Mortgage Servicing News articles from October 2002

Mortgage Servicing News archives from October 2002

When Will 'Impairment' Ease?(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... A year ago Chase Manhattan Mortgage here valued its $393 billion residential servicing portfolio at just over $7 billion. Today, Chase, a subsidiary of J.P. Morgan Chase, values its $435 billion portfolio at $5.6 billion - or 19.5% less....

Citi Soon to Be 6th Largest.(Citigroup Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Five years ago, all sorts of rumors were flying around the industry about how Citigroup (then called Citicorp) was about to bolt from the residential finance sector. But that was before Citicorp merged with Travelers, and then went out...

With 1st Nationwide/GSB Deal Citi Jumps to #6 in Servicing.(First Nationwide Mortgage Corp./Golden State Bancorp Inc.)(CitiMortgage Inc)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)(Illustration)
October 1, 2002... (Dollars in Millions) Serv. at # of Unit Name 6/30/02 Loans First Nationwide $ 114,495 990,590 CitiMortgage $ 111,978 917,798 Combined: $ 226,473...

Deals Continue Despite Lack of Terror Insurance.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... One year after the availability of terrorism insurance for commercial property became an issue, in the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade Center complex, the commercial real estate market is adapting to the situation and deals are...

Top Commercial Servicers at March 31, 2002.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Company, Location 1 GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., Horsham, PA 2 Midland Loan Services/PNC RE Finance, Kansas City, MO 3 CapMark Services, Atlanta, GA (E) ...

Late Payments Rise Again.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Low interest rates have boosted home sales activity and refinancing, but they have done little to shield troubled borrowers from foreclosure, according to data recently released by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and the...

FHA Default Rates Have Climbed Steadily.(United States Federal Housing Administration)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... (part 1 of 2) Fiscal Year FRM Default Rate 1993 2.39% 1994 2.26% 1995 2.17% 1996 2.71% 1997 ...

NAB Bids Final Adieu to U.S.A.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... National Australia Bank's four-year foray into the U.S. mortgage market has come to an end with a sale of its remaining assets to Washington Mutual. WaMu will pay an estimated $1.3 billion for NAB subsidiary HomeSide Lending's servicing...

Refinancing Again Breaks into Record Territory.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Refinancing once again topped 70% of loan applications in early September, according to a weekly loan application survey conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. In fact, the MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing...

Rate Dip Fuels More Refinancing.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... Week of Sept. 6 Avg. 30-year FRM Rate: 6.15% Avg. 15-year FRM Rate: 5.56% Refis as a % of Loan Applications: 71% Sources: Freddie Mac for Rates; MBA for refi share. Copyright c 2002 Thomson Media. All...

Big Banks Face Impairment Risk.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Commercial banks could see significant mortgage servicing impairments and writedowns during the third quarter, according to a report from U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray titled "A Look At Mortgage Refinancing Risk." Those most likely to be...

European Market Tempts Servicing Technology Firms.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Mortgage servicing costs on a loan-per-year basis appear to be higher in Europe than they are in the United States, creating what some have perceived as an opportunity for creating efficiencies by becoming a third-party servicing and...

No More Wake Up Calls.(terrorism)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Alittle more than a year ago, the nation was on high alert after the deadly terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 killed thousands of civilians in New York and Washington, D.C. Adding to our worries: anthrax-laced mail suddenly began appearing in...

The GSEs Benefit From Trends in Lending.(government-sponsored enterprises)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... This viewpoint is an excerpt from a recent OFHEO report on the safety and soundness of the government-sponsored enterprises. The OFHEO report, "Mortgage Markets and the Enterprises in 2001," concludes that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were able...

GSE Balance Sheets in '01 Core Capital/Total Assets.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... Fannie Mae: 3.15% Freddie Mac: 3.13% Source: OFHEO. Copyright c 2002 Thomson Media. All Rights Reserved.

Mortgage Scene: Do Mega Servicers Create Mega Concerns for the Industry?(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... We're almost at the midway point to the "five and five in five" prediction. In case you're wondering, "five and five in five" refers to a prediction made by two of the industry's leading executives - Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide and Kerry...

Speed Watch: August MBS Prepayment Rates Surge to Hit Record Pace.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Prepayment rates for agency mortgage-backed securities surged across the board again in August as the huge cohort of 2001 vintage 6.5% coupons broke speed records, according to the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary. Speeds of new Fannie...

Market Street Chooses FICS.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Financial Industry Computer Systems, a mortgage technology specialist that provides in-house loan origination and servicing technology, announced that Clearwater, Fla.-based Market Street Mortgage has implemented FICS' residential loan...

Electronic Registry Signs Up Five Commercial Servicers.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... MERS, the industry-owned utility for tracking ownership interests in home loans and servicing rights, has announced that five major lenders are providing initial funding for an electronic registry to track interests in commercial mortgage...

LOGS Fine Tunes Systems.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... LOGS Financial Services, a provider of default management services, said it has completed organizational changes and started several initiatives to fine-tune technical issues. "With the ever-changing environment in default servicing to a...

LSN Offers Online Lien Service.(Loan Servicing Network)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Loan Servicing Network, a company that specializes in outsourcing for the mortgage industry, has developed a Web-based system allowing companies to process releases and assignments. The development effort spanned two years and culminated...

eAppraiseIT Acquires BPO Provider.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Poway, CAA provider of real estate valuation services here, eAppraiseIT, has announced the acquisition of Source One Services Corp., a Salt Lake City-based provider of broker price opinions. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. ...

Hedging: Why Does a Big Originator Hedge its Servicing Rights?(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... American Home Mortgage Holdings, an independent retail mortgage bank, has started a hedging program to protect its mortgage servicing rights from impairment. Not an unusual move with interest rates declining, except that American Home...

Runoff Forces Astoria to Lower Estimates.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Astoria Financial Corp. expects third-quarter diluted earnings per share to be lower than the current First Call and IBES consensus estimate of $0.77 per share. The company indicated that, assuming interest rates and mortgage loan...

Clarification.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... In the Aug. 12 issue, Mortgage Servicing News reported that Countrywide Home Loans wrote down the value of its servicing rights by $4.4 billion. This was also reported in the issue of July 29. This reduction in the servicing value occurred...

Credit Counselor: Lenders Search for Ways to Make Borrowers Feel Comfortable in Negotiations.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... In the mortgage industry, we all know that it's always the lender's goal (at least the reputable ones) to keep troubled borrowers in their homes and avoid foreclosure. Obviously, sometimes it's possible and sometimes it's not. Borrowers in...

Lenders Will Get a Look at HUD's 'Treble Damage' Proposed Regulation.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... The Department of Housing and Urban Development plans in the next 60 to 90 days to release its proposed rule regarding treble damages for failure to engage in loss mitigation. "We will give you (servicers) a lot of opportunity to give us...

HUD Admits Multifamily Default Level Didn't Justify Premium Increase in 2001.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced a reduction in Federal Housing Administration insurance premiums for multifamily loans that could go into effect in mid-October or later. Under the new mortgage insurance...

Conseco Appeals.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Conseco Finance Inc. has decided to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for review of a South Carolina court decision that permitted two class-action lawsuits to be handled through arbitration. As previously reported, the arbitrator awarded the...

Commercial Servicer: Ranks of Top CMBS Servicers Remain the Same this Year.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... The same commercial mortgage servicers that were at the top of the list for 2001 dominate the Mortgage Bankers Association's list of top commercial servicers for the first half of 2002. As a spokesman for the MBA put it, "It is fairly...

Roundup: USFN Releases New Reference Directory.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
October 1, 2002... The USFN, a trade group for attorneys that serve the mortgage industry, has released the 19th edition of its National Mortgage Servicer's Reference Directory. The publication is a comprehensive resource for mortgage companies with...

Edwards joins default Firm.(Gayle Edwards)(Mackay Group)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... The Mackay Group, which offers customized default management services, has retained Gayle Edwards as a mortgage banking expert consultant. Ms. Edwards has over 30 years experience in mortgage banking and finance and will be using her...

C-BASS Closes $295M Deal.(Credit-Based Asset Servicing and Securitization L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Credit-sensitive mortgage specialist C-BASS has closed on a securitization backed by approximately $295 million in residential mortgages that marks the first time that Freddie Mac has guaranteed an AAA-rated class of a whole loan deal for the...

Mortgage Insurance Special Report.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... For home buyers who cannot afford to make a 20% downpayment (and with prices rising fast, how many can?), private mortgage insurance is often the financial tool they need to become homeowners. And the product is especially important to home...

Home Price Bubble Continues to Spark Controversy Among Economists.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... Few economic trends affect the fortunes of mortgage insurers more than home prices. Falling prices inevitably lead to higher claims, while rising prices can help stave off credit losses, even on loans that do go into default. Economists...

And One Expert Fears a Burst.(Bill Staton, real estate market)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... The real estate market is nearing a peak and a downturn is near with the bubble bursting in the next few years if not sooner, according to one money manager. Bill Staton, who calls himself "America's Money Coach," pointed to the "Long...

FHA Ups Deadline.(Federal Housing Administration)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... The Federal Housing Administration is proposing to shorten the remittance period for upfront mortgage insurance payments from 15 to three days, but lenders contend that may be cutting it too close. When FHA borrowers pay a "one-time" and...

Risk on B&C Loans Remains 'Elevated'.(nonprime credit quality loans)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... The risk of default on newly originated, nonprime credit quality loans has risen by over 30% since 1999 and remains 'elevated,' according to a report from University Financial Associates here. According to UFA's quarterly Nonprime...

Private Mortgage Insurers Ranked by New Policies Written in Q2 2002.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name, Location 1 Mortgage Guaranty Ins., Milwaukee, WI 2 PMI Group, San Francisco, CA 3 G.E. Capital Mtg. Ins., Raleigh, NC 4 Radian...

Private Mortgage Insurers Ranked by Policies in Force at 6/30/02.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name, Location 1 Mortgage Guaranty Ins., Milwaukee, WI 2 PMI Group, San Francisco, CA 3 G.E. Capital Mtg. Ins., Raleigh, NC 4 Radian...

GE Adds Bidding To Its Website.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... GE Mortgage Insurance has launched an online interactive tool for providing mortgage servicers with bidding instructions on foreclosure sales. With GE's "e-Bid" technology, instructions on minimum bids for foreclosure sales are available...

Customers Forever Renamed EQUIX Financial Services.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Customers Forever, a mortgage fulfillment outsourcer, has changed its name to EQUIX Financial Services and expanded its operations to offer lenders more flexible alternatives for outsourcing mortgage origination and fulfillment, according to...

Mortgage Insurance Defaults are Outpacing Cures.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Not surprisingly, given the Mortgage Bankers Association of America has reported that foreclosure rates have reached a record high, defaults are outpacing cures on private mortgage insurance policies, according to the industry's trade group....

Mortgage Insurance Companies of America Private Mortgage Insurance Activity July 2002.(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2002... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Number of Certificates/Policies Period Applications Issued Received Traditional February02 202,385 ...

MICA: Mortgage Insurance Beats 'Piggyback' Option.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... For many typical homebuyers, a single mortgage with mortgage insurance that can be canceled makes more sense than "piggyback" loan deals, according to a trade group that represents private mortgage insurance firms. "Piggyback" loan deals...

Serving People.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... CALIFORNIA Woodland Hills- George Steinhoff has been named as senior vice president of applications at WMC Mortgage Corp., an internet-based non-prime lender and provider of business-to-business loan origination service. Mr. Steinhoff...