Mortgage Servicing News articles from October 2007

Mortgage Servicing News archives from October 2007

News Analysis: Top Servicer's Reign Could Be Ending Soon.
October 1, 2007... CALABASAS, CA -- Make no mistake about it - Countrywide's days as the top banana of mortgage servicing are numbered. Over the past six weeks Countrywide Financial Corp. has seen its loan applications dwindle, its access to commercial paper...

Citi May be No. 1 B&C Servicer Soon.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Citigroup has acquired the $45 billion subprime servicing portfolio of Ameriquest Mortgage, a transaction that will help it challenge Countrywide Financial Corp. for the No. 1 spot among B&C servicers. No purchase price was...

Seven States Are Driving Higher Default Rates.(Statistical table)
October 1, 2007... State # Loans 30-Day Fcl. Inv. Fcl. Starts SD Arizona 1.2M 3.55% 0.78% 0.49% 1.35% California 5.6M 3.57% 1.12% 0.65% 1.86% Florida 3.4M 5.18% ...

Top Residential Servicers At June 30, 2007.
October 1, 2007... (Dollars in millions) Servicing Volume Rk Organization Name Location 6/30/07 6/30/06 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. (1) Calabasas, CA...

Servicers Brace for Default Surge.
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The delinquency rate for single-family home loans jumped by 28 basis points to 5.12% in the second quarter of this year, and the number of loans entering foreclosure reached an all-time high, according to the Mortgage Bankers...

Bush Urges Help on Resets.
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- With rising delinquencies and defaults, mortgage servicers are coming under increasing pressure to help troubled borrowers restructure their loans, particularly adjustable-rate subprime loans that are due to reset. President...

Temporary End For Accredited?
October 1, 2007... SAN DIEGO -- With its proposed acquisition by Lone Star Fund V (U.S.) LP in doubt, Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. here is undergoing a restructuring program that shuts down its U.S. mortgage originations operations for the time being. ...

IndyMac Warns of Loss Despite Servicing Strength.(IndyMac Bancorp Inc.)
October 1, 2007... PASADENA, CA -- IndyMac Bancorp's chairman and CEO, Michael Perry, has warned investors that the company may report a loss for the third quarter, citing high credit costs and weak secondary market conditions for the company's third-quarter...

LSSI and Stewart Create an Alliance.
October 1, 2007... POWAY, CA -- Lender Support Systems Inc. (LSSI), a global provider of eMortgage enabled lending and loan servicing technology software, announced an agreement with Stewart Lender Services, Inc. (Stewart), a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart...

Technology Gets Servicers Close to the Borrower.
October 1, 2007... SAN MATEO, CA -- As defaults and foreclosures rise, the need for servicers to adjust how they do business is important. Servicers will have to get closer to the borrower and have all the needed information at their fingertips to deliver to that...

Editorial: On the Bright Side.(Editorial)
October 1, 2007... As the industry heads into the MBA's annual convention, there will be a lot of focus on the challenges facing the real estate finance sector. But while 2007 may seem like the worst of times in some ways, it's time to reflect that despite...

Point of View: Servicers Challenged By Current Environment.
October 1, 2007... Rick Glass has served the mortgage banking industry since 1983. Before opening his own the retained firm, specializing in nonprime mortgage sector executive search, he led the mortgage division of the nation's largest executive search firm. Mr....

Does Subprime Have a Future, and If So, What?
October 1, 2007... Let's take a stroll back in time to my childhood. It's the early 1970s and I'm watching a Yankees game on WPIX in New York. (I'm a Mets fan but I occasionally take in a Bronx Bombers game.) At the commercial break I see Yankees broadcaster Phil...

Analysts Rethinking Prepay Assumptions: 'One question posed by the credit crunch is how current market conditions will affect peak reset speeds.'.
October 1, 2007... The subprime credit crunch is prompting some in the mortgage-backed securities industry to revise assumptions about housing turnover in order to align their prepayment models with new market conditions, according to Andrew Davidson & Co. ...

