Mortgage Servicing News articles from May 2008

Mortgage Servicing News archives from May 2008

Start-Ups Target Risky Loans.
May 1, 2008... New York -- Subprime mortgage originators have been folding their tents right and left, but some industry veterans are entering the fray with new firms - servicing companies designed to help investors maximize recovery or rehabilitation of...

PMI Sees Lower Risk.
May 1, 2008... Walnut Creek, CA -- In one of the first glimmers of hope for the housing sector, a forward-looking analysis of the nation's housing markets concludes that the risk of further home price declines over the next two years is declining in some...

Foreclosure Relief Still Uncertain.
May 1, 2008... Washington -- The Senate has passed a bipartisan foreclosure prevention bill by an 84-12 vote that provides $10 billion for refinancing subprime mortgages, $4 billion for purchasing foreclosed properties and $180 million for foreclosure...

Clayton sold to Private Equity Firm.
May 1, 2008... Shelton, CT -- Clayton Holdings, a due diligence and surveillance provider that has been adversely affected by the subprime mortgage debacle, has agreed to be purchased by Greenfield Partners for $6 per share, or approximately $134 million plus...

Top Residential Servicers at 12/31/07.
May 1, 2008... (dollars in millions) Servicing Volume % Market Mkt Shr Rk Organization Name 12/31/07 12/31/06 Change Share % pt. +/- 1 Countrywide Financial Corp.$1,476,203 $1,298,394 14% 16.04%...

Credit Plus Moves into Loss Mitigation Space.
May 1, 2008... Salisbury, MD -- Credit Plus Inc., a credit information services company here, is using its expertise in that field to open a new loss mitigation company, Mortgage Works. The new company will provide lenders with tools to protect their...

Countrywide Faces Setback.
May 1, 2008... Pittsburgh -- A federal judge here has ruled that a bankruptcy trustee can subpoena loan documents from Countrywide Financial Corp. and interview company executives under oath as part of a widening civil case involving the lender/servicer. ...

Golden West Legacy Hurts Wachovia.
May 1, 2008... Charlotte, NC -- Wachovia's $25 billion purchase of Golden West in May 2006 seemed like a perfect match at the time. Wachovia inherited a strong branch network and mortgage presence in the coveted California market, both big plusses for an East...

NPAs Are Rising Again at Downey.
May 1, 2008... Newport Beach, CA -- California thrift Downey Financial Corp. said its nonperforming assets increased to 10.93% at the end of February, an 89% spike over a three-month period. Downey holds $13.4 billion in assets on its balance sheet. In a...

Editorial: Measures of Risk.(Editorial)
May 1, 2008... Sure, hindsight is 20/20. But hopefully, as the industry starts to move past the blowup of the subprime sector, people on the origination side of the equation won't forget what got us into the trouble we are seeing today on the credit...

Point of View: The System Is the Solution.(First American Second Lien Outsourcing)(Viewpoint essay)
May 1, 2008... Mr. Showalter is senior vice president of product and analytics for First American Second Lien Outsourcing. Mr. Benson is vice president and managing director for FASLO Capital Markets Group. Economic conditions of the last few years have...

Homeownership Cannot Be a God Given Right.
May 1, 2008... There are many lessons to be learned from the mortgage debacle of 2007-2008, so let's list a few: Wall Street can't be trusted (that's obvious), loan brokers aren't boy scouts (duh), payment-option ARMs are dangerous (a given), and my personal...

High-EndHurts Most.
May 1, 2008... Seattle -- While overall, high-priced homes have seen their values fall by a larger percentage than lower-valued homes, that's not the case in all markets, according to a recent analysis of home value trends by Zillow.com. The online real...

Rate Rally Fuels Rising Prepay Speeds.
May 1, 2008... Prepayment rates for 30-year mortgages in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities jumped in February following a 70-basis-point rally in mortgage rates the month before. The aggregate speed on 30-year Fannie Mae was a constant...

Home Price Drop Could Slow Refi Boom.
May 1, 2008... As the market was heading into the first-quarter earnings season, most analysts were pessimistic about bank and thrift prospects. An analyst at Goldman Sachs even went so far as to suggest that investors might want to sell Washington Mutual...

FDIC Worried about Construction, CRE Defaults.
May 1, 2008... Washington -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is re-staffing its resolution and receivership division as it prepares for an increase in bank failures and the retirement of its veteran bank closers. "We are taking the prudent steps that...

CRE Refi Volume Remains Limited.(Report)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Washington -- The commercial and multifamily mortgage market faces limited exposure to refinance risks stemming from the current credit crunch, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Research DataNote. The report notes that relatively...

Fannie Tightens Standards on Lending to B&C Borrowers.
May 1, 2008... Washington -- Fannie Mae continues to tighten its underwriting standards and this time the changes will fall heaviest on borrowers with blemished credit who are seeking to refinance out of subprime mortgages. A new seller guide issued last...

Frank Warns Firms On Need for Mods.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Washington -- House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., is warning mortgage servicers that they could face very restrictive regulation next year if they don't cooperate in modifying loans for distressed borrowers. ...

National City Likely on the Market.
May 1, 2008... Cleveland -- National City Corp. here is exploring "strategic alternatives," a term which has become a corporate euphemism for the company is up for sale. In its statement, NCC said it would make no further statements until its board has...

Reverse Mortgage Servicer Sees Front-End Opportunity.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Philadelphia -- Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Spring, Texas, has come of age just as the leading edge of the 80-million-member baby-boom generation enters their twilight years. A startup just one year ago, the multifaceted company has built a...

eAppraiseIT Focuses On Reconciling Values.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Poway, CA -- First American eAppraiseIT here, a provider of real estate valuation products and services, is now offering a low-cost, one-page value reconciliation report that will help default and real estate-owned managers make loss mitigation...

Triad Seeking Capital To Maintain MI Viability.
May 1, 2008... Winston Salem, NC -- Triad Guaranty Corp. here, the smallest of the private mortgage insurers, raised the possibility of the company going into run-off and ceasing writing new mortgage insurance policies. This disclosure came in the company's...

Top 'ALT-A' Servicers in Q4 '07.
May 1, 2008... 'Alt-A' Servicers % Rk. Organization Name Location Q4 07 Q4 06 change 1 Wells Fargo & Company San Francisco, CA $80,806 $87,161 -7% 2 Aurora Loan Services, Inc. (1) Aurora, CO $68,815 $60,291 14% ...

Franklin Posts Big Loss, Extends Loan Agreement.
May 1, 2008... New York -- Franklin Credit Management Corp. lost $8.6 million last year, or $1.90 per share. The company cited the "rapid and substantial" deterioration in the housing and subprime mortgage markets as key factors in reducing the performance of...

GNMA Servicers at 12/31/07.
May 1, 2008... (Dollars in millions) Serviced Serviced % Rk. GNMA Servicers Location 12/31/07 12/31/06 change 1 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Des Moines, IA $133,238 $138,176 -4% 2 Countrywide/Landsafe Servicing Pasadena, CA...

Cleaning Preserves Value.
May 1, 2008... From walls to floors and cabinets to countertops, asset managers have to cover a lot of ground in order to make sure an REO property is clean and ready to sell. It is a wise move for asset managers to give their real estate agents, brokers...

Fannie Assists 110,000 Borrowers.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Washington -- Noting that 1.5 million U.S. homeowners faced foreclosure proceedings last year, Fannie Mae says it either refinanced or worked out a delinquency for 110,000 subprime mortgage borrowers last year. Nearly 68,000 of those...

BlitzDocs Enhances Electronic Offering.
May 1, 2008... Atlanta -- On the heels of the Xerox acquisition of BlitzDocs, the new entity dubbed Xerox Mortgage Services is using technology from its parent to enhance electronic document management functionality for its users. "We're always looking...

FTC Opinion Eases Attorney Concerns.
May 1, 2008... Washington -- The Federal Trade Commission has made public a rare advisory opinion on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in response to three specific questions presented by USFN, a national network of attorneys and trustee companies...

Home Equity Overdues Rise.
May 1, 2008... Washington -- The number of home-equity loans and lines that were overdue increased sharply late last year, according to the American Bankers Association. And that helped push the overall consumer loan delinquency rate at banks to a high...

Veros Offers Quarterly Risk Forecasts.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Santa Ana, CA -- Enterprise risk management and collateral valuation services provider Veros Real Estate Solutions here released another quarterly residential real estate price forecast set of data. Veros senior vice president Dave...

UBS Takes Huge B&C Writedown.
May 1, 2008... New York -- UBS AG, once a major warehouse lender to the subprime industry, said it will take a $19 billion writedown on its mortgage-related investments in the first quarter, including charges against its structured finance positions. ...

Offshore Fund Eyes Nonperforming U.S. Loans.
May 1, 2008... New York -- Nonperforming U.S. mortgages have reached the point in the cycle where they are cheap enough to buy, according to at least one asset manager that has started two offshore investment funds to do this. "We think it's the opportune...

PropertyMaps Lists Include Pre-Foreclosure Data.
May 1, 2008... Sarasota, FL -- New homes, resale properties and now even houses in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure are available for searching on PropertyMaps.com. PropertyMaps.com, which conducts online real estate searches, partnered with RealtyTrac, an...

HCM Needs Capital Infusion to Survive 4Q Crisis.
May 1, 2008... Edison, NJ -- Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings, an "A" paper mortgage investing REIT, lost $37.7 million in the fourth quarter and signaled that it may not continue as a going concern unless it receives a capital infusion. It blamed its...

B&C Losses Mount For Largest Banks.
May 1, 2008... Oldwick, NJ -- Earnings reports analysis by global credit rating provider A.M. Best here show that while subprime-related writedowns were prevalent among all banks, losses among the large banks are much higher than among midsize and community...

REO Managers Take Advantage of New Technology.(Real Estate Owned)
May 1, 2008... Jacksonville -- It starts in a neighborhood when lights everyone is used to seeing on at night suddenly are off, and the neighbors start missing familiar voices and vehicles on the block. Another house goes dark, then another on the next street...

Discrepancy in Foreclosure Data May Create Confusion.
May 1, 2008... Boca Raton, FL -- There is a discrepancy with much of the foreclosure data being published, according to Brad Geisen, founder and chief executive officer of foreclosure.com here, which stopped posting its data a year ago. This discrepancy...

NCL Launches 'MortgageTown' Website.(Website overview)
May 1, 2008... Washington -- The National Consumers League is assisting consumers concerned about financing in today's market with MortgageTown, a new website designed to help buyers understand their mortgage and avoid both fraud and foreclosure. The...

Communities Mandate Strict REO Management.
May 1, 2008... As mortgage loan defaults and foreclosure rates continue to rise nationwide, many municipalities are being pressured to make sure the affected properties do not become nuisances in their communities. As a result, many municipalities are...

MBS, ABS Evaporate in 1Q.
May 1, 2008... New York -- The volume of mortgage-backed security deals totaled $60.96 billion in the first quarter, down dramatically - nearly 78% - from $273.88 billion in the first quarter of 2007, according to Thomson Financial. Asset-backed securities...

Realtors Say Minorities Face Foreclosure Threat.
May 1, 2008... Washington -- Alarmed that the housing downturn is having a disproportionate impact on minorities of all shades, groups of Hispanic, Asian and African-American real estate professionals have put forth a five-point action to protect people of...

Hazard Insurance.
May 1, 2008... Last year turned out to be a pretty benign one in terms of the risks that most lenders worry about destroying collateral value. The hurricane season was fairly benign. With the devastating 2005 hurricane season still on the industry's minds,...

Arson Seen as Growing Risk as Home Values Fall.
May 1, 2008... Washington -- Arson is being touted as a growing insurance fraud risk given the decline in home values, according to the Insurance Information Institute. The institute says that arson fraud in addition to raising the cost of insurance for...

Cooking Is Top Home Fire Cause.
May 1, 2008... Washington -- The National Fire Protection Association says that cooking was involved in an estimated 146,000 home fires in 2005, making it the leading cause of home fires. Cooking-related fires accounted for about 40% of all home fires,...

Catastrophic Losses Fall Significantly.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Washington -- Insurance claims related to catastrophes such as hurricanes dropped sharply in 2007, reflecting a relatively mild hurricane season. Catastrophe losses totaled $6.5 billion last year, according to the Insurance Information...

Flood Risk often Is Under-Insured.
May 1, 2008... Washington -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is reminding homeowners that standard homeowners insurance policies do not cover losses from flood damage. Noting that only residents in communities that participate in the National...

FEMA Assistance to Gulf Exceeds $10B.(Federal Emergency Management Agency)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... New Orleans -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency's infrastructure assistance to help repair or replace structures damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 surpassed $10 billion in early April. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and...

Quake Risk More Widespread Than Many People Think.
May 1, 2008... New York -- Everyone knows that homeowners in California face a significant earthquake risk, but few realize that earthquakes have been recorded in 39 states during the last 100 years. Moreover, damage from earthquakes has been inflicted in all...

SWBC Switches on AutoPilot Service.(Southwest Business Corporation introduces AutoPilot workflow software)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... San Antonio -- SWBC here has launched AutoPilot, which the company describes as a toolkit combining easy-to-use workflow functionality with insurance and collection services. SWBC said it created autopilot to help financial institutions...

Radian Offers Claims Advance Service.
May 1, 2008... Philadelphia -- The current economic environment has created a significant number of loan defaults and loan servicers are currently attempting to manage these cases by providing more options to help people remain in their homes. As part of...

Impac Settles Most Repurchase Claims.
May 1, 2008... Irvine, CA -- Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., a real estate investment trust here, said it has settled a majority of its outstanding repurchase claims. Joseph Tomkinson, chairman and chief executive of Impac, said, "This is a big step...

Chicago FHLBFaces Weak '08.
May 1, 2008... Washington -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago posted a 50% drop in earnings in 2007 and the troubled bank expects to report a loss in the first quarter. Earnings fell from $192 million in 2006 to $98 million in 2007 as the bank's...

Servicing People.
May 1, 2008... ARIZONA Scottsdale-Zaio Corp. appointed Mark R. Chapin as vice president, zone sales. Most recently Mr. Chapin served FIS Valuation Solutions (formerly Hansen Quality) as senior vice president for business development, and prior to that...

Freddie Seeks MI Remediation Plans.
May 1, 2008... McLean, VA -- Freddie Mac has ordered three more private mortgage insurers to come up with remediation plans following a downgrade by Standard & Poor's. S&P downgraded the financial strength ratings on the mortgage insurance subsidiaries...