National Mortgage News articles from August 2004

National Mortgage News archives from August 2004

Inside Track.
August 2, 2004... EDITORIAL Use It Or Lose It 4 OPEN FORUM Ofheo Funding 5 AFFORDABLE HOUSING CDFIs On Hot Pace 10 RE CONNECT Coverage 22-23 PEOPLE 35 SPECIAL REPORT: E-Commerce In...

WaMu Loan Centers Bought by American.
August 2, 2004... Several hundred WaMu retail lending employees who recently got pink slips may be able to stay on the job, thanks to a white-knight acquisition by American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. Just about a week after Washington Mutual announced...

Minority, Low-Mod Advance.
August 2, 2004... Conventional mortgage lenders dramatically increased their penetration of minority and lower-income neighborhoods in 2003, according to the latest Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. Home purchase applications for conventional loans in...

Home Purchase Applications 2003-2002*.
August 2, 2004... Government-backed Loans Conventional Loans Census Tract 2003 2002 2003 2002 Low-Income 20,809 20,442 154,910 117,187 Mod-Income 179,031 160,687 938,156 643,881 ...

AH Problems 'Growing in Severity'.
August 2, 2004... Despite a rather long period of prosperity, housing experts say, current affordable housing problems are even more severe than in the past due to insufficient supply, higher housing prices and a trend of growing lower-income households for whom...

Wells Fargo Rapped by HUD.
August 2, 2004... A Department of Housing and Urban Development audit of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage found that the largest originator of Federal Housing Administration loans improperly submitted 2,325 loans for late endorsement. The Des Moines-based lender...

FICO Introduces 'Alternative' Credit Score.
August 2, 2004... Fair Isaac & Co. Inc., Minneapolis, has created a new credit score which is generated from nontraditional sources. Tom Grudnowski, chief executive of Fair Isaac, said the new product, FICO Expansion Score, "sets a new standard for helping...

Congressional Advocates Call for Vote On Housing Trust Fund.
August 2, 2004... Low-income housing advocates want to force the House to vote on a bill this September that would create a $5 billion national housing trust fund. Reps. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., Michael Capuano, D-Mass., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., filed a...

MSR Impairment Recovery for bank.
August 2, 2004... Growth in net interest income, solid credit quality and a recovery of "impairment" to its mortgage servicing rights helped BOK Financial Corp. here grow net income by 12% in the second quarter. The company reported net income of $45.5...

ARMs Prove Popular With Disadvantaged.
August 2, 2004... Minority and low-income Americans mostly prefer adjustable rate mortgages, according to a survey conducted by the Consumer Federation of America, even though they are vulnerable to losing their homes if interest rates increase. While the...

Two Firms Settle REMIC Tax Avoidance Case with IRS.
August 2, 2004... Two financial firms have settled charges by the Internal Revenue Service that they improperly sold the non-economic residual interests of REMIC securities. The resolution of the disputed transactions requires The Diversified Group Inc.,...

Use It or Lose It.
August 2, 2004... Use it or lose it. That's the stark message Department of Housing and Urban Development assistant secretary Michael Liu brought to a recent regional housing summit about two underused loans programs about to lose hundreds of millions of dollars...

OFHEO Needs More Funding.
August 2, 2004... Mr. Falcon recently testified before the House Financial Services Committee. Excerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. Since OFHEO's FY 2004 budget was submitted, the regulatory environment of the enterprises has changed...

Accredited Sees 33% Increase in Quarter.
August 2, 2004... Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. here reported record second-quarter results of $34.3 million or $1.60 per share. This is an increase of 33% over net income of $25.8 million for the same period in 2003. Chairman and chief executive...

Record Net Earnings for Thornburg Mortgage.
August 2, 2004... Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., reported record net income for the quarter ended June 30 of $57.9 million, or $0.71 diluted earnings per common share, as compared to $42.1 million, or $0.67 diluted earnings per common share, for the...

Congress Acts to Prevent Shutdown of FHA Multifamily Program.
August 2, 2004... Congress acted expeditiously to prevent a potential shutdown of the Federal Housing Administration multifamily program just before leaving for a six-week summer recess. Late in the evening of July 22, the Senate, followed by the House,...

Zero-Cost Effort May Make Money.
August 2, 2004... A Congressional Budget Office estimate on the costs of running a federal zero downpayment mortgage program is way off the mark, according to a new estimate by the Bush administration. In reviewing the provisions of a zero-downpayment bill...

DPA On More Than 25% FHA Loans.
August 2, 2004... The share of Federal Housing Administration homebuyers using downpayment assistance from nonprofits has grown from less than 1% to 25% over the past six years, and the trend has hurt the performance of FHA loans, according to the Department of...

Louisiana Amends Home Loan Statute.
August 2, 2004... Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco recently signed into law amendments to the state's residential mortgage lender act. The amendment says that no delinquency charge may be collected on a loan installment or regular payment that is paid in full...

LendingTree, GreenLink Joining Forces.
August 2, 2004... LendingTree Inc. here has created a settlement services joint venture with GreenLink LLC, a subsidiary of Wachovia Corp., also here. The new firm, LendingTree Settlement Services, will be based in Jacksonville, Fla. It will offer appraisal,...

Impac Has to Restate Results.
August 2, 2004... Impac Mortgage Holdings here is restating certain financial results to correct a mistake in the company's accounting of revenue from the sale of mortgage loans from its mortgage banking subsidiary to the REIT parent. The restatement also...

NetBank's Net Down to $8.5 Million.
August 2, 2004... Earnings at NetBank Inc. here declined from $14.2 million, or $0.29 per share, for the second quarter 2003 to $8.5 million, or $0.18 per share, for the same period this year. Company chairman and chief executive Douglas K. Freeman noted,...

Community Development Financial Institutions Are Outpacing Banks.
August 2, 2004... Recent data indicate that even during times of economic hardship, investing in the emerging markets and affordable housing represents a profitable business opportunity. A comparative study of the annual growth rate of community development...

Ohio County Court Overturns Toledo's Predatory Lending Ordinance.
August 2, 2004... In Common Pleas Court of Lucas County here, Judge Robert Christiansen recently ruled in favor of the American Financial Services Association, striking down the City of Toledo's anti-predatory lending ordinance on the grounds that it conflicts...

Delta Transaction Raises $19 Million.
August 2, 2004... Delta Financial Corp. here, a nonprime mortgage lender, has priced a public offering of 4,375,000 shares of common stock at $6.50 per share in a transaction expected to net $18.7 million for the firm. Delta said the company is selling...

Low Income Borrowers Choose ARMs.
August 2, 2004... Minority and low-income Americans mostly prefer adjustable rate mortgages, according to a survey conducted by the Consumer Federation of America, even though they are vulnerable to losing their homes if interest rates increase. While the...

Broker Sues Credit Card Lenders.
August 2, 2004... As a Florida resident working for a financial services firm, Nelson Locke and his wife, Cheryl, recently filed nine predatory lending lawsuits against credit card companies in Broward County 17th Circuit Court here on grounds of usury, criminal...

First Community Bank Exits Wholesale Lending.
August 2, 2004... First Community Bancshares Inc. here is exiting the wholesale mortgage business after it failed to sell its mortgage banking subsidiary. Back on July 8, the company announced it had terminated the agreement to sell United First Mortgage to...

Virginia Bank Sees Lower Net Income.
August 2, 2004... C&F Financial Corp., the one-bank holding company for Citizens and Farmers Bank here, reported a decrease in net income and net earnings per share for the second quarter of 2004 primarily due to a decrease in the earnings of its mortgage...

Mortgage Funds Sink in 2nd Q.
August 2, 2004... Mutual funds invested primarily in adjustable-rate mortgage securities led the rankings among mortgage mutual funds in the second quarter, although none of the mortgage-related funds managed to record a positive rate of return, according to...

Selected Mortgage Fund Performance.
August 2, 2004... (part 1 of 3) 1 Quarter 3/31/2004 - 6/30/04 Name Tot. Return(%) Rank Adjustable-Rate Mortg. Funds SB Adj Rate;Sm...

E*Trade Bond Deal Placed on Watch.
August 2, 2004... Fives classes of securities issued by E*Trade ABS CDO I Ltd. and E*Trade ABS CDO I LLC and supported in part by residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. The affected...

Radian Seeks U.K Securities Approval.
August 2, 2004... U.S.-based mortgage insurer Radian Group is currently seeking approval from the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom to launch a securities and investment firm there. The proposed U.K. broker-dealer operation would provide support...

Roundup: Moody's Lowers Ratings on Equity Office Properties.
August 2, 2004... The long-term debt ratings of EOP Operating LP have been lowered from Baa1 to Baa2 by Moody's Investors Service, and its ratings of Equity Office Properties Trust's preferred stock have been lowered from Baa2 to Baa3. The rating agency...

ASC CMBS Deal Downgraded.
August 2, 2004... Class A-5 of Asset Securitization Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1997-D5, has been downgraded from BB to B-plus and removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. Fitch also affirmed the ratings on classes...

Fitch Lowers SAMI Deal.
August 2, 2004... Four classes of Structured Asset Mortgage Investments mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, and one has been placed on Rating Watch Negative. The downgrades were as follows: series 1999-2 group 3, class...

More Conseco Downgrades.
August 2, 2004... Fitch Ratings has downgraded 132 classes from 52 Conseco Finance/Green Tree Finance manufactured housing transactions. Fitch also affirmed the ratings on 96 classes from the deals. The total dollar amount of all rated classes is...

Saxon Deal Downgraded.
August 2, 2004... Three classes of Saxon Asset Securities Trust issues have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. The downgrades were as follows: class BF-1, series 2000-1 group 1, from BBB to BB; class BF-1, series 2000-4 group 1, from BBB to BB and removed...

Chicago FHLBank's Earnings Fall with Drop in Purchase Volume.
August 2, 2004... The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank has reported a 4.3% drop in earnings for the second quarter as its mortgage purchase business slowed to a crawl. The Chicago bank, which developed the mortgage partnership finance program, posted $94.2...

Refinancing Slip Hits First Citizens.
August 2, 2004... First Citizens Bancorporation here cited a decline in mortgage refinancing and continued low interest rates as factors contributing to a drop in earnings during the first quarter. First Citizens earned $8.08 million in the first quarter,...

Refinancing Decline Hurts Bank's Income.
August 2, 2004... ICNB Financial Corporation here, the holding company for Ionia County National Bank and Austin Mortgage Company, recorded lower earnings for the second quarter and first half of 2004 due to lower mortgage refinance volume. Net income for...

UFM Is Poised For More Growth.
August 2, 2004... United Financial Mortgage here will tout its growth plans at the company's annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004. The company said it hopes to highlight continued success in growing its servicing portfolio, expanding its...

Saxon Increases Net Despite Taking Charge.
August 2, 2004... Saxon Capital Inc. here reported second quarter net income of $17.4 million or $0.56 per share, compared with $15.4 million or $0.51 per share for the same period in 2003. During the most recent period, Saxon took a $2.6 million charge to...

Diller Touts LendingTree's Continued Viability.
August 2, 2004... However much LendingTree's revenue might have declined with the collapse of the refi boom, don't be too hasty about questioning the wisdom of Barry Diller's 2003 purchase of the company for his IAC/InterActiveCorp empire. That was the drift of...

Expert: Rising Repossessions Signal Decline in Coastal Housing Markets.
August 2, 2004... The fire is about to go out in overheated housing markets on both coasts, according to a woman who helps investors locate property owners who can no longer afford their homes. Alexis McGee of Foreclosure.com, Sacramento, Calif., said...

Multifamily, Retail CMBS Delinquencies Rise.
August 2, 2004... Led by an increase in delinquency on multifamily and retail-backed loans, delinquencies in the commercial mortgage-backed securities sector edged up to 1.56% for the second quarter, from 1.53% for the previous period, Fitch Ratings reports. ...

New Firm to Target Middle CRE Market.
August 2, 2004... NewStar Financial, a company that will provide financing for the middle market commercial real estate sector, has raised $660 million in capital. The company - which will also provide funding to mid-sized corporations and issuers of...

Catellus to Replace Keystone on Index.
August 2, 2004... Catellus Development Corp. will replace Keystone Property Trust in the S&P REIT Composite Index after the close of trading July 30, Standard & Poor's has announced. S&P said the reason for the change is that Keystone is being acquired by...

E-Commerce: Migrating to the.
August 2, 2004... Simply viewing the Internet as a time-saving tool that offers a plethora of viable information has quickly become a cliched notion. However, the endless possibilities that the Internet can offer the mortgage industry is a constantly developing...

GHR Signs Countrywide and Sees Web Services as Wave of the Future.
August 2, 2004... GHR Systems, Wayne, Pa., has inked a deal with Countrywide to incorporate its automated underwriting system into all its products as a third-party service and views the Web as the future of mortgage technology. "Establishing a presence on...

The Legal Impact of E-Signatures.
August 2, 2004... Internet lending and electronic signatures are making it possible to originate and close loans while the borrowers involved are in different countries, at least as long as those borrowers are subject to U.S. law and have a credit history in...

Del Mar Talks Automation and Real-Time Access.
August 2, 2004... The president of Del Mar Database, John Walsh, pointed out that the San Diego-based company is looking to automate loan processes to give small to midsize originators everything that their POS system doesn't do via both client-server and...

Web Functionality Enhances SharperLending POS.
August 2, 2004... As the mortgage industry continues to advance, it is inevitable that technology must align itself with the times. That is why SharperLending, based in Spokane, Wash., is providing lenders with a more sophisticated tool to originate loans and...

Guardian Mortgage Web Enables All Doc Services for LenderLive.
August 2, 2004... LenderLive Network Inc. will have a full interface between its document request and delivery system to Guardian Mortgage Documents' Next Generation Forms Engine, which will allow LenderLive users to order and receive closing documents via the...

MortgageHub Introduces Online Direct-to-Customer Solution.
August 2, 2004... MortgageHub of Conshohocken, Pa., a provider of Web-based, wholesale and retail mortgage loan modular systems, is striving to position itself one step ahead of market demand by adding a direct-to-the-customer component to its...

Loan Finder Express Adds LP and DU Connections.
August 2, 2004... ARC Systems of Austin, Texas, has had great success with its newly-released Loan Finder Express product and plans to add connections to Loan Prospector and Desktop Underwriter to increase the offering's functionality. LFE is a...

CoStar Acquires Online Player.
August 2, 2004... Property Intelligence Ltd., a subsidiary of the Bethesda, Md.-based CoStar Group Inc., has purchased Scottish Property Network for approximately $1.3 million in cash. "This acquisition fills an important missing piece of our U.K. coverage...

Modular Approach Pays Off.
August 2, 2004... Mishawaka, Ind.-based Data-Vision Inc. has updated its products using a modular approach to allow for easy changes to all its e-commerce product offerings. The modular approach is designed to make the application more flexible and make it...

TowerGroup Sees Value in Outsourcing.
August 2, 2004... TowerGroup here believes that moving business processes offshore and outsourcing to offshore companies in India and other countries will help U.S. mortgage lenders lower total origination costs per loan 6% by 2008. "Lenders may save...

People.
August 2, 2004... CALIFORNIA Sacramento-The California Mortgage Bankers Association installed five new directors at the recent Western States Secondary Market Conference in San Francisco. CMBA's new directors include Walter Tharp, senior vice president...

American Home Sees Higher Net.
August 2, 2004... American Home Mortgage Investment reported net earnings of $33.5 million in the second quarter, up from $26.9 million during the same period last year. The company earned $0.83 per share in the quarter, compared to $1.55 per share in the...

WaMu Adds 53 to List of Closings.
August 2, 2004... Residential home loan employees aren't the only ones getting pink slips at Washington Mutual. The company says it will close 53 commercial banking locations and exit some real estate niches in order to sharpen its commercial lending focus. ...

Earnings Don't Increase for Title Firms.
August 2, 2004... Increases in revenue at the publicly traded title insurance firms did not lead to an increase in earnings. These firms are all reporting lower earnings in the second quarter 2004 when compared with the same period last year. The shift in...

CRS Opinion On GSE Debt: Treasury Can Limit Issues.
August 2, 2004... A legal analysis by the Congressional Research Service has concluded that the Treasury Department has the statutory authority to limit the debt issuances of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "This report analyzes the Department of Treasury's...

Publicly-traded Subprime and Alt-A Related Firms.
August 2, 2004... B&C Stock Price Index: 215.5 Change: 0.2 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 7/29/2004 Aames (AMSF) 1.75 5.40 2.55 American Business Fin. (ABFI) ...

Mortgage Industry Equity Composite.
August 2, 2004... MIEC Index: 175.8 Change: -2.8 (part 1 of 2) Company 7/15/2004 7/29/2004 Wkly. % Chg. Astoria Federal (AF) 35.32 34.30...

Will Abbey National Really Merge with Spain's Banco Santander?
August 2, 2004... Abbey National PLC, the United Kingdom's second largest mortgage lender, has agreed to merge with Banco Santander Centro Hispano, Madrid. But, as any one who has followed the Abbey saga over the past few years knows, the company has a poor...

Inside Track.
August 9, 2004... EDITORIAL Market Still Holds A Lot Of Potential 4 COMMERCIAL Recent Transactions 10 EQUITIES More Earnings Reports Roll In 14 PEOPLE 23 RATES DIP The average 30-year fixed mortgage...

Wells Fargo Passes WaMu in Servicing Ranks.
August 9, 2004... For three years running Washington Mutual, Seattle, has been the kingpin of residential mortgage servicing - but no more. According to new, exclusive servicing rankings compiled by National Mortgage News, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Des...

Top Residential Servicers at June 30, 2004.
August 9, 2004... ($ in millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name 1 Wells Fargo Home Mtg. 2 Countrywide Fin'l Corp. 3 Washington Mutual 4 Chase Home Finance 5 Bank of America 6 ...

Wells Fargo Doubling Its Sales Force.
August 9, 2004... Sensing there is an opportunity in a consolidating mortgage market, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage here announced it is looking to double the number of commission-based sales people in a move aimed at doubling its retail market share. Cara...

Industry Spotlight: Eric Burgoon.
August 9, 2004... Mr. Burgoon has joined Republic Bank as president of Mortgage Banking, bringing with him over 15 years of experience in the banking and mortgage industry. Mr. Burgoon will be responsible for growing the bank's mortgage banking business in...

Lender Sheds Retail Branches.
August 9, 2004... When the going gets tough, the tough start selling their retail branches. Faced with declining residential loan volumes, Guaranty Residential Lending here, a top 40 lender, has decided to shed its entire non-bank retail mortgage lending...

Cendant-CFC Talks Resume.
August 9, 2004... Countrywide Financial is once again talking to Cendant Mortgage about purchasing the nation's 10th largest mortgage banker - but will it pull the trigger? Industry sources confirmed to National Mortgage News last week that Countrywide is...

CNL Hotels Postpones Stock Offering.
August 9, 2004... CNL Hotels & Resorts last week postponed its plans for a public offering of its common stock, citing "market conditions."CNL Hotels & Resorts, which formerly went by the name of CNL Hospitality Properties, is supposed to get its shares listed...

Like Fannie, Freddie Launches PAC.
August 9, 2004... Following the lead of its chief competitor, Congressionally-chartered mortgage giant Freddie Mac has decided to form a political action committee as a means of funneling money to candidates and elected officials. Freddie's formation of a...

MLS Website Crossing Bank/RE Line?
August 9, 2004... Brad and Eric Blumberg are about to commit Realtor heresy. The two licensed agents are allowing one of Philadelphia's largest banks to use their proprietary software program so customers can search the regional multiple listing service...

'More Being Done to Fight Fraud'.
August 9, 2004... Finding and fighting fraud has turned into a priority for many lenders, and some want to change the current tendency within the industry to report fraudulent activity but not pursue the perpetrators. "One of the major issues for lenders is...

La. Amends Consumer Credit Law.
August 9, 2004... Louisiana has amended its Consumer Credit Law regarding permitted activities of licensed lenders. House Bill 1145 was recently signed into law here, adding a new provision that authorizes licensed lenders to use debit cards for loan...

A Lot Left to Go.
August 9, 2004... Here's a startling statistic: of the $14.89 trillion in the current value of U.S. housing stock, $7.66 trillion is home equity. What that fact, courtesy of the brand new 2005 edition of our Mortgage Industry Directory, shows is that...

Homeownership 'Not That Simple'.
August 9, 2004... Sen. Kerry recently addressed the National Urban League Conference in Detroit. Excerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. Sen. Kerry has accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for president. Values mean helping all...

Here's Some Help for Those Trying to Get a Handle on Prepayments.
August 9, 2004... Eventually there might be a more full-fledged uptrend in long-term rates. But given that we've had some backsliding recently - i.e. a 10-year yield Treasury yield that's been as high as 4.8% this year hovering in the 4.4% range - I think it's...

MBS Roundup: Homestar Issues Third Securitization.
August 9, 2004... The privately-owned Homestar Mortgage Services LLC has closed its third securitization, which totaled more than $414 million. The company closed its first securitization of more than $308 million in March. In early May, the company closed...

HOMebanc Completes Deal.
August 9, 2004... HomeBanc Corp. here has announced the completion of a nearly $1 billion securitization of adjustable-rate mortgage loans, the company's first securitization since going public as a real estate investment trust on July 19. The approximately...