Mortgage Servicing News articles from May 2004

Mortgage Servicing News archives from May 2004

MERS Near 50% Market Share.(Mortgage Electronic Registry System)
May 1, 2004... Executives at the electronic registry that tracks ownership of mortgage servicing rights believe that about half of all loans being made today are being registered on the system. Since its inception, more than 22 million mortgage loans have...

Commercial Banks Ranked by Non-Performing Real Estate Loans.(Illustration)
May 1, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Commercial Bank 1 Wells Fargo Bk NA 2 Citibank NA 3 Bank of America NA 4 Standard Federal Bk NA 5 Bank One NA 6 National City Bk...

Freddie Drops ARM Fee Level.(Freddie Macs adjustable rate mortgage)
May 1, 2004... In a move that makes it easier to originate adjustable-rate mortgages, Freddie Mac has reduced the servicing spread for all ARM products from 0.375% down to 0.25%. The lower minimum servicing spread gives lenders more flexibility when selling...

Fed Unveils FCRA Change.(Fair Credit Reporting Act)
May 1, 2004... The Federal Reserve Board has issued a proposed rule requiring lenders to notify consumers if they furnish "negative information" about the consumers to credit reporting agencies. And this is just the first of many expected regulatory...

MH Recovery Uncertain.(manufactured housing)
May 1, 2004... Analysts at Fitch Ratings say that while they are seeing some positive signs, investors are still uncertain about whether or not the manufactured housing market has hit bottom. "Fitch Ratings believes that the industry may be past its...

Market Capitalization of Publicly-Traded, Servicing Technology Firms.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... (part 1 of 2) Company, Location Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Plano, TX Fiserv, Inc. (FISV), Brookfield, WI Fidelity Nat'l Financial (FNF), Irvine, CA, (1) Equifax, Inc. (EFX), Atlanta, GA CheckFree Holdings Corp....

Flood Extension Wins Support.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The Senate Banking Committee has unanimously approved a bill (S.2238) to extend the National Flood Insurance Program along with reforms to reduce the cost of repetitive flood insurance claims. The NFIP extension bill, sponsored by Sen. Jim...

Equity One Gets Rating Upgrade.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Fitch Ratings has upgraded Equity One's residential primary servicer rating to "RPS3-plus" from "RPS3" for subprime loans, the rating agency announced. The rating reflects the company's experienced management team and the financial...

After Talks Falter, Will IPO Be Next Strategy for Cendant?(Cendant Mortgage Corp., initial public offering)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., has taken a pass on purchasing Cendant Mortgage Corp., the nation's tenth largest servicer of residential loans, Mortgage Servicing News has learned. Moreover, a source familiar with the deal...

'03 Stressed CMBS Loan Performance.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The most stressful year for commercial mortgage loans since the early '90s was 2003, according to a Standard & Poor's study of commercial mortgage loans. The rating agency reports that defaults among commercial mortgage loans originated...

Are FHA Borrowers Forced to Pay Prepayment Penalties?(Federal Housing Administration )
May 1, 2004... Ginnie Mae is forcing Federal Housing Administration borrowers to pay "prepayment penalties," according to the National Association of Realtors, and it wants the agency to change its policy. NAR claims that over 425,000 borrowers in fiscal...

Another MSR Hit?
May 1, 2004... As Yogi Berra once said, "It feels like deja vu all over again."According to the script, 2004 was supposed to be the year that interest rates started to gradually rise. Servicing values would stabilize and even start to increase. A market for...

What GSE Subsidy?(government-sponsored enterprises)
May 1, 2004... Mr. Raines, chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae, spoke recently to the American Enterprise Institute, where he argued that the government-sponsored enterprises are not subsidized by the federal government. This viewpoint is an excerpt of his...

The GSE Reform Bill is Dead; Long Live the GSE Bill!
May 1, 2004... As Mortgage Servicing News went to press this month, the Bush White House put the final nail in the coffin of GSE reform by opposing a provision in the Shelby bill that would allow Congress to override a regulatory decision to place a housing...

March Brings Widespread Acceleration of Prepayment Speeds.
May 1, 2004... Prepayment rates for agency mortgage-backed securities surged across the board in March, led by increases of around 50% in the speed of the massive 5.5% 2003 coupons. Writing in the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary, analysts Dale...

One-Stop Shopping Spreads to Commercial Lending Arena.
May 1, 2004... An increasingly common trend toward the offering of "one-stop shopping" for commercial real estate financing also has implications for servicers. This sort of arrangement has the potential to create servicing complications, with more than one...

Rate Dip in March Puts Squeeze on 'Natural Hedge' Strategy.
May 1, 2004... With 30-year mortgage rates dipping to their lowest level since last July, the mortgage industry is likely to have another blockbuster year. But you might not know it from reading first quarter earnings reports. That's because a recent...

Experian Forum Takes Aim at Rising Threat from Fraud Activity.
May 1, 2004... "Fraud Forum 2004," an annual event organized by Experian here, addressed rising fraud losses and identity theft and introduced methods on how to detect and stop "increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes." According to Experian, numerous...

Susan Pettem.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The California Trustees' Association has appointed Ms. Pettem as vice president and membership chair for the 2004 state board of directors. In this role, Ms. Pettem will be responsible for new membership in the CTA, which is endeavoring to...

Making the Paper Disappear.(paperless loans)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... There has been a lot of talk about originating loans without paper. While the paperless mortgage may be a way off yet, lenders, title companies and even county recorders are finding ways to reduce the amount of paperwork that needs to change...

