National Mortgage News articles from February 2009

National Mortgage News archives from February 2009

Is Low-Mod Recession Proof?
February 2, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi BETHESDA, MD-Often seen as the least attractive incentive-based financing segment in the mortgage business, affordable housing financing is emerging as a flourishing market amidst the crisis. Customer demand is...

PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: JUDITH CALOGERO.
February 2, 2009... Ms. Calogero, former New York State commissioner of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, was appointed CEO of the New York Housing Conference. She fills the leadership vacancy left in 2007 with the passing of Clara Fox, who had led...

KB Home's Loss Shrinks to $307MM.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon LOS ANGELES-For the fourth quarter ended Nov. 30, KB Home reported a net loss of $307.3 million, compared to a net loss of $772.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, which included non-cash charges for inventory...

NAHB Weighs in on Future of the Secondary Market.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman LAS VEGAS-Adding its considerable voice to the forthcoming debate on the future of housing finance, the politically powerful National Association of Home Builders has adopted a five-part policy statement that calls...

Illinois Reverse Mortgage Lender Opens E-Retail Production Center.(Special Report: Reverse Mortgages)
February 2, 2009... Byline: James Comtois WESTMONT, IL-As part of its ongoing expansion efforts in the reverse mortgage market, 1st Reverse Financial Services, a national reverse mortgage wholesale lender and subsidiary of Wilmington Savings Fund Society, has...

Seniors Can Buy Homes Using FHA Reverse Mortgages.(Special Report: Reverse Mortgages)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein The Federal Housing Administration recently opened up its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage product to be used for home purchases. For Generation Mortgage, a three-year-old reverse mortgage lender based in Atlanta,...

Lead Generator Now in Reverses.(Special Report: Reverse Mortgages)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein CHARLOTTE, NC-The company that promises consumers four competing quotes for their forward mortgages is now getting into the reverse mortgage lead generation business. LendingTree, along with an affiliated...

HECM Industry Fighting for Higher, More 'Fair,' Loan Limit.(Special Report: Reverse Mortgages)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi Market insiders fighting in Congress for a better deal believe the newly increased $417,000 home-equity reverse mortgage limit is not consistent with the differences in home prices and values at the county and state...

State Regulators Issue Examination Guidelines For Originators of Reverse Mortgage Loans.(Special Report: Reverse Mortgages)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon WASHINGTON-As a result of aggressive marketing campaigns that put homeowners and the financial institutions making reverse loans at risk, the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators and the...

Reverse Mortgages: Giving Seniors Cash.(Special Report)
February 2, 2009... The reverse mortgage loan has gone from the product no one had ever heard about to the hot product of the moment, especially because originators are looking for a new niche as their old business models fade away. By now, we have all heard...

Fitch Lowers Bank of America's Default Rating.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein CHARLOTTE, NC-In the wake of the poor earnings report and disclosures about additional government assistance at Bank of America Corp. here, Fitch Ratings, Chicago, has cut the long-term issuer default rating on the...

FFB Exits Wholesale.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein LOS ANGELES-Another lender with problems with adjustable-rate mortgage loans, First Federal Bank of California FSB here, has shut its wholesale lending operations, effective last Monday. Meanwhile, the company has...

GSE Fees Have Louisiana Executive Up in Arms.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-A Louisiana mortgage broker is waging a campaign to get lenders and his fellow brokers to disclose to consumers the high loan fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are charging. They have hiked their...

New Secretary Gets Right to Work.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-New Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner doesn't have very much time to put together a comprehensive plan to stabilize the banks, increase the flow of credit and curb rising foreclosures. President...

ING Segregates Illiquid Alt-A Assets.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock WILMINGTON, DE-ING and the Dutch government have made plans to establish an illiquid assets back-up facility for ING's $36.4 billion portfolio of alternative-A credit mortgage securities from its ING Direct USA...

Global Consultancy Headstrong Buys Lydian.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano BOCA RATON, FL-Continuing the slew of recent mortgage technology vendor mergers and acquisitions, Headstrong, a global financial services consulting firm, has acquired business process outsourcing vendor Lydian...

Portfolio ComesOff the Market.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-In late December, National City Corp. pulled a $2.1 billion portfolio of troubled mortgages off the market after several investors had spent thousands of dollars conducting due diligence and then proffered...

Nutter Leaving Wholesale Biz.
February 2, 2009... KANSAS CITY, MO-The top executive at James B. Nutter and Co. here is citing a lack of warehouse capacity for the company's decision to end wholesale production of traditional forward mortgages, as well as put a moratorium on its wholesale...

OPEN FORUM: Confronting the Crisis.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Spencer Bachusu.s. Representative, R-Ala. Remarks by Rep. Bachus before women in Housing and Finance in Washington are presented as our Open Forum. The critical failure in the government's response to the financial crisis is...

Some Large Lenders Seen Offering Loan Rates Below 5%.(Street Smarts)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock Freddie Mac's average primary market rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.1% remained above the 5% mark during the week ended Jan. 29, but one Wall Street research report indicates that some large originators...

CLARIFICATION.(Correction notice)
February 2, 2009... In the Jan. 5 issue, Rodney Anderson, executive director and senior managing partner of Rodney Anderson Lending Services, Plano, Texas, says he originated 331 pre-approvals in December 2007 and 683 in December 2008. In January alone, he...

Bill May Spur Bankruptcies.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-Cramdown legislation pending in Congress could cause a "substantial" surge in bankruptcy filings by consumers, including mortgagors who are currently paying their loans, according to a new report by...

Cramdown Compromise a Tough Pill to Swallow.
February 2, 2009... NEW YORK-Top officials from the Mortgage Bankers Association appear ready to compromise on the issue of "cramdowns" if Congress proceeds with legislation that allows bankruptcy judges alter the terms of a mortgage. It's a tough pill to...

Credit Costs, Impairment Weigh on Regionals.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Ted Cornwell NEW YORK-Rising credit costs and asset writedowns continued to pressure regional banks that are big players in the mortgage industry late last year. Fifth Third Bancorp, Cincinnati, lost $2.2 billion in the fourth...

EDITORIAL: Alive and Thriving.(Editorial)
February 2, 2009... Who says there isn't a hot market in the mortgage business right now? Servicing, especially default servicing, is ascendant in a business where originations have lost their way in a muddle of tight credit, lost confidence and lost home equity....

Letter: FTC Responds.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Peggy L. Twohig To the editor: "Firm Settles with FTC" (Dec. 29, 2008 issue) reports on an agreement between the Federal Trade Commission and Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services LP to settle allegations that Gateway...

Groups Want to Extend Buyer Credit.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman WASHINGTON-With Congress set to eliminate the recapture feature that goes along with the $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, four key housing and finance groups are urging lawmakers to extend the credit for...

Wells Mortgage Share Is Up.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Ted Cornwell SAN FRANCISCO-Wells Fargo lost $2.6 billion in the fourth quarter, but the company found a silver lining in the recession-battered economy. Wells posted surprisingly strong mortgage results, boosted by strong...

NEWS ANALYSIS: Layoffs HitFannie Mae Layoffs HitFannie Mae.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-Last week the story du jour in Washington was the Obama administration's "maybe" plans to create a bad bank to buy billions worth of toxic mortgages (and other assets) to unclog the balance sheets of...

Fed Starting Loan Mods.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-The New York Federal Reserve Bank is holding billions of dollars of residential mortgage assets from Bear Stearns and American International Group and the Federal Reserve Board has finally decided to start...

Are Roll Rates Steadying?
February 2, 2009... Byline: Ted Cornwell NEW YORK-Since the 1970s, the share of loans that are 30 days late during one quarter that roll into foreclosure during the following quarter has risen steadily - until recently, when roll rates began to skyrocket. But...

NEWS ANALYSIS: Delinquent Seconds Are Still Sellable.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-Given the decimated housing market, chances are it would be near impossible to sell a delinquent second lien, but investors are still bidding on pools for one key reason: possible profit on "release fees." ...

Stimulus Raises Loan Limits.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-The House has passed the $820 billion economic stimulus bill that restores the $729,750 loan limit in high-cost areas for the rest of this calendar year. The bill also increases the loan limits for...

Optimal Blue: Going Green Does Help the Bottom Line.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano PLANO, TX-While there's no arguing that going green saves the environment, some lenders still don't think saving the environment will impact their bottom line, but pricing vendor Optimal Blue here is demonstrating...

Fidelity Opens 1031 Exchange Offices.(Commercial Mortgages)
February 9, 2009... JACKSONVILLE, FL-Fidelity National Financial has expanded its FNF 1031 exchange company with the opening of offices in Chicago, New York and Boston. 1031 attorney Scott Nathanson will manage the new offices, joined by Anna Barsky in...

Ventas Sells Senior Centers.(Commercial Mortgages)
February 9, 2009... CHICAGO-Health care real estate investment trust Ventas here has closed on the sale of four seniors housing units to affiliates of Benchmark Assisted Living for an aggregate sale price of $58.7 million. The assets are located in Massachusetts...

Hotels to Continue Decline in '09.(Commmercial Mortgages)
February 9, 2009... Byline: James Comtois CHICAGO-Following an 80% drop in global hotel transaction volume last year, 2009 will exhibit a further decline, to levels last seen between 2001 and 2003, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels' Hotel Investment...

ARM Popularity Falls as Premiums Increase.
February 9, 2009... MCLEAN, VA-Adjustable-rate mortgage lending fell sharply last year as the initial payment savings disappeared, according to a survey by Freddie Mac. "Our survey found that starting rates for conforming one-year ARMs averaged 1.76...

Purchase of NetUpdate Called Off.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano MISHAWAKA, IN-Point-of-sale vendor Data-Vision Inc. here was unable to come to final terms with Most Home Corp. to close on the proposed acquisition of their subsidiary NetUpdate, and the initial letter of intent...

Lender Exits Wholesale - for Now.
February 9, 2009... NEW YORK-First Interstate Mortgage of New Jersey is pulling the plug on its wholesale division, at least for now, according to an e-mail memo sent out to some of its approved brokers. The memo - issued last week - notes that "effective...

Fannie Move May Help Refis.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Kate Berry WASHINGTON-Fannie Mae said it would no longer require an appraisal or property inspection for some borrowers trying to refinance an existing Fannie mortgage. Analysts said the change would have a marginal impact. ...

Bear Portfolio Is Down 14%.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock NEW YORK-The Federal Reserve recently released information on how the fair value of a mortgage-dominated portfolio securing financing it provided for Bear Stearns' acquisition was faring as of year-end 2008. ...

Flagstar UpsHome Lending.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein TROY, MI-Financially, 2008 wasn't a great year for Flagstar Bancorp Inc. here, but in terms of mortgage loan production the company saw a 6% increase in volume for the year. Its loan volume for the year was $28...

Freddie Outsources Mods to Ocwen.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Kate Berry WASHINGTON-Freddie Mac's decision to hire specialist firms such as Ocwen Financial Corp. to work out seriously delinquent mortgages is another sign that servicers are being overwhelmed by the volume of defaults. The...

FHA Lender Expects 80% Jump in '09 Fundings.
February 9, 2009... MELVILLE, NY-Lend America, a non-depository FHA lender based on Long Island here, expects its origination volume to increase by almost 80% this year to $2.5 billion. The privately held company - which is slated to unveil a new product...

MBS Issuers to Face First-Loss Rule?
February 9, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-To prevent future meltdowns in the mortgage market, some congressional leaders are considering safeguards to deter private-label issuers from securitizing risky loans. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., told...

MBA Outsources MISMO Program.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano WASHINGTON-In a sign of the times, the Mortgage Bankers Association here has decided that it does not have the resources to dedicate to managing the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization and has...

Attorneys Want Government to Pressure Lenders on Forbearance.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon NEW YORK-Rates of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures are increasing rapidly, imposing large costs on borrowers, their communities and the national economy. Speakers at the recent real estate law section of...

OPEN FORUM: Restoring Vitality to Housing.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Shaun Donovan, Secretary, Department Of Housing and Urban Development Mr. Donovan's Opening Statement Before The Senate Banking Committee At His Confirmation Hearing To Become The New Hud Secretary Is Presented As Our Open Forum....

Penn. AG, CFC Settle Lawsuit.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon HARRISBURG, PA-The Pennsylvania attorney general's office said it has reached a $150 million settlement with Countrywide Financial Corp. to obtain mortgage relief and cash assistance for thousands of Pennsylvania...

PEOPLE.
February 9, 2009... CALIFORNIA Escondido-Realty Income Corp. said that its non-executive chairman, William E. Clark, will retire from the board of directors effective after the board's regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 10. The company also stated that...

MBS May Not Be Improving, But Predictive Data Might Be.(Street Smarts)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock The performance of securitized mortgage assets may not be getting any better and new primary market issuance has remained largely a thing of the past in the non-agency market. But at least the secondary market has...

U.S. BancorpGrows Business Fidelity Opens Exchange Offices.
February 9, 2009... MINNEAPOLIS-U.S. Bancorp's residential and commercial mortgage portfolios grew at a strong clip in 2008, as the company expanded its presence in the mortgage space through acquisitions of troubled banks. The company, which acquired Downey...

Wintrust Sees Modest Profit.(Financial report)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock LAKE FOREST, IL-Wintrust Financial Corp. here expects declining market values and loan performance concerns to continue to challenge it going forward, but for the time being the company remains relatively profitable...

EDITORIAL: Intransigence.(Editorial)
February 9, 2009... President Obama has suffered the first defeat of his young presidency. Despite elaborate outreach to Republicans in Congress on the economic stimulus, and watering down the stimulus package with their ineffective and outmoded ideas, the...

Title, MI Firms Starting to Recover?
February 9, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein NEW YORK-Of the early reporting for title and mortgage insurance companies, both MGIC Investment Corp., Milwaukee, and Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., showed marked improvement in their...

Stimulus Could Bring 4% FRM Rate.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-In an effort to revive the nation's depressed housing market, the Senate last week approved a $15,000 homebuyer tax credit and was debating a "buy-down" measure that would create a 4% mortgage for both...

Survey Finds International Interest in U.S. Lending Opportunities.(International Mortgages)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock WASHINGTON-Foreign real estate lenders may grow lending by 58% in the United States this year and interest for cross-border real estate investing in general may be stronger in 2009 than 2008, according to the...

UK Has Foreclosure Relief Plan.(International Mortgages)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock LONDON-The United Kingdom has rolled out its A[pounds sterling]200 million ($298 million) plan to help low-income borrowers who are elderly, disabled or caring for children avoid foreclosure, according to the U.K....

Lenders Jump Gun on Fees.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-Some residential lenders - in response to pending delivery fee hikes coming from the GSEs - are implementing price increases even sooner, especially on condominiums, loan brokers told National Mortgage News....

Will GSEs Do Warehouse Lending?
February 9, 2009... It's come to this: non-depository mortgage bankers are so starved for credit that they are willing to consider allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to become warehouse liquidity providers. What's next? Allowing the GSEs to originate loans...

No Takers for Aurora.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo NEW YORK-Lehman Brothers Holdings - which filed for bankruptcy protection back in the fall - has been shopping around its alt-A servicing division in recent months but with no takers. At one point, the unit, Aurora...

Wilbur Ross Adds Citi Servicing.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Ted Cornwell NEW YORK-American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc., the servicing platform of a failed subprime lender that was acquired by turnaround specialist WL Ross in 2007, is buying servicing rights on 185,000 loans from Citi...

ResCap Still Bleeding.
February 9, 2009... NEW YORK-Mortgage banker Residential Capital Corp. - whose parent recently completed a huge debt swap with bond holders - continued to bleed red ink in the fourth quarter, posting a loss of nearly $1 billion as both its home loan fundings and...

Warehouse Illiquidity a Challenge.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein DENVER-There is another factor that is holding back mortgage lending, some experts say, and it has nothing to do with credit or equity. It is a lack of warehouse capacity for mortgage bankers. The number of...

Humorist to Keynote Conference.(Convention Special Edition)(Conference news)
February 9, 2009... Humorist Dave Barry, who for many years wrote a weekly column for The Miami Herald and has published numerous novels and nonfiction books, will keynote the opening general session of the 2009 MBA Mortgage Servicing Conference on Wednesday,...

FirstAm Helps to Manage ARMs.(Convention Special Edition)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Tony Garritano First American Outsourcing and Technology Solutions, Santa Ana, Calif., has developed a new auditing solution designed to reduce the cost and risk of servicing, acquiring and selling adjustable-rate mortgage loan...

Hope Now Sees Loan Mod Trend Continuing in 2009.(Convention Special Edition)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Ted Cornwell Hope Now's most recent data show both the volume of foreclosure prevention activity growing and a trend that suggests homeowners may be getting more relief. During the last four months of 2008, loan workouts -...

Challenges Loom Large.(Convention Special Edition)
February 9, 2009... When the industry's top servicing executives gather in Tampa next week, the housing crisis will dominate the agenda even more so than it did a year earlier in New Orleans. The housing crisis was already in full swing a year ago, but the...

Tampa Ready for Mortgage Show.(Convention Special Edition)(Conference news)
February 9, 2009... Tampa Bay shouldn't have any trouble accommodating a couple of thousand mortgage executives. After all, more than 100,000 people were in town a few weeks before the MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference for Super Bowl weekend. In fact, the...

Auction Firm Plans Big Presence at Servicing Show.(Convention Special Edition)(Conference news)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon Default servicers have an opportunity to change the current real estate marketplace that is seeing a rise in REO and blighted homes as a result of foreclosures. If borrowers are facing default, and if they are...

Tampa Is Big Sports Destination.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Glenn Mccullom It might not have the excitement of Super Bowl XLIII, and Bruce Springsteen will not be performing live between periods, but there is still plenty for sports fans to do while at the MBA Mortgage Servicing Conference....

Automated Decisioning to Get Mods Right.(Technology)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano BETHESDA, MD-Late last year it was reported that loan modifications done earlier that same year were again in default. Overture Technologies here has launched a new tool dubbed Mozart for Special Servicing to help...

Study Emphasizes DPAs' Positive Impact.
February 16, 2009... SACRAMENTO, CA-The resilient story of downpayment assistance providers' fight to legalize DPA shows how market demand for affordable products keeps the lid open on an issue some in the industry prefer to ignore. A new DPA-funded study on...

PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: Ben Cowen.
February 16, 2009... Dallas-based Mortgage Search & Acquisition said that BOK Financial, Tulsa, Okla., has named Mr. Cowen as the president of its mortgage arm, BOK Mortgage. He brings over 25 years of mortgage banking experience to BOK Financial. Mr. Cowen's most...

CRE Originations Fall Sharply.(Commercial Mortgages)
February 16, 2009... Byline: James Comtois WASHINGTON-Commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations dropped in the fourth quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's quarterly survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations....

Medical REITs Price Stock Offerings.(Commercial Mortgages)
February 16, 2009... BIRMINGHAM, AL-Two REITs focused on the health care property sector have decided to issue stock in order to raise funds to pay down debt. Medical Properties Trust priced an offering of 12 million common shares at $5.40 per share. The...

Non-Bank Realty Loans Maturing this Year.(Commercial Mortgages)
February 16, 2009... Byline: James Comtois SAN DIEGO-Approximately $171 billion of commercial/multifamily mortgages held by non-bank lenders and investors will mature in 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's new commercial real...

Redwood OfferRaises $283MM.(Commercial Mortgages)
February 16, 2009... MILL VALLEY, CA-Redwood Property Trust has raised $282.7 million net of underwriting discounts and commissions through the sale of 26.45 million common shares at $11.25 per share. The sole book-running manager for the offering was JPMorgan...

AHMSI Fights Carrington Suit.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Ted Cornwell NEW YORK-In another sign of growing tension between investors in mortgage securities and servicers of subprime loans, Carrington Capital Management has prepared a lawsuit against American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc.,...

Commercial MBs Merge with Credit Suisse Unit.
February 16, 2009... WASHINGTON-Commercial mortgage banker Walker & Dunlop of Bethesda, Md., and a sister company that specializes in Freddie Mac multifamily loans, have agreed to merge with Column Guaranteed LCC, a unit controlled by investment banker Credit...

Loan Officers Need Extensive FHA Training.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon WEST DES MOINES, IA-Lenders across the country are making FHA a product of choice. But a high percentage of loan originators in the mortgage industry have only been in the business for a handful of years, and they...

Analytical Tool Aims to Foresee and Minimize Default Risk.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi BROOKFIELD, WI-Fiserv executives find that processing capacity and a thorough loan screening process that allows lenders and servicers to evaluate risk in different levels are concerns the industry will continue to face...

Congress Considers Repairs to H4H.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-Congress is considering several changes to the FHA Hope for Homeowners program to make the stillborn refinancing program attractive to homeowners and servicers. But one Federal Reserve Board governor...