help to Modernize Maps.
March 1, 2004... Last fall, Congress passed and the president signed legislation appropriating $200 million to update federal flood zone maps, and the National Flood Determination Association is one of the groups that backed that funding effort. Tara...

New Unit to Offer Bundled Services.(Stewart Title Co.'s Stewart Realty Solutions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Stewart Title Co. here has created a new unit to offer a package of services to realty firms in the United States. Stewart Realty Services will market information services, technology applications, title insurance and closing services plus...

HUD Is Monitoring Escrow Management Procedures.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... While the debate about reform of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act centers around compensation of loan originators, servicers need to remember that RESPA covers loan administration as well. Particularly, RESPA contains regulations...

Credit Conditions Stable in January.(business)
March 1, 2004... Amid reports that the economy is strengthening, the National Association of Credit Managers is offering business-to-business credit managers a tool that may help weed out repeat problem borrowers: credit reports. Long used to assess the...

GE IPO: Company Laying Groundwork in Europe.(expansion plans)(General Electric)
March 1, 2004... When a firm files an "S1" statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it usually includes all of its hopes, dreams and fears as the company prepares to sell its shares to the public. The new S1 filed by General Electric on behalf...

MGIC: Realty Markets Strong.
March 1, 2004... Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp.'s national Market Trends Index did not change between the third and fourth quarters of 2003, remaining at 6.58. The index is a barometer of single-family real estate market conditions, with 1.00 being a...

Servicing People.
March 1, 2004... CALIFORNIA Folsom-Central Pacific Mortgage promoted Ed Fuchs, who previously held the position of senior vice president of finance and secondary marketing, to executive vice president of finance and secondary marketing. In his new...

Metropolitan Files for Bankruptcy.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities was expected to file a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection during the week of Feb. 2, and news reports as MSN went to press indicated that the firm has indeed filed for bankruptcy protection. ...

Refi Boom Over? Not so Fast...(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mortgage servicing executives can be forgiven for thinking that the refinancing boom is over. After all, after three years of portfolio churning and writedowns to the servicing asset, the industry deserves a break. But not so fast. Even...

... a personal story... Leadership that Shines Unexpected Solutions.
March 1, 2004... Closing his shoeshine stand for the evening at the Grand Hyatt Washington, the man saw me and very pleasantly told me to sit down. I protested mildly, but I really did want my boots shined before the ASAE Summit Awards Dinner. Before he got his...

Web-Based Technology For Lenders And Settlement Service Providers.(services)
March 1, 2004... With the shrinking refinance boom and pressure to bundle loan and settlement costs into a single, guaranteed package, lenders and settlement service providers are looking for ways to lower costs while reducing the time it takes to process...

Navigating through Techno-Garble: What Servicing Executives Really Need to Know.
March 1, 2004... Have you noticed how technical terms that not long ago were only meaningful to a small group of IT enthusiasts have now become common jargon for just about everyone in the mortgage industry? For example, when recently thumbing through some...

From Main Street to Wall Street <at> Internet Speed: Integrating the mortgage supply chain is vital to reducing cycle time, improving customer service.(Electronic Partner Networks )
March 1, 2004... Electronic Partner Networks (EPNs) offer a partial solution. But what happens after you get the appraisal back faster? Despite two decades of loan-production automation efforts, origination costs remain too high. Even now, only a few of the...

In This Time of Increased Competition for the Borrower, How Do Lenders Leverage Technology to Encourage Customer Loyalty?(business analysis)
March 1, 2004... As the volume of new mortgages and refis wanes, competition for borrowers is heating up. Today's loan applicants, aware of increased competition for their business, are talking to multiple lenders at the same time. Borrowers with existing...