Option One May Revise Deal with Cerberus: 'The company said that Option One and related 'discontinued businesses' lost $193 million in the quarter ending July 31.'.
October 1, 2007... KANSAS CITY, MO -- H&R Block conceded in its quarterly earnings statement what many had suspected in recent weeks: that a deal to sell Option One Mortgage Corp. to Cerberus Capital Management is in trouble. As MSN went to press, H&R Block...

NACA Asks for Restructuring of B&C Loans.(Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America)
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America is calling on subprime borrowers to stand up to their lenders and demand that their loans be restructured or modified so that the payments remain affordable. NACA chief...

Fitch Downgrades More Subprime Bonds.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Over 100 classes of mortgage-backed securities were recently downgraded by Fitch Ratings as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. Fitch also affirmed the ratings on classes with outstanding balances...

Franklin Sees Attractive Acquisition Opportunities: 'We have not seen portfolio acquisition opportunities on such attractive terms, including both first-lien product and discounts, in many years.'.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Franklin Credit Management Corp. reported a net loss of $3.58 million in the second quarter, compared with net losses of $1.95 million in the quarter ended March 31 and $1.39 million in the second quarter of 2006. But the company's...

Mortgage Woes May Point toward New Rate Rally: It's not hard to see a scenario in which refinancing- and portfolio runoff - will increase.
October 1, 2007... These days, the focus on interest rate risk that predominated during the peak years of the refinancing boom has given way to a renewed emphasis on credit risk. Most portfolio managers have been plagued by questions regarding early payment...

MGIC, Radian Deal Collapses amid Market Turmoil.
October 1, 2007... MILWAUKEE -- The proposed merger of MGIC Investment Corp. here and Radian Group Inc., Philadelphia, has hit a serious snag as a result of the writedown in the value of C-BASS, a joint venture the two firms own a majority stake in. Last...

Fraud Joins Unemployment as Big Factor in Foreclosure Rates.
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Increasing foreclosures is fast becoming the No. 1 problem facing their communities, with outright mortgage fraud, questionable lending practices and job loss all contributing factors, according to a new survey conducted by the...

Some Lenders See 'Contagion of Fear' Could Spread Beyond Subprime.
October 1, 2007... COLUMBIA, MD -- The Credit Manager's Index, a monthly survey of business credit managers, finds that while most say conditions remain strong, they fear that problems currently plaguing the subprime sector of the mortgage industry could spread...

Bush Wants FHA to Help Refinance Troubled Subprime Borrowers.(United States. Federal Housing Administration)
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- In looking for ways to address rising foreclosures, the Bush administration is turning to the Federal Housing Administration to provide subprime borrowers with a refinancing option. The Bush administration has supported reform...

FICS Links into Fannie Mae.(Financial Industry Computer Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... DALLAS -- Financial Industry Computer Systems, a mortgage technology specialist that provides in-house residential loan servicing and origination technology, has successfully completed testing of its system to import directly into Fannie Mae's...

Outsourcing Helps Lenders Handle Post-Closing.
October 1, 2007... DENVER -- As brokers look to become bankers, handling closing and post-closing is foreign territory. So, Heritage Mortgage LLC looked to Titan Lenders Corp. to outsource those functions. "I was referred to Titan by one of my warehouse...

Indecomm Acquires U.S. Recordings.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... ST. PAUL, MN -- Indecomm Global Services, a process outsourcing and services firm, has completed the acquisition of U.S. Recordings here. U.S. Recordings has been a pioneer in the electronic technology for the mortgage recording industry....

BOK Mortgage Reduces Delinquencies with Varolii.
October 1, 2007... SEATTLE -- As mortgage foreclosures mount in the wake of the subprime collapse, interactive communications specialist Varolii Corp. here said that BOK Mortgage, a division of multibank holding company BOK Financial, is using the Varolii...