Browser Technology Eases Software Integration Worries.
May 1, 2004... With the advent of XML technology and Web services, the days of an integration taking months to complete are long gone. Recently Entyre completed an integration with Dexma literally in a matter of a few days. "Moving data back and forth...

BillMatrix Offers New ATM Option.
May 1, 2004... BillMatrix Corp., a provider of outsourced telephone and Internet-based recurring payment services, has created what the company believes is the mortgage industry's first program to allow consumers to pay their monthly mortgage bill over the...

Just Valuation and FNC Team Up to Offer REO Services.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... FNC Inc. here has formed a strategic alliance with Just Valuation Inc., Altamonte Springs, Fla., that will make JVI's residential appraisal and inspection services available through FNC's CMS collateral information management system. FNC's...

Valuation Firm Opposes New Rule from USPAP.(Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice )
May 1, 2004... Advisories issued by the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice could result in consumers who use third-party originators having to pay more for their appraisals, said an executive with eAppraiseIT here. Under the new USPAP...

Workflow Platform Helps Peelle.(Peelle Management Corp.)
May 1, 2004... Over the past seven years, Peelle Management Corp., a provider of assignment, reconveyance, document retrieval, file review and imaging services, has developed workflow technology and has helped to mitigate the headaches associated with the...

Desert Docs Invests to Let Lenders Match Electronic Docs with Data.
May 1, 2004... When Desert Document Services Inc. announced having completing a massive XHTML forms conversion of 35,000 documents in October 2003, the news was that the conversion enabled sending data and formatted documents together electronically. The...

FKNC Offers Voice Recognition Software Backed by a Call Center.(Fort Knox National Co.)
May 1, 2004... One benefit of promoting electronic payments is that it cuts down on paper billing and exception processing. But the benefits extend beyond the bill paying segment to create additional revenue, cure delinquencies and increase customer...

GMD Offers Transaction Management.(Guardian Mortgage Documents)
May 1, 2004... Guardian Mortgage Documents (GMD) here has just released a new product dubbed GMD's Transaction Management System (TMS), which includes the basic document preparation functions with workflow capabilities and other features designed to make it...

Banks Report that Fewer Home Equity Loans Are Delinquent.
May 1, 2004... The performance of home equity loans improved in the fourth quarter of last year, but home equity is no longer head of the class among the consumer credit categories. The rise of B&C credit quality lending has tarnished the home equity...

At a Glance: Home Equity Delinquencies Rates Slip.(Illustration)
May 1, 2004... Quarter HEL HELOC '03 4th 2.50% 0.43% '03 3rd 2.52% 0.52% '03 2nd 2.48% 0.63% '03 1st 2.02% 0.61% Source: ABA Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

Dispute Over Receivership Power Could Sink GSE Bill.
May 1, 2004... Senate Banking Committee chairman Richard Shelby's effort to extend receivership powers to the new regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is running into stiff opposition. The National Association of Home Builders went on the offense last...

Multifamily Swaps Draw Scrutiny.
May 1, 2004... Freddie Mac's purchase of $6 billion in multifamily loans from Washington Mutual has come under government scrutiny and GSE critics are trying to get Congress to investigate the transaction, which Freddie employed to boost its affordable...

Fremont Gets B&C Rating from Fitch.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Fitch Ratings has assigned Fremont Investment & Loan a "RPS3-minus" residential primary servicer rating for subprime product. The rating reflects Fremont's seasoned executive and servicing management teams, sound loan administration and default...

New York Scrutinizes Consultants.
May 1, 2004... The New York State Banking Department is holding its licensees and registrants responsible for the consultants that they use. According to officials from the department speaking at a New York regulatory session held at the Northeast...

At a Glance: 'AAA Assumptions for MH Bond Performance Have Changed.(Illustration)
May 1, 2004... Category Initial New Loss Expectation 22-28% 40-60% Default Expectations 37-47% 40-60% Loss Severity Expect. 55-60% 100% Source: Fitch Rating Copyright 2004 Thomson Media...

Manufactured Housing Bonds Pose Problem for Fannie Mae.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Last month, a few hours before a Senate panel was set to debate historic legislation to strengthen regulation of all housing GSEs, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight laid a bombshell on Fannie Mae, saying publicly that the...

WaMu Master Rating Affirmed.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Fitch Ratings has affirmed the residential mortgage master servicer rating of Washington Mutual Mortgage Securities Corp. at "RMS2+." Fitch said the rating is based on WaMu Securities Corp.'s 25 years of master servicing experience,...

Servicing People.
May 1, 2004... California Lake Forest-Provantedge Technologies has named Ronald L. Askew as chief executive officer. Mr. Askew comes to Provantedge with a background in commercial and mortgage banking, along with investment banking. Most recently...

'Spread' Key to CFC's Growth.
May 1, 2004... Countrywide Financial Corp. executives filled in more details about their ambitious five-year growth plan last week, telling investors that the company can more than double its earnings. But growing its mortgage banking market share is only...

At a Glance: Countrywide Today and in 2008.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Servicing portfolio 2003: $645 billion Servicing portfolio 2008: $1.9 trillion Pretax Earnings 2003: $3.8 billion Pretax Earnings Goal for 2008: $7.5 billion Source: Countrywide Financial Corp. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media...

Refi Boom for Reverse Mortgages?
May 1, 2004... Reverse mortgage lenders are expecting a refinancing boom now that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has finally issued a rule that reduces the costs of refinancing a federally insured reverse mortgage. "We are very pleased...