Mortgage Servicing News articles from November 2007

Mortgage Servicing News archives from November 2007

B&C Overdues Skyrocket.
November 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The delinquency rate on subprime mortgages reached almost 19% at June 30, according to exclusive survey figures collected by Mortgage Servicing News and the Quarterly Data Report. The figure is based on responses from 11...

Top 'Alt-A' Servicers at June 30, 2007.
November 1, 2007... (Dollar in million) 'Alt-A' Servicers % Rk. Organization Name Location Q2 '07 Q2 '06 change 1 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage San Francisco, CA $89,646 $47,704 88...

Servicers Fear MBS Lawsuits.
November 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Fear and doubt seems to be impeding mass restructurings of problem mortgages as servicers are wary of being sued by investors holding mortgage-backed securities. The Bush administration, federal regulators, mortgage industry...

Servicers Reap Operational Gains.(Financial report)
November 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- The industry's biggest servicers benefited from their scale in 2006, achieving the highest direct-servicing income while maintaining the lowest cost-to-service per loan, according to an annual cost study from the Mortgage Bankers...

Minorities Steered to B&C?
November 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data in 2006 analyzed by various customer advocate and mortgage industry entities show that the subprime mortgage meltdown has primarily affected minority buyers who received most of the risky loans...

Wall Street Firms & Their Subprime Servicing Affiliates.(sub-prime mortgage banks)(Statistical table)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... (Dollars in million) Street Servicing B&C Subprime Firm Affiliate Serv. Rk. Serv. at June 30 Merrill Lynch Home Loan Server 7 $53,660 Goldman (1) Litton...

AHM Servicing Sale Facing Challenges.(American Home Mortgage Corp.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- The saga around the sale of bankrupt American Home Mortgage's servicing rights took a new twist last week as a major stockholder in the firm filed a lawsuit challenging the company's characterization of its portfolio. Other...

Citi Cites Mortgage Woes in Weak 3rd Quarter.
November 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Citigroup cited weak mortgage lending and higher-than-expected credit costs as factors in a 57% drop in its quarterly profit. "This was a disappointing quarter, even in the context of the dislocations in the subprime mortgage...

EPD Alert Spots Risk.(BasePoint Analytics)(BasePoint EPD alert)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... CARLSBAD, CA -- Responding to widespread mortgage industry demand for ways to curtail early defaults, BasePoint Analytics has just released BasePoint EPD alert, an early payment default statistical pattern recognition product designed to assess...

CA Survey Criticizes Lenders on Modification Efforts.
November 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- A survey by the California Reinvestment Coalition here found that "despite what they publicly state," lenders operating in California are not trying to help borrowers modify their loans and avoid foreclosure. Instead, most...

Fair Isaac Adds Collection Score.(Fair Isaac Corp.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... LAS VEGAS -- Fair Isaac Corp., the a provider of analytics and decision management technology, has unveiled a comprehensive new suite of predictive scores at its 2007 Collections and Recovery User Group meeting here. Available immediately, Fair...

Editorial: Rate Cut Has Risks.(Editorial)
November 1, 2007... The mortgage industry largely cheered the Federal Reserve Board's decision to cut the fed funds rate by 50 basis points recently, judging that it will help to limit the depth of the housing downturn by making home loans more affordable. ...

Point of View: Servicers Must Help Borrowers Recover.(Asset backed securities)(slumping housing market)
November 1, 2007... Ms. Bair is chairman of the FDIC. This viewpoint is an excerpt of her remarks at a recent investors conference hosted by Clayton Holdings Inc. in New York. This is a very complicated market. There's a lot of money at stake. It's hurting...

Real Stories from the 'Loan Abuse' File Cabinet.
November 1, 2007... How much will the current mortgage liquidity crisis cost? Answer: no one knows for sure. The problem with asking such a question is context. Are we talking about losses incurred by investors in subprime bonds, shareholders who invested in...

Housing Weakness Factors into Lower CPR Speeds.
November 1, 2007... Prepayments on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages in agency mortgage-backed securities fell 5% in August, which analysts attributed to higher interest rates and continued weakness in the housing market. According to the Bear Stearns Prepayment...

Fifty Basis Points and Counting?
November 1, 2007... The Federal Reserve Board's decision to cut its key short-term interest rate by 50 basis points was meant, clearly, as a lifeline to the troubled mortgage industry. With defaults skyrocketing, especially on subprime credit quality loans, with...

Strong Economy Keeps CRE Loans Out of Trouble.
November 1, 2007... At the end of the third quarter, the commercial real estate sector continues to hold up well, even as the residential real estate side continues to be impacted by the aftereffects of imprudent subprime lending practices. The good commercial...

MCS Revamps Vendor Management.
November 1, 2007... TAMPA, FL -- Mortgage Contracting Services here, a provider of property preservation and inspection services, has restructured its vendor management division to better work in partnership and accommodate the changing needs of its vendor...

E-Loans Improve Post-Close Data.
November 1, 2007... TROY, MI -- Joining the ranks of Navy Federal Credit Union, AmTrust Bank, 1st Advantage, First Houston Mortgage and few other leading-edge lenders, Flagstar Bank has gone live with e-mortgages. Separating them from the others, Flagstar will...

The Low Cost Way to Sell Your REO Inventory Fast.(Real Estate Investment )(Hudson & Marshall)(RealtyBid.com)
November 1, 2007... With REO numbers running rampant, alternative marketing strategies are becoming a must for lenders and servicers. Auctions are being described as one of the best alternative disposition methods in the industry. More people are embracing the...

Common Sense Creative Financing in Managing REOs.(Interview)
November 1, 2007... POWAY, CA -- The new trend in the larger marketplace and especially in the REO niche, some insiders say, is more common sense creative financing. "I spoke with one of these investors last week and he's looking for REOs, he wants to take...

Nonprofits Complain about Countrywide Loss Mit Team.
November 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Nonprofits ACORN and National Training and Information Center increasingly are finding it difficult to work with the loss mitigation staff of Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest residential servicer. Countrywide...

Firms See Opportunity in Distressed Debt Market.
November 1, 2007... LOS ANGELES -- Dalton Investments, an SEC-registered investment manager for institutional and private clients, is offering a new distressed mortgage strategy that will buy defaulted loans from mortgage servicing companies at significant...

NextAce Automates Foreclosure-Related Title Products.
November 1, 2007... ANAHEIM HILLS, CA -- Title automation and business process optimization company, NextAce, has released automated title products for the bourgeoning foreclosure market. NextAce, Anaheim Hills, Calif., is expanding its automated title...

MI Cure Improvement Likely Temporary, Analysts Predict.
November 1, 2007... ARLINGTON, VA -- Modest improvement reported in the cure rate for home loans with mortgage insurance is likely temporary, according to analysts at Friedman Billings Ramsey. The analysts believe the underlying home loan credit trends remain...

L2C Tool Identifies Low-Risk, No-Credit Customers.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... ATLANTA -- Customer credit-scoring company, L2C Inc., specializing in assisting banks, credit card companies and other lenders reach the underbanked, offers a new risk assessment version of its Link2Credit scoring tool. "In the wake of the...

No Sign of Turnaround for 2005, 2006 Vintages.
November 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Moody's Investors Service says that mortgage securities backed by nonprime home loans that were issued in late 2005 and in 2006 continue to deteriorate. Moreover, Moody's sees no signs that the trend toward weakening credit...

Moody's: Credit Crisis Serves as Stress Test of Current Financial System.
November 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- The credit crunch initiated by the ongoing mortgage subprime woes began as an overdue and disorderly risk reappraisal but ballooned into a crisis due to a combination of too much leverage, financial innovation, price-sensitive...

Distressed Debt Market Still Robust.
November 1, 2007... BETHESDA, MD -- Sales of distressed debt remained strong in the third quarter, according to Kaulkin Ginsberg. "The recent liquidity crisis in the debt markets has not made any significant impact on deals" in the accounts receivable...

Better BPO Decisions Help Reduce Overvaluation.(Pro-Teck Services )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- BPO enhancements provide more and better information to support the accurate valuations needed in today's turbulent market. Addressing the volatility in values of the current market, Pro-Teck in Waltham, Mass., has added full...

Document Imaging.
November 1, 2007... Every business is trying to cut down on paperwork by going electronic, imaging and digitizing documents that used to be shipped around in manila file folders. But if your office is like mine, it's still a lot messier than it should be....

Hyland, Fujitsu Team Up on Scanning Technology.(Hyland Software Inc.)(Fujitsu America Inc.)
November 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- As lenders embrace imaging at a heightened pace, the need to embrace new hardware, i.e., scanners, becomes important. To fill this need Hyland Software in conjunction with Fujitsu will be demonstrating a mortgage-specific scanner at...

BlitzDocs and Lydian Will Help Lenders Manage Risk.(Lydian Data Services)
November 1, 2007... BOCA RATON, FL -- Lydian Data Services here, a provider of mortgage process outsourcing services and mortgage transaction management solutions, has become an Advectis BlitzDocs Certified Quality Control and Due Diligence Provider. "The...

GMD Aligns with E-Signature Vendor for Docs.
November 1, 2007... DENVER -- Sensing a growing demand to adopt e-signatures both at the point-of-sale and at closing, document preparation vendor Guardian Mortgage Documents and electronic signature and biometric signature validation vendor Communication...

Collaboration Fosters Transition to E-Mortgages.
November 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- As various electronic partner networks link up more and more providers, they can be extended to help lenders reach a total e-mortgage. RealEC Technologies hopes to take advantage of the data it passes between partners to help...

Servicing People.
November 1, 2007... CALIFORNIA Calabasase - Countrywide Financial Corp. has appointed Jess Lederman to serve as the company's chief risk officer. He joined Countrywide in 2005 and served as Countrywide's managing director of products and pricing before...