DocuTech Automates Management of Prepayment: 'Companies need to look to experts in the field to help them through turbulent times and allow them to focus.'.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- With increased government scrutiny on loan compliance in the currently turbulent mortgage industry, prepayment penalty configurations have been a difficult process to manage for lenders. Each state, and many investors, carries...

Fitch Revising Its Mortgage Loss Model.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings has made criteria revisions to ResiLogic, its mortgage default and loss model for U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities. The updated criteria incorporate new assumptions for falling home prices, the poor...

Home Equity Performance Weakens, But Citi Remains Strong.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Financial services behemoth Citigroup posted second quarter earnings that were up 18% from a year earlier, but the company's consumer banking division wasn't one of the drivers of that increase. Citi's global consumer banking...

Carlton Advisory Services Markets $1B of Problem Debt.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Carlton Advisory Services here has been retained by Wall Street firms and commercial banks to assist with the marketing and sale of more than $1 billion in troubled real estate loans, the company said last week. The loans are...

Biggest Commercial Servicers Keep Gaining Share: 'The biggest issue right now is borrowers are getting smarter about shopping for insurance.'.
October 1, 2007... The top five commercial mortgage servicers as of midyear 2007 are the same ones that were on the list as of midyear 2006. And they have further consolidated their positions with significant additions, for the most part, to their servicing...

S&P Indices to Track Commercial Real Estate.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Standard & Poor's is launching a series of commercial real estate indices to measure changes in commercial real estate prices. The indices - which are being created in partnership with GRA, an affiliate of Charles Schwab...

The Northeast Could Become A Foreclosure Danger Zone.
October 1, 2007... So far this year, 4,742 more Massachusetts homeowners have teetered on the edge of losing their homes than at the same time last year. Announcements of foreclosure auctions jumped 170% during the first six months of 2007, compared to the...

Defaults Go Up and Prices Go Down.
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Second-quarter data show that defaults on nonprime mortgages are up, house prices are falling and things are going to get worse before they get better. The default rate on subprime mortgage loans hit a record 13.44% in June,...

Fitch Lowers 58 MBS Second Lien Deals: The CES sector as a whole has significantly underperformed from original expectations.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings has placed all classes of 58 U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities on subprime transactions backed by pools of closed-end second-liens on Rating Watch Negative. The 58 transactions - 35 of which were...

More Downgrades Using New Method.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- One hundred fifty classes of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities with outstanding balances totaling $2.4 billion were downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Aug. 1. Fitch also affirmed the ratings on 232 classes with...

Survey Shows Foreclosures Affect Many Floridians.
October 1, 2007... ORLANDO, FL -- Amidst the rise of foreclosures across the state, the annual Fund Homeownership survey recently found that 16% of Florida homeowners have been or know somebody who has been in the foreclosure process. The survey also showed...

Investor Loan Defaults Rising Fastest: 'This rapid price appreciation attracted both speculators and homebuilders.'.
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- It is common knowledge that subprime loans are in shambles. It is less well known, however, that investor loans are faring far worse than other type of subprime product. The Mortgage Bankers Association said, "Defaults on...

Moody's Taking a Second Look at Second Liens.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Twenty-two classes from 10 second-lien subprime transactions issued in 2007 have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. The rating actions affected deals issued by Ace Securities Corp. Home...

Moody's Downgrades 120 Subprime RMBS Tranches.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- There's more bad news for subprime lending as Moody's Investors Service here has issued downgrades on 120 securities originated in the second half of 2005 and backed by subprime, first-lien mortgage loans. The actions follow a...

Michigan Bank Expects Millions in Loan Losses.
October 1, 2007... IONIA, MI -- Independent Bank Corp. here said that it expects to add between $13 million and $16 million to its credit provision and report a loss when the company reports second-quarter results. The company said that the additional loss...

MBA Addresses Foreclosure Causes.
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- On a national level, delinquency and foreclosure rates are currently low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. However, in the Midwest, and specifically Ohio, these rates have been elevated due to a weakened regional...

California Response to Foreclosure Crisis Not Strong Enough, Consumer Groups Say: A state lending regulator says that foreclosures put the California housing market and economy at risk.
October 1, 2007... SACRAMENTO -- A coalition of California consumer organizations recently demanded stronger, swifter action on the part of the California Legislature in response to the subprime mortgage crisis at a press conference in Sacramento as well as in...

Nevada, California, and Colorado Post Top Rates.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- In its June 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, RealtyTrac shows a total of 164,644 foreclosure filings - default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions - were reported during the month, down 7% from the previous...

Fitch: Market Downturn Affects Municipal Credit.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Several Midwestern MSAs have begun trending downward, especially in Ohio's major urban centers, as well as parts of Indiana and Michigan. While the housing market has registered a limited economic effect on certain areas of the...

Could One Phone Call Prevent Most Foreclosures?: 'We are prepared to stand by consumers to provide assistance.'.
October 1, 2007... SACREMENTO, CA -- As increasing foreclosure rates continue to cause panic, industry experts strongly believe the mortgage havoc is avoidable for most homeowners in distress. Earlier this year the California Association of Mortgage Brokers...

Rising REO Burden Puts Focus on Loss Mitigation.(Survey)
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- As lenders and investors face the prospect of having a flood of REO on their hands, the market is starting to see a focus more on loss mitigation and creative ways to prevent foreclosure. A study by the Center for Responsible...

Banks See Higher Delinquencies: The FDIC Chairman said that banks generally adhere to prudent underwriting standards that benefit consumers.
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Commercial banks increased their production of single-family loans in the second quarter even though the institutions are experiencing rising delinquencies and charge-offs, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. ...

Thrifts Withstand Higher Home Loan Delinquencies: Single-family loans 90 days or more past due have risen to 1.16%, up from 0.76% at the start of the year.
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Thrift institutions originated $173.3 billion in single-family loans in the second quarter and posted strong profits despite an increase in troubled assets. The second-quarter single-family originations were up 17% compared...

Subprime Delinquencies Rising Down Under Too.
October 1, 2007... SYDNEY -- Securitized loan performance show that delinquencies in the Australian nonconforming housing sector have exceeded 6%, according to Moody's Investors Service. During the second quarter, average nonconforming RMBS delinquencies...

British Sees More Property Reposessions.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... LONDON -- The United Kingdom has seen a "significant" rise in property repossessions, according to new, revised statistics from the Council of Mortgage Lenders here. The number of U.K. properties taken into possession during the first half...

MCS Offers New REO WorkflowCommunication Tool to Lenders: 'We've put together something that makes sense and puts the data out in an organized, real-time fashion.'.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Mortgage Contracting Services, Tampa, Fla., has released a tool to enhance workflow performance and customer service. MCS is a national property preservation company. The company offers property inspections, property...

FHLB Merger Talks May Stir Up Controversy: 'It's too soon to anticipate what their reaction will be to a transaction or structure that hasn't even been determined yet.'.
October 1, 2007... CHICAGO -- The Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago and Dallas have started preliminary talks to assess "the benefits and feasibility" of combining their business operations into a yet-to-be-determined joint structure. Mirroring financial market...

GMAC Unveils Third-Party Master Servicing.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- GMAC Mortgage, Horsham, Pa., is offering third-party master servicing to the industry. GMAC said that the new service is being offered through an alliance between GMAC Mortgage's subservicing business and GMAC-RFC master...

Breeden Capital Management Seeks Greater Role at H&R Block.
October 1, 2007... GREENWICH, CT -- Breeden Capital Management, an investment fund manager here, has won the backing of three additional proxy firms in its effort to elect three nominees to the board of H&R Block, parent of troubled subprime lender Option One...

Thornburg Faces More Challenges.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... ARLINGTON, VA -- Thornburg Mortgage faces the possibility of more writedowns of mortgage securities backed by repurchase and commercial paper financing, according to a report from analysts at Friedman Billings Ramsey here. FBR gives...

Freddie Advises that Credit Costs Could Rise.
October 1, 2007... MCLEAN, VA -- Freddie Mac's net income fell sharply from one year earlier during the second quarter as an increase in credit losses and markdowns of credit-related items pinched results. Moreover, Freddie Mac said that it expects to see...

American Home Gets Loan Sales Approval.
October 1, 2007... MELVILLE, NY -- American Home Mortgage Investment has received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to auction off certain loans owned by two affiliates of American Home, Broadhollow Funding and Melville Funding....

S&P Places Beazer Homes USA on CreditWatch Negative List.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has put its "BB-" corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Beazer Homes USA Inc. on CreditWatch with negative implications. The CreditWatch move affects roughly $1.5 billion in...

LandAmerica Plans to Cut 13% of Its Workforce: 'These reductions are intended to thoughtfully address productivity while preserving our commitment to superior service.'.
October 1, 2007... Richmond, VA -- It's not just lenders that are scaling back operations, the providers of title and related servicers are downsizing their operations as well. Last week, LandAmerica Financial Group, one of the nation's largest providers of...

Clayton Opens Tampa Center.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... SHELTON, CT -- Clayton Holdings, a provider of analytics, outsourcing and consulting to capital market firms, investors and loan servicers, has opened its new national operations center in Tampa, Fla. The 55,000-square-foot facility will...

Temple-Inland Faces Reconveyance Lawsuit in CA.
October 1, 2007... LOS ANGELES -- Superior Court Judge Stephen Sundvold recently certified a class against Temple-Inland Mortgage Corp. of Austin, Texas, allowing claims to go forward against the company, which allege Temple-Inland failed to timely reconvey home...

Subprime Turmoil Boosts GSE's Market Share.
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The turmoil in the subprime market has boosted Fannie Mae's share of the mortgage market to 38%, up from a 25% share in 2006, according to the mortgage company. "We see opportunity ahead for both our business and for gaining...

Countrywide's Servicing Segment Faces More Strain from Residual Interests.
October 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Like many research analysts, those at Credit Suisse have "dramatically tempered" their outlook for Countrywide Financial Corp. While most of the attention has focused on Countrywide's challenges in secondary marketing and the...

Recruiting & Training.
October 1, 2007... Nearly every day, the headlines announce new layoffs in the mortgage industry. But the silver lining is that those layoffs are occurring on the origination side of the business. Even as loan officers, processors and underwriters are getting the...

AllRegs Introduces New HMDA Reporting Tool.
October 1, 2007... EAGAN, MN -- AllRegs, an online publisher of mortgage compliance information and a provider of mortgage industry training, is now making a new Web-based Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data mining and analysis tool available to lenders. The...

Risk Management Is Big Focus of Training.
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- One way the current subprime market crisis is affecting the industry, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association educational division, CampusMBA, is increased demand for training options, especially for deeper knowledge on...

Silver Hill Promotes Commercial Education.
October 1, 2007... MIAMI -- National real estate lender Silver Hill Financial LLC here, a specialist in small-balance commercial loans, has launched an advanced commercial workshop it says is "focused on giving mortgage professionals a more in-depth look at...

No Experience Necessary? Some Think it's Best.
October 1, 2007... Grayslake, IL -- The mortgage market became a very different animal when U.S. subprime's woes crunched the availability of credit. But Dale Vermillion, president and chief executive officer of Vermillion Consulting Inc. here, believes...

Default Expertise in Demand Despite Tough Job Market: Former underwriters or processors may want to stress 'any experience whatsoever' with servicing or foreclosures when interviewing for a job.
October 1, 2007... Burbank, CA -- The difficult mortgage market seen recently has been toughest on "front line" positions in the business, according to Roger Iris, senior vice president of industry staffing firm Workway here. The "least desirable" positions...

Servicong People.
October 1, 2007... ARKANSAS Little Rock-Wilson & Associates PLLC has named Elizabeth Moseley as new default attorney in its Little Rock office. Ms. Moseley was admitted to the bar of the state of Arkansas in 2006 and is a member of the Arkansas Bar...