Mortgage Servicing News articles from September 2006

Mortgage Servicing News archives from September 2006

E-Payment Rate Approaching 50%.
September 1, 2006... WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA -- A study of mortgage borrowers found that nearly half of them now pay their monthly bill electronically, up from just 34% two years ago. Moreover, electronic payment - whether through automated bank account debits or...

Residential Servicers at June 30, 2006 (Sample).(Statistical table)
September 1, 2006... Dollars in Millions) Servicing Volume % Rank Organization Name Location 6/30/06 6/30/05 Chng. 1 America First CU Riverdale,...

Wells Again King of the Hill.(Wells Fargo)
September 1, 2006... SEATTLE -- In a deal for the record books, Washington Mutual agreed last month to sell its entire government servicing portfolio and part of its conforming portfolio- $140 billion in receivables - to competitor Wells Fargo. The portfolio...

Loopholes Plague New Law.
September 1, 2006... LAS VEGAS -- The bankruptcy reform law implemented last October was supposed to make life easier for mortgage servicers, but attorneys who represent the industry say that debtors are already finding ways to circumvent some of the law's intent....

SEC Gives Lenders Some Slack on 'Reg AB'.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
September 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission is giving servicers of asset-backed securities some latitude in defining their platforms for testing and reporting purposes under Regulation AB. The SEC has clarified that servicers can...

Low Cost Means Better Service?
September 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- USAA Federal Savings Bank is not the biggest or best known mortgage servicer in the country, but other lenders might be able to learn something from USAA about how to treat customers right. And that doesn't mean showering...

Fitch Lowers Minimum Servicing Fees on Some Loans.(Fitch Ratings )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings has reduced the minimum required servicing fees for prime home loan securitizations backed by fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages as well as for alt-A securitizations backed by conforming ARM collateral. Fitch...

Refinancing Is New Risk Tool.
September 1, 2006... MCLEAN, VA -- Higher rates and rising energy prices have put pressure on consumers, but many mortgage borrowers are learning to refinance their home loans as a "short-term remedy to competing risks in the economy," Freddie Mac economists said...

Countrywide Benefits from Servicing Performance.
September 1, 2006... CALABASAS, CA -- Thanks to a strong performance in its servicing business, Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest lender, earned $722 million in the second quarter, a 27% gain compared to the same period a year ago. Meanwhile,...

Mortgage Firms Are Off-Shoring Leaders.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... NEEDHAM, MA -- U.S. mortgage lenders are off-shoring staff resources to reduce labor costs in greater numbers than other financial services firms, according to a TowerGroup study. Over the last decade, the outsourcing of mortgage-related...

Charge-Off Rates Rise.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- A study by BenchMark Consulting finds that while the number of consumer loan charge offs is rising, the charge-off rate by dollar volume has fallen. That suggests lenders are charging off smaller balance consumer loans, the...

Payment Options.
September 1, 2006... When Washington Mutual reiterated its commitment to focus on home-equity, alt-A and payment-option loan products recently, the move highlighted a growing trend in the loan origination business that will have long-term consequences for loan...

Commercial Servicing Platforms of the Future.
September 1, 2006... Ms. Eshoo is president and CEO of National Tax Search, based in Chicago. Effective data exchange capabilities are crucial for the efficient management of commercial servicing portfolios. However, despite the tremendous increase in...

Wall Street Not Giving in on 'Buybacks': The biggest issue was 'early payment defaults.'.
September 1, 2006... Investment banking firms and other correspondent investors in nonconforming loans still aren't budging much when it comes to loan "buybacks," according to industry officials. It's hard to determine exactly how much in buyback requests have...

Prepayment Rates Slow as Rates Rise.
September 1, 2006... Prepayment rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages in agency mortgage-backed securities fell 14% in July, according to Bear Stearns & Co. The decline reflected a two-day reduction in the business calendar and a 6-basis-point sell-off in mortgage...

Katrina, Accounting Issues Still a Challenge at Freddie.(Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.)
September 1, 2006... MCLEAN, VA -- Freddie Mac's 2005 earnings fell 27% from 2004 as the costs of a recent securities settlement, accounting changes and Hurricane Katrina weighed down earnings. But declining net interest margins also factored into Freddie Mac's...

If You Can't Beat Them, Sell MSRs to Them: 'We can be there when they need their next financial product.'.(mortgage servicing rights )
September 1, 2006... Few companies detail their experience hedging mortgage servicing rights in as much detail as Washington Mutual. And the companies reward for this generosity of disclosure? People like me in the media and industry analysts get to dissect and...

Panel Sees Changing Role for GSEs and Servicers.
September 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not likely to regain their former dominance over the secondary mortgage market, a blueprint for the future prepared by a blue-ribbon panel of lending industry leaders suggests. The Council to...

Fannie Remains Interested in Lower Credit Grade Customers.(Federal National Mortgage Association)
September 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae executives are upbeat about completing a restatement by the end of this year and they are looking forward to entering the subprime market to "remain relevant to their customers." Fannie president and chief...

Fed's Rate Hikes Starting to Affect CRE Loans.(Federal Reserve, commercial real estate)
September 1, 2006... High interest rates are finally starting to cause commercial mortgage borrowers to pause, according to two recent commercial real estate market surveys. If so, it looks as if the Federal Reserve's move to a tighter monetary policy, which...

Countrywide Worried by Tendency to Choose Lowest Payment Option.(Countrywide Home Loans Inc.)
September 1, 2006... BLAINE, WA -- Seventy-five percent of his payment option borrowers choose the one with the cheapest mortgage payment, Countrywide Home Loans' chairman and chief executive said here. And that worries him enough that Countrywide has written a...

One Year Later, Lenders Still Facing Fallout from Katrina.
September 1, 2006... Las Vegas-Nearly one year after a series of hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast, the storms remain a hot topic for servicers who met here recently for the Western States Loan Servicing Conference. In part, that is because moratoriums on...

FHA Readies New Delinquency Reporting Requirements.(Federal Housing Administration)
September 1, 2006... Las Vegas-The Federal Housing Administration is ready to unveil its new default reporting requirements. Speaking at the Western States Loan Servicing Conference here, Leslie Bromer, servicing team leader at the Department of Housing and...

Ginnie Mae Issuance Poised for Rebound?(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Las Vegas-The issuance of Ginnie Mae securities has fallen off in recent years, in part because lenders have been originating fewer government-backed home loans. But the director for single-family housing at Ginnie Mae, Michael Garcia, sees...

CMBA Western States Loan Servicing Conference.(California Mortgage Bankers Association)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Deborah Cossingham and Vicki Page represented National Field Representatives at the California Mortgage Bankers Association's loan servicing conference in Las Vegas. The company's core focus is on property inspection and preservation services....

J.P. Morgan Chase Sees Lower Loan Servicing Revenue.
September 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Net income in the second quarter for the retail financial services unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. here was off by 11% from the previous year as mortgage banking income fell by $131 million and ended up as a loss for the period. ...

Citigroup Hit By MSR Issue.
September 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Citigroup said second-quarter revenue increased by 10% from a year earlier, with net income totaling $5.27 billion, or $1.05 per share. Net income was up 3.8% per share. Citigroup said its rate of return on common equity was...

Servicing a Winner For BancorpSouth.(sales and earnings)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... TUPELO, MS -- BancorpSouth's earnings per share rose 36.4% from a year earlier to $0.45 in the second quarter of 2006, with a gain in the value of mortgage servicing rights contributing to the bank's strength. The company's net interest...

Georgia on Their Minds as States Fight Mortgage Fraud.
September 1, 2006... NOVATO, CA -- Arthur Prieston, chairman of The Prieston Group, predicts that the fall legislative session will bring the addition of many more states to adopt standardized language for anti-fraud laws. "We have many state legislatures...

Vendor Seeks SAS 70 Certification.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... DALLAS -- DocuData, a provider of document imaging outsourcing services and solutions, has, in conjunction with a consulting and audit team from KBA Group LLP, embarked on a course of action to seek SAS 70 Type II compliance for its Dallas...

Fieldstone In MBS Deal.(mortgage-backed security, Fieldstone Mortgage Investment Corp.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... COLUMBIA, MD -- Fieldstone Investment Corp. affiliate Fieldstone Mortgage Investment Corp. has securitized two groups of first- and second-lien residential loans through Fieldstone Mortgage Investment Trust series 2006-2. Lead manager for...

Jumbo Performance Withstands Pressure.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Despite concerns about weakening mortgage credit quality, jumbo mortgages continued to defy expectations through the first five months of the year. The performance of securitized prime quality, jumbo mortgage pools remained...

GreenPoint Ratings Affirmed by Fitch.
September 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings has affirmed GreenPoint Mortgage Funding's primary servicer ratings for alt-A loans, home-equity loans and home-equity lines of credit. Fitch affirmed the servicer ratings at "RPS2," citing GreenPoint's...

MGIC's Insurance-in-Force Rebounds in Second Quarter.
September 1, 2006... MILWAUKEE -- Second-quarter and first-half earnings at MGIC Investment Corp. here were down from one year ago, but a statement from the company's chief executive stressed the positives, which occurred in the past three months. Earnings for...

Economists Anticipate Slower Refinancing Rate.
September 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The long-term outlook for mortgage lending volume is, well, not exactly rosy, according to the most recent numbers released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. On the other hand, a decline in lending volume after a...

Foreclosure Management.
September 1, 2006... A surge in foreclosure activity in much of the nation, experts say, is becoming a driving force in an increasingly sluggish real estate market since foreclosed properties are changing hands twice as fast as existing home sales. A recent report...

Home Repossession Rate Reaches a One Year High: 'A 25% increase from the second quarter of 2005 obviously isn't a positive trend.'.
September 1, 2006... IRVINE, CA -- At one new foreclosure for every 425 U.S. households, a recent report shows the national second-quarter foreclosure rate "was higher than in any quarter of last year." However, foreclosure filings in the second quarter of 2006...

Foreclosures Are Driving Sluggish Real Estate Market.
September 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Citing a "collective surge" in foreclosure activity in much of the nation, Foreclosure.com, a Florida-based company, said that foreclosures are becoming a driving force in an increasingly sluggish real estate market. According...

Rising Debt Could Lead to Foreclosures in the Future.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Because of the increasing debt burden of American households, residential foreclosure rates could increase in the near future, according to speakers at a conference here. Panelists at a Center for American Progress meeting said...

Real Estate Research Firms Find CA & AZ Defaults Are Soaring.
September 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- Default Research and Foreclosures.com, two real estate research firms that specialize in studying the rises and falls of foreclosures and defaults, have released reports that ultimately say the same thing: foreclosures and defaults...

Default Research Offers REO Leads.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... New York -- While foreclosures affect many areas of the country, some industry insiders are questioning the accuracy of the data provided to the public. Default Research Inc. of Mount Pleasant, Pa., a real estate research entity, is taking...

Package of Tax-Lien and Foreclosure Domain Names for Sale: 'The mortgage industry is killing each other for leads.'.
September 1, 2006... BALTIMORE -- TaxForeclosures.com LLC, a holding company in Baltimore for a number of domain names related to the tax-lien and tax-foreclosure markets, is selling a package of domain names including www.taxforeclosure.com and...

The Piggyback Tsunami: 'Borrowers going into default will be committing financial suicide if they get a piggyback loan.'.
September 1, 2006... SEATTLE -- Citing recent industry data, at least one mortgage expert and customer advocate is warning customers and lenders about the high default risk associated with piggyback loans, or options when borrowers agree to close two loans...

Edentify and Crimeline Team Up to Fight Banking Fraud.
September 1, 2006... BETHLEHEM, PA -- Edentify Inc., a provider of identity management solutions, has reached a marketing agreement with Crimeline, a Vancouver, Wash.-based provider of training modules to provide banking, security, law enforcement, and other...

Lenders Tackle Risk Mitigation Through Technology.
September 1, 2006... FORTH WORTH -- Various technology tools have been developed over the years to combat mortgage fraudsters, and a lot of lenders say there is a constant struggle between production quality and compliance. That's why it's important to find...

Analytic Tools Help Understand Default Scenarios.
September 1, 2006... NEWPORT BEACH, CA -- In order to avoid foreclosure lenders are using technology as an analytic tool to understand each default scenario. Technology is driving default resolution strategies to help servicers create custom loan packages or...

Servicing People.(Nicholas Levidy )(Michael J. Krull )(Steve O'Connor )
September 1, 2006... CALIFORNIA San Francisco-LoanPerformance, a subsidiary of First American Real Estate Solutions, said that Dan Berman has been named chief operating officer. Mr. Berman joined LoanPerformance in 2005 after serving as vice president,...

Servicers with Top Customer Service Ratings.(Statistical table)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Company J.D. Power Score USAA Federal Savings 897 BB&T 861 Citizens Bank 844 GMAC Mortgage 841 Wells Fargo 840 Bank of...

Phillip Cobb Receives USFN Award.(National City Mortgage Co.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... USFN has recognized National City Mortgage senior vice president of default administration Phillip J. Cobb as the recipient of its 2006 Servicing Star Leadership Award. The presentation was made at the National City Mortgage offices by...

NatCity Takes MSR Hedge Loss.(National City Corp.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... CLEVELAND -- National City Corp. here took a $115 million hit in the second quarter due to hedging losses on its residential servicing portfolio. The company - which is contemplating exiting the subprime business - has taken $243 million...