National Mortgage News articles from January 2004

National Mortgage News archives from January 2004

Inside Track.
January 5, 2004... OPEN FORUM Signs Continue to Be Positive 4 AFFORDABLE HOUSING NY Senator Clinton Proposes Raising FHA Loan Limit 6 TECHNOLOGY Survey Finds Borrowers Eager to Manage Finances Online 8 PEOPLE 11 ...

Did Freddie Speculate on Rates?
January 5, 2004... An investigation into Freddie Mac's $5 billion accounting scandal discovered the giant mortgage company speculated on interest rates - and it paid off handsomely. Freddie Mac purchased $60 billion in derivatives three years ago to hedge...

Was Wells a Half-Trillion Baby?
January 5, 2004... Did mega-lender Wells Fargo Home Mortgage crack the $500-billion mark in 2003? In about 10 days most major publicly traded lenders - Wells among them - will begin reporting final results for the year just ending. As mortgage bankers...

The Top Five: How They Might Stack Up When All Loans Are Counted.
January 5, 2004... (Dollars in Billions) (part 1 of 2) Lender 1Q Prod 2Q Prod 3Q Prod Wells Fargo $103 $135 $161 WaMu $109 $126 $133 Countrywide $102 $130...

Fannie Mae Forms PAC.
January 5, 2004... Fannie Mae has formed a political action committee so that the company can make direct contributions to congressional and presidential candidates who support its housing mission. The giant mortgage company, which enjoys favorable borrowing...

At a Glance: Fannie's '02 'Soft Money' Political Donations.
January 5, 2004... Total: $1.8 million Republicans: $967,736 Democrats: $863,100 Source: Fannie Mae Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com

SEC: Commitments Are Liabilities.
January 5, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission believes loan commitments should be recognized as "liabilities only" and it wants mortgage lenders to stop booking LCs as assets after March 31. The SEC is currently planning to issue a staff...

At a Glance: '04 Begins as '03 Began.
January 5, 2004... Average 30-year FRM at start of '04: 5.85% Average 30-year FRM at start of '03: 5.85% Average 30-year FRM at start of '02: 7.14% Average 30-year FRM at start of '01: 7.07% Source: Freddie Mac Copyright 2004 Thomson Media...

Start of 2004 Looks a Lot Like Start of 2003.
January 5, 2004... At the end of 2003, mortgage industry executives must have been feeling a sense of deja vu. That's because the year ended a lot like the previous year did, with mortgage rates averaging 5.85% as the year came to a close, according to last...

Radian Shuts Down Settlement Subsidiary.
January 5, 2004... Radian Group Inc. here plans to shut down its struggling mortgage services subsidiary over the next three months in order to give itself enough time to complete transactions in the works with existing customers, negotiate an end to employment...

HUD Prepares to Finalize Appraisal Accountability Rules.
January 5, 2004... The Department of Housing and Urban Development is sticking to its regulatory agenda of making Federal Housing Administration lenders more accountable for the performance of their originations. HUD is very close to issuing a controversial...

New Year, Old Problem.
January 5, 2004... "The Department of Housing and Urban Development's long-expected comprehensive revision to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act [RESPA] could become as effective as early as this summer or more likely sometime this autumn." Is this a...

Signs Continue to Be Positive.
January 5, 2004... Excerpts of Mr. Brown's comments from the recent FDIC quarterly banking profile press briefing are presented as our Open Forum. In ratio terms, third-quarter performance was similar to the second quarter. Return on assets fell two basis...

Originators See Opportunity Despite Expected Rate Challenges in 2004.
January 5, 2004... When it comes to the origination side of the business, market participants tend to acknowledge that there are likely to be some challenges if the interest rate and bond market trends expected in 2004 pan out. But they still doggedly believe...

NY Senator Clinton Proposes Raising FHA Loan Limit.
January 5, 2004... Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., whose interest in affordable housing is earning the appreciation of industry veterans here, said at the recent 30th Annual New York and National Housing Conference Award Luncheon that she will introduce new...

Freddie Mac Helps New Mexico Lenders.
January 5, 2004... Freddie Mac has joined a statewide coalition of lenders and housing organizations here in launching the $100-million "Homes for the Holidays" campaign, consisting of three separate initiatives designed to assist about 600 local residents become...

Wilmington Gets $50M Commitment.
January 5, 2004... Freddie Mac has partnered with the Wilmington Housing Authority and other local nonprofits pledging to purchase up to $50 million in eligible mortgages for low- to moderate-income Wilmington families. The initiative plans to provide a...

Pru Offers Tax-Exempt Financing.
January 5, 2004... Prudential Mortgage Capital is expanding its affordable housing financing activities through a newly formed affiliate, Red Stone Partners. In partnership with Red Stone, a New York-based affiliate of Prudential Real Estate Investors, PMC...

MacArthur Foundation Targets Preservation.
January 5, 2004... The MacArthur Foundation has announced a commitment to provide $50 million to help purchase and preserve 100,000 units of affordable rental housing. Over the next 10 years, the charitable foundation will provide $35 million in grants and...

Survey Finds Borrowers Eager to Manage Finances Online.
January 5, 2004... The days are numbered on borrower reluctance to transact a mortgage loan online. That was the message of a study just completed by online specialist Amerisave Mortgage, Atlanta. The December 2003 online survey drew responses from 796...

At a Glance: Amerisave Customers Are Managing Money on the Internet.
January 5, 2004... Pay Bills Online: 71% Do Banking Online: 70% Invest Online: 57% Obtain Insurance Online: 16% Source: Amerisave Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com...

LendingTree Buys Realty Site's Assets.
January 5, 2004... LendingTree, Inc. here has purchased certain assets of RealEstate.com from Primedia Inc. The online lender paid an undisclosed price for the real estate website's brand, uniform resource locator and other assets it felt complemented its...

OneFee Gaining Traction at ABN Amro.
January 5, 2004... Garth E. Graham, senior vice president of e-commerce and customer relationship management for Ann Arbor, Mich.-based ABN Amro approached the audience at Thomson Media's 5th Annual Mortgage EC Conference here with hat in hand. He admitted that...

eAppraiseIT Product Verifies Valuations.
January 5, 2004... eAppraiseIT LLC here has introduced its Limited Reconciliation Report, a product designed to give lenders the opportunity to substantiate a property's value. This product is used to determine if there has been any misrepresentation in the...

People.
January 5, 2004... CALIFORNIA Carson-Lissa Marie Cinat has been appointed assistant general counsel for Document Systems Inc. Ms. Cinat joined DSI after gaining experience with both national and international law firms. Prior to joining DSI, Ms. Cinat...

Moody's Study Tallies Defaults, Finds Interest Shortfalls to Blame in CMBS.
January 5, 2004... Less than 3% of the 13,419 U.S. structured finance securities issued since 1993 have defaulted, according to a structured finance default study by Moody's Investors Service. The study included 167 asset-backed securitizations, 80 commercial...

Default & Loss Mitigation: A Consultant's Approach.
January 5, 2004... The good news: a strengthening economy may put downward pressure on delinquencies. The bad news: not all boats are going to be lifted by this rising tide. Some troubled mortgagors took on too much debt in the heyday of the '90s economic...

End of Refinancing Boom Could Weaken Loan Quality.
January 5, 2004... Over the last two years, rapidly rising home values and heavy refinancing dramatically improved the credit quality of home loans packaged into securities, according to Standard & Poor's. High-quality borrowers locked into interest rates...

At a Glance: Average FICO Score on Subprime Loan Securities Transactions in the 3rd Quarter.
January 5, 2004... (A Sample) Firm Avg FICO Score Citicorp Mortgage 667 Ameriquest Mortgage 652 First Franklin 642 Fremont Investment & Loans 632 RASC ...

'Delinquencies Fell, Foreclosures Rose'.
January 5, 2004... While the commercial mortgage delinquency picture has improved, the number of loans entering foreclosures still rose in the second quarter, according to data compiled by the American Council of Life Insurers. The trade group, which...

Report: 90 Days Past Due Does Not Equal Foreclosure.
January 5, 2004... Delinquent commercial real estate loans show significant movement between different phases of delinquency, and even loans that are more than 90 days past due only have about a 30% change of moving into foreclosure or REO status within the next...

At a Glance: CMBS Delinquency Buckets.
January 5, 2004... Firm Share of Delinquencies 60 days 9.4% 90 days 56.2% In Foreclosure 8.1% REO 26.4% Source: Moody's. Delinquency share based on dollar volume of...

Fraud Detection Technology May Have Applicability in Sizing Up Defaults.
January 5, 2004... When it comes to default and loss mitigation, there are some lessons to be learned from technologies used more often to mitigate risks on the front end than on the back end, according to Connie Wilson, an executive vice president at AppIntell,...

'Default Recoveries 19%-62% for RMBS'.
January 5, 2004... Residential mortgage-backed securities that default are expected to have a principal recovery rate of between 19% and 62%, depending on the year of default, according to Standard & Poor's. The average cumulative repayment rate, or recovery...

Ryland Expects Steady Loan Income.
January 5, 2004... Ryland Group Inc. is betting income from its mortgage operations will remain steady at about 15% of revenue in 2003 even if interest rates rise. While the company will not release financial information for the fourth quarter of 2003 until...

Bill Dallas in Deal to Buy Mortgage Firm.
January 5, 2004... Bill Dallas, one of the most well-known names in the mortgage banking industry, is returning to the business after a two-and-one-half year absence. Mr. Dallas is teaming up once again with CIVC Partners, Chicago, to purchase Oakmont...

Aging Boomers Fuel Home Building Market.
January 5, 2004... A new baby boomer turns 50 every nine seconds. That aging pace is going to keep Pulte Homes Inc. going strong even if interest rates rise. The aging baby boomer market is going to be a big driver of growth at Pulte Homes here, which is one...

California Home Sale Gain Hits $150,000.
January 5, 2004... The median gain for California homesellers totaled a record $150,000 in 2003, according to the California Association of Realtors. Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president and chief economist at CAR, said net cash to sellers has never been...

LandAmerica Promotes Alpert.
January 5, 2004... LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. has promoted Janet A. Alpert from president to vice chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2004. To replace her, Theodore L. Chandler is being promoted from chief operating officer to president and chief operating...

New Mexico Lenders Seek Changes to Law.
January 5, 2004... The head of the New Mexico Financial Services Association is urging the state legislature to make changes in the predatory lending law that goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2004. Even though the rating agencies say they will continue to rate...

Bank Pares Back Home Lending Business.
January 5, 2004... A pair of offices of Bay Mortgage have become early casualties of the end of the refinance boom. Cowlitz Bank here said it is realigning its Bay Mortgage subsidiary in order to direct resources towards the parent's growing commercial banking...

Inside Track.
January 12, 2004... OPEN FORUM Pre-Emption Benefits Consumers 4 COMMERCIAL Wachovia Pays $42.5M for Lend Lease Mortgage 6 TECHNOLOGY E-Lending: Secondary Market Players Expect Slow but Steady Progress 7 EQUITIES Bank Headed...

Congressional Anger Over RESPA.
January 12, 2004... The chairman of the House Small Business Committee held a special hearing last week to protest the Department of Housing and Urban Development's decision to move ahead with a final RESPA rule. Chairman Don Manzullo, R-Ill., said HUD has...

OCC Pre-Empts the States.
January 12, 2004... The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has approved two controversial rules that free national banks and their mortgage subsidiaries from complying with state predatory lending laws. State officials and consumer groups immediately...

A Huge Spike In FHA Claims.
January 12, 2004... In their zeal to increase the U.S. homeownership rate, the Bush and Clinton administrations liberalized FHA underwriting guidelines - but now the chickens are coming home to roost. According to a new independent audit conducted by KPMG LLP,...

As Refis Wane...: Short Positions in Some Mortgage Stocks Rise.
January 12, 2004... Company Name/Symbol Mortgage Short Pos. % Chg from Sector at 12/15/03 11/14/2003 Saxon Mortgage (SAXN) Subprime 941,073 161% NovaStar (NFI) ...

CFC: Diversity Won't Curb Mortgages.
January 12, 2004... Countrywide Financial Corp. here has promoted Stanford L. Kurland to president, and the long-time executive has reconfirmed Countrywide's commitment to the mortgage business even as it continues to diversify. At the same time it named...

AFSA Wins a Review of Oakland's Predatory Ordinance.
January 12, 2004... The California Supreme Court has agreed to review the American Financial Service Association's appeal in its case against a predatory lending ordinance enacted in 2001 by the city of Oakland. The decision comes after an Appeals Court...

Veterans Get Boost from Increase in Ginnie Mae Loan Ceiling.
January 12, 2004... Military veterans will be able to use their government benefits to purchase more expensive houