National Mortgage News articles from December 2007

National Mortgage News archives from December 2007

An Industry in Crisis.
December 3, 2007... * B&C fundings plunge to 7-year low * C-BASS skirting bankruptcy? * Wells takes huge B&C hit * CFC taps FHLB for credit * Bear chops heads at Encore * E*Trade finds savior, for now (c) 2007 National Mortgage News and...

CFC Draws on FHLB.
December 3, 2007... WASHINGTON -- In the third quarter, while the nation's liquidity crisis deepened, Countrywide's thrift unit borrowed $28.2 billion in advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, a stunning debt increase of 80%. While many mortgage...

CMBS Volume Falls, Too.
December 3, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Commercial and multifamily mortgage bankers' loan originations were down in the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports, with securitization avenues being impacted the most from the fallout of the recent credit...

Will C-BASS Have to File?
December 3, 2007... NEW YORK -- C-BASS LLC - the troubled specialty servicer and investor in risky subprime bonds - is skirting a bankruptcy filing, according to a public filing by one of its owners, MGIC Investment Group. Last week, Fieldstone Mortgage of...

2009 Limits May Drop.
December 3, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The secondary market for loans sellable to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could take a severe hit next year if current price trends don't turn around. Under a proposed rule from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight,...

Subprime Loan Volumes Hit Seven-Year LowJust $29B in Fundings in 3Q: Just $29B in Third Quarter B/C.
December 3, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The carnage in the subprime sector c ame home to roost in the third quarter with A- to D fundings falling to just $28.5 billion in the period, a seven-year low. The last time the industry turned out so few subprime home...

Wells Fargo Takes HE Hit.
December 3, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- Wells Fargo, which has evaded the subprime mess better than other large banks so far, last week said it will set aside a $1.4 billion loss reserve related to home-equity lending. Wells Fargo already had tightened...

Subprime Lending Volume in 3Q 07.
December 3, 2007... Subprime Volume % Market Rk Organization Name Location 3Q 07 3Q 06 Change Share 1 Wells Fargo Home San Francisco, CA $3,384 $7,998 -58% 12.10% Mortgage 2 Countrywide Financial Corp....

Average House Prices.
December 3, 2007... (New and Existing Homes Sold) Pct Change Month Amount Previous Month October 2006 $306,258 NA November $310,800 +1.5...

Single-Family Home Sales Pace Levels Off in October.
December 3, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Sales of existing single-family home sales leveled off in October after a seven-month decline in which sales tumbled 25%. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously owned homes were unchanged from...

Capstead Mortgage Sells Shares.
December 3, 2007... DALLAS -- Capstead Mortgage Corp. sold eight million common shares, raising aggregate net proceeds of $81 million after underwriting discounts, commissions and estimated offering expenses. Capstead said it will use the funds to purchase...

E*Trade Gets $2 Bil. Infusion.
December 3, 2007... NEW YORK -- Citadel Investment Group - which earlier this year bought subprime lender ResMAE - has agreed to pump $2.5 billion of cash into E*Trade Financial, a company struggling under the weight of huge mortgage writedowns. Sources note...

Alt-A Lender Stops Funding.
December 3, 2007... SAN RAEFAEL, CA -- Industry veteran Peter Paul is throwing in the towel on the nonprime market, declaring that his latest company, Paul Financial here, has suspended taking new loan applications. In the second quarter, Paul Financial, an...

California Enlists Servicers in Bid to Streamline Modifications.
December 3, 2007... SACRAMENTO, CA -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has enlisted four major subprime servicers to streamline their loan modification procedures for adjustable-rate subprime mortgages to stem rising foreclosures in his state. ...

Editorial: Thinking It Through.(Editorial)
December 3, 2007... The current industry crisis requires the pooling and implementation of all industry knowledge, going back to and before the thrift crisis. That makes annual meetings even more key events than they have been in plush years. Mortgage bankers...

Open Forum: Subprime Missteps Raised Risk: Excerpts of Mr. Kroszner's remarks at the recent Consumer Bankers Association 2007 Fair Lending Conference in Washington are presented as our Open Forum.(Conference news)
December 3, 2007... Subprime loans are associated with high credit risk because the borrower lacks a strong or lengthy credit history or has other characteristics that are associated with high probabilities of default. The expansion of subprime lending since the...

MBS Revival Provides Bright Spot in Week's Vacillating Market.
December 3, 2007... There was at least one bright spot for mortgages in last week's vacillating market in which the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield swung alternately above and below the key 4% level. Last Wednesday, when a Fed official's comments renewed hopes...

GGP Plans to Appeal Jury Verdict.
December 3, 2007... CHICAGO -- General Growth Properties Inc. here said it has immediate plans to seek review and appeal of $15 million in punitive damages awarded by a California jury as well as a $74 million verdict rendered last month. A Superior Court...

Bank, Thrift Earnings Decline: Thrift home loan origination volume fell by only 5% compared with the year-earlier period.
December 3, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Banks and thrifts took a beating in the third quarter but thrifts experienced an 80% drop in earnings despite maintaining a high level of originations. Thrifts originated $165.1 billion in one-to-four family mortgages, down...

Freddie Slashes its 4Q Dividend.
December 3, 2007... MCLEAN, VA -- Freddie Mac said it will issue $6 billion of preferred stock and cut its dividend by 50% in order to assure that it can continue to meet its surplus capital requirement while maintaining the flexibility to pursue business...

Residential Servicers at Sept. 30 (SAMPLE).
December 3, 2007... ($ in Millions) Servicing Volume % Rk Organization Name Location 9/30/07 9/30/06 Change 1 American Internet Mortgage San Diego, CA $303 $335 -10%...

Lloyds Eyeing 2nd Home Loans.
December 3, 2007... STAMFORD, CT -- Lloyds TSB Offshore Ltd. is interested in potentially working with U.S.-based second-home loan brokers who can help it originate novel, floating-rate, currency-based cross-border loans it is offering to mid- to high-net-worth...

Triad Is Latest Mortgage Insurer to Suffer a Downgrade.
December 3, 2007... NEW YORK -- The president and chief executive of Triad Guaranty Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., Mark Tonnesen, said "it is unfortunate that concerns regarding the mortgage and housing industries and their effect on near-term performance has...

B&C Fallout Spreads Overseas.
December 3, 2007... NEW YORK -- The U.S. subprime mortgage-sparked liquidity crunch has continued to be the catalyst for a number of international developments. For example, Citigroup Inc. here, which has been hit particularly hard by the crunch and...

Micro-Finance Lessons for the Subprime World: 'Each woman must have a support system of five to seven other women that...will make her payments if she gets sick.'.
December 3, 2007... BELLEVUE, WA -- Diane Holmstrom, CEO at NetUpdate, a provider of an online point-of-sale system for the mortgage industry, recently traveled to Ethiopia as part of an outreach group and came back with some insights on how subprime can restart...

Real Estate Auctioneer Starts REO Hedge Fund Business.(Company overview)
December 3, 2007... TULSA, OK -- The best course of action in today's mortgage market remains a matter of perspective. Many are selling, private investors are buying and expanded REO management operations are hoping for long-term profit. Instead, auctioneer...

Layoffs Are Expected to Continue as Origination Market Shrinks.
December 3, 2007... ARLINGTON, VA -- Analysts at Friedman Billings Ramsey here don't think the industry has seen the last of its layoffs. Predicting that mortgage origination volume will slip to $2.4 trillion this year and $2 trillion in 2008, the analysts say...

Steel Mountain Teams with ACB.
December 3, 2007... LAKEWOOD, CO -- Steel Mountain Capital has formed a business partnership with ACB Business Partners Inc., the for-profit subsidiary of America's Community Bankers, to assist community banks with valuation and disposition strategies for managing...

Residential 2nd Lien Servicers At 9/30/07 (Sample).
December 3, 2007... ($ in Millions) 2nds Serviced % Rk Organization Name Location at 9/30/07 at 9/30/06 Change 1 Accredited Home Lenders (BC) San Diego, CA $108 na na 2...

Selected 30-Year Fixed-Rate Prepayments.
December 3, 2007... (For October Period) Cpn Year WAC Fctr Sep07 Aug07 Fannie Mae 6.00 2007 6.57 .979 5.2 4.0 Fannie Mae 6.00 2006 6.55 .860 9.5 7.8 Fannie Mae 6.00 2003 6.46 .283 11.4 10.6 Fannie Mae...

Downturn Weighs on Tech Execs.
December 3, 2007... DENVER -- Layoffs continue to permeate through the mortgage industry. But it's not just lenders that are affected, technology firms are feeling the crunch as well. Notably three of the largest technology vendors in the space today, namely...

Clients Get to Take a Test Drive: 'Everyone gives access to a canned system, but in most cases you have to be a client before you get access to a live system.'.
December 3, 2007... COSTA MESA, CA -- Especially given the nature of the mortgage market today, lenders can't afford to buy a bad piece of technology. So what's the answer? Test everything before you buy, says PriceMyLoan here. Spectra Funding has implemented...

B&C Foreclosures Threaten Values of 44 Million Nearby Homes.
December 3, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Nearly one-third of all households could see the value of their homes decline by an average of $5,000 due to a nearby subprime foreclosure, according to a new study by the Center of Responsible Lending. Over 44 million...

Credit Piggybacks Used to Boost Scores.
December 3, 2007... SAN DIEGO -- Individuals with adjustable mortgages whose payments have escalated beyond their means and whose credit scores are too low to refinance are now finding a creative way to keep from losing their homes to foreclosure. Commonly...

Fitch Downgrades Another 200-Plus Subprime Securities.
December 3, 2007... NEW YORK -- More than 200 classes of mortgage- and asset-backed securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions. In addition to the 224 downgrades, Fitch placed 95 classes...

Charter Gains from FRE Sale.
December 3, 2007... WEST POINT, GA -- Charter Financial Corp. here said that its net income for fiscal year 2007 climbed 262%, due mostly to a pretax gain on the partial sale of the company's Freddie Mac stock. Net income for fiscal year 2007 totaled $50.9...

NPAs Increase 50% at Downey: A billionaire investor with a background in the thrift industry has taken a large stake in Downey Financial.
December 3, 2007... NEWPORT BEACH, CA -- Mortgage lender Downey Financial saw its nonperforming assets increase to $388 million at the end of October, a 50% jump in just three months time. The California-based thrift - a big player in the ARM market -...

Farmer Mac Sees GAAP Loss: Excluding declines in the value of hedging derivatives, Farmer Mac said its 'core earnings' were $7.6 million.
December 3, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., better known as Farmer Mac, lost $8.6 million, or $0.82 per share, on a GAAP basis in the third quarter. Farmer Mac attributed the loss to changes in the market value of derivatives...

Hanover Forced To Drop Dividend.
December 3, 2007... EDISON, NJ -- Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings, a mortgage REIT, reported a $32 million net loss in the third quarter and said it will not pay a dividend to shareholders. The company's earnings-per-share loss was $3.83. The company said...

Storied Homebuilder Forced into Bankruptcy.
December 3, 2007... FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- In response to the downturn in the homebuilding industry, Levitt and Sons LLC here and 37 of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company, which is the...

MFA Sells Overallotment Shares.
December 3, 2007... NEW YORK -- MFA Mortgage Investments said that underwriters participating in its 15 million share public offering of common stock have exercised their full overallotment option to sell an additional 2.25 million shares. Due to the...

Roundup: Mayors See Foreclosure Crisis Crimping Economy.
December 3, 2007... A study commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Mayors predicts that the "foreclosure crisis" will shave $166 billion off the U.S. economy next year. The analysis, performed by Global Insight for the mayors' association, predicts that homeowners...

Chevy Chase Bank Picks SearchMyLoan for Correspondent Loans: 'Our wholesalers and correspoondents need a point where they can get information and get it easily.'.
December 3, 2007... BETHESDA, MD -- Chevy Chase Bank here has partnered with SearchMyLoan.com for loan search and pricing services, as the bank seeks to recover lost third-party originations after scaling back in the recent downturn. Like other portfolio niche...

Inland to Auction Retail Property.
December 3, 2007... OAK BROOK, IL -- Inland Real Estate Auctions Inc. will represent Allstate Life Insurance Co. in the Dec. 19 auction of Cane Run Place, a 59,000-square-foot retail shopping center in Louisville, Ky., featuring a 44,000-square-foot anchor space...

Loan Limits Over The Years.
December 3, 2007... 1980 $93,750 1981 98,500 1982 107,000 1983 108,300 1984 114,000 1985 115,300 1986 133,250 1987 153,100 1988 168,700 1989 187,600 1990 187,450 1991 191,250 1992 202,300 ...

Bear Cuts 100 AE Jobs in CA.
December 3, 2007... NEW YORK -- Bear Stearns & Co. last week laid off 100 account executives working at its subprime mortgage division in Irvine, Calif., according to industry sources. The layoffs affect employees of Encore Credit Corp., a nonprime wholesaler...

Mortgage Industry Equity Composite.
December 3, 2007... Company 11/29/2007 11/22/2007 Wkly. 52 52 % Chg. P/E % Chg. wk/lo wk/hi Ratio Astoria Federal (AF) 24.46 23.55 4% 22.47 30.94 8.86% 16.31 Countrywide...

Publicly traded Subprime and Alt-A Related Firms.
December 3, 2007... Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 11/29/2007 Wkly.% Chg. % Chg. P/E Ratio Delta Financial Corp (DFC) 1.48 13.60 1.68 -1% 13.51% n/a HSBC Holding (HBC) 81.71 99.52 83.70 1% 2.44% n/a IMPAC Mortgage...

People.
December 3, 2007... CALIFORNIA Pasadena - IndyMac Bank has added five new business development managers to GrupoMac, Indymac's Hispanic wholesale division. Denise Arana was named a business development manager for the Phoenix region. Ms. Arana...

CMBS Market Faces Correction.
December 3, 2007... NEW YORK -- The commercial mortgage securitization market finds itself in a market correction, facing a situation of excess supply of inventory that needs to be sold. Also borrowers are wary of today's rates considering that spreads have...

An Industry in Crisis.
December 10, 2007... * Subprime foreclosures up 140% * MBA foreclosure numbers ugly, too * NY AG subpoenas Wall Street, Bohan * Bush 'Reset' plan for B&C ARMs * Option One selling $62B in servicing * B&C 'Granddaddy' Delta goes BK (c)...

B&C Foreclosure Rate Zooms.
December 10, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The subprime foreclosure rate topped 5.75% in the third quarter, a startling 140% rise from the same period last year, according to exclusive survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News. Nationwide, at least 158,494 A-...

OOMC to Sell $62B Portfolio.
December 10, 2007... NEW YORK -- H&R Block - which last week scuttled the sale of its subprime unit - is now actively marketing the only remaining mortgage asset it has: the $62 billion servicing portfolio of Option One Mortgage Corp., Irvine, Calif. OOMC -...

NY AG Probes Wall Street.
December 10, 2007... NEW YORK -- As part of an ever-expanding probe into the mortgage crisis, New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed loan underwriting records from a handful of Wall Street firms, according to industry sources. Moreover, sources...

Old-Line Lender Files.
December 10, 2007... WOODBURY, NY -- It survived being labeled as one of the poster children for predatory lending and the turmoil of the subprime market collapse of 1998. It reinvented itself as a lender of fixed-rate subprime loans, whose chief executive...

Defaults Set New Record.
December 10, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process and the number of loans entering foreclosure both reached record highs in the third quarter as loan performance continued to weaken across the board. While credit...

B&C ARM Rate Freeze.
December 10, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The White House last week unveiled its much-anticipated adjustable mortgage reset plan to help 1.2 million troubled subprime borrowers, noting its desire to make the effort a standard for the entire mortgage industry. No...

Suitability Safe Harbor.
December 10, 2007... In an attempt to smooth the way for the suitability standards the mortgage business detests, North Carolina's banking commissioner last week called for giving lenders a safe harbor after borrowers have been counseled about their loans. ...

Subprime Delinquency Rates at 9/30/07.
December 10, 2007... Servicing # Total % % Fore- Rk Name of Loans Past Due 60-89 days 90+ days closures 1 Select Portfolio Servicing 259,467 34.34% 5.08% 10.83% 9.05% 2 Homeq Servicing Corp. ...

ARMS Going South.
December 10, 2007... Loan Type Foreclosure Start Rate 3Q '06 3Q '07 Prime ARM 0.30% 1.02% Subprime ARM 2.19% 4.72% All FRM, ARM Loans 0.46% 0.78% Source: MBA. (c) 2007 National Mortgage...

FBI Opens Mortgage Task Force for D.C. Area: The task force will examine lending and appraisal activities in Washington, D.C., and its Virginia and Maryland suburbs.
December 10, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation's field office here has opened a mortgage fraud task force that will examine residential appraisals and loan practices in the Greater Washington-Virginia-Maryland area. Over the past five...

Bulk MI Decline Bigger than Expected.
December 10, 2007... ARLINGTON, VA -- A report from Freidman Billings Ramsey here said the drop-off in bulk primary new insurance written by private mortgage insurers was surprising in terms of its size, but it was not exactly a bad thing for the industry. The...

UBS Sees 15% Drop in Home Prices.
December 10, 2007... WASHINGTON -- House prices are already down 5% on a national basis and they could drop 15% before this real estate correction is over, according to a Wall Street analyst. "There is an enormous real estate correction taking place," Thomas...

Fannie Mae Seeks Capital Cushion with $7 Billion Offering.
December 10, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae is stepping in line with rival Freddie Mac, unveiling plans to issue $7 billion and preferred stock and reduce its dividend in order to bolster its capital position. Fannie Mae said the increase in capital will...

Metrocities CEOIs Leaving Firm.
December 10, 2007... LOS ANGELES -- Metrocities Mortgage LLC here, a nationwide lender, said its CEO and founder Paul Wylie has decided to leave the company. Dick Loeffler, chief operating officer of Prospect Mortgage Co., will serve as interim CEO upon Mr. Mr....

30-Year Rate Falls Below 6%.
December 10, 2007... NEW YORK -- The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 6.10% to 5.96% over the seven-day period ended Dec. 6, the first time the rate has been below 6% since early October 2005, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey....

Editorial: Everything Old.(Editorial)
December 10, 2007... The news that Countrywide Financial Corp. has tapped the venerable Federal Home Loan Bank System for $50 billion in lending funds recently just underlines a new theme we've been putting out in recent months: that everything old is suddenly new...

Open Forum: Actions Taken, Actions Needed: Secretary's Paulson's remarks last week on U.S. mortgage markets at the Office of Thrift Supervision National Housing Forum in Washington are presented as our Open Forum.
December 10, 2007... As we are all aware, the housing and mortgage markets are working through a period of turmoil, as are other credit markets, as risk is being reassessed and repriced. We expect that this turbulence will take some time to work through, and we...

Global Subprime Loss Estimate Pegged at $300 Bil-$400 Bil.
December 10, 2007... Global "subprime" losses from this market cycle may total $300 billion to $400 billion, Deutsche Bank researchers have said. A further "seat of the pants" estimate by research analyst Mike Mayo based on writedowns taken through mid-November...

Real Estate Agents See a Glass Half Full in Today's Market.
December 10, 2007... LAS VEGAS -- A record 30,000 real estate agents and brokers were sent home from their annual convention here last month with one important message: Go forth upon this great land - members of the National Association of Realtors can never...

Capstead Prices Stock Offering: 'The growth in multifamily lending came amid different results for different market segments.'.
December 10, 2007... DALLAS -- Capstead has priced its offering of eight million shares of common stock at $10.73 per share and granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.2 million shares to cover overallotments. Capstead said it...

Apartment Lending Still Strong in Most Parts: 'The growth in multifamily lending came amid different results for market segments.'.
December 10, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Multifamily lending activity was up $5 billion between 2005 and 2006, according to a multifamily lending market report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The multifamily lending market grew by 4%, from $133 billion in closed...

Roundup: Moody's Downgrades Scratch & Dent MBS Securities.
December 10, 2007... NEW YORK -- Twenty-three tranches from 10 mortgage-backed securities deals collateralized primarily by first-lien, fixed- and adjustable-rate scratch-and-dent mortgage loans have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. The affected...

Roundup: U.K. Lender Considers Offer from WL Ross & Company: 'The compnay has found that the ramp-up of the company's newly recruited mortgage agents has been slower than expected'.
December 10, 2007... NEW YORK -- Major United Kingdom mortgage lender Northern Rock PLC, Newcastle, has gone on record as favoring an offer from a consortium that includes financial restructuring group WL Ross & Co. here. But reports from various sources early...

Baltimore Bank Applies for Stock Offering Extension.
December 10, 2007... BALTIMORE -- BCSB Bankcorp here, holding company for Baltimore County Savings Bank, said it has applied to the Office of Thrift Supervision for approval to extend the time during which it can complete its offering of common stock for 90 days to...

Analyst Lowers Two Estimates.
December 10, 2007... ARLINGTON, VA -- Analysts at Friedman Billings Ramsey here have lowered their price target on Franklin Bank Corp, Houston, and Flagstar Bancorp, Troy, Mich., on news that the banks face higher credit costs. FBR lowered the price target on...

Franklin Adds To Loss Reserve.
December 10, 2007... HOUSTON -- As a result of evaluation and review, Franklin Bank has increased its allowance for credit losses by approximately $20 million. This increase is over and above Franklin's annual credit costs. Management anticipates credit costs...

IndyMac Downgraded on Credit: 'We believe credit cost in the entire mortgage space will continue to rise over the next few quarters.'.
December 10, 2007... ARLINGTON, VA -- Friedman Billings Ramsey has downgraded its rating on IndyMac Bancorp to "underperform" with a $7 price target for the company's shares, citing ongoing concern about the extent of IndyMac's credit costs. The previous price...

FHLB's Role Grows with B/C Crisis.
December 10, 2007... NEW YORK -- When the secondary market started to turn its back on the mortgage industry this past summer, the once-sleepy Federal Home Loan Bank System began to pick up a lot of business from its members. FHLBank advances soared in August...

Appraising/Valuing Assets: Trends to Watch.
December 10, 2007... Tune in to what has been going on when it comes to appraisals, the technology that supports them and the use of both in valuing assets and you'll find that there are new dimensions to all three. Among these: all three are increasingly under...

Highlighting Appraiser Exams.
December 10, 2007... WASHINGTON -- When one considers the new minimum education, experience and examination requirements for real property appraisers to obtain state certification (see related story), one should note that examinations are a "huge part" of the...

Doing More for Certification.
December 10, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Appraisal Qualification Board of the Appraisal Foundation here has new requirements for state certification of real property appraisers that become effective Jan. 1, 2008. States have two options when it comes to...

AVMs Seen as Versatile and Efficient but 'Not a Panacea': Even in today's slow market, there is a growing demand on the asset valuation and resolution side of the business.
December 10, 2007... There are many points throughout the life of a loan where automated valuation models can be used and they can be used in a variety of ways, according to Cameron Rogers, senior vice president in Fiserv Lending Solutions' fulfillment services...

New Appraiser Requirements (Hours).
December 10, 2007... Category Previous 1/1/08 License 90 hours 150 hours Certified Residential 120 hours 200 hours Source: AQB. (c) 2007 National Mortgage News and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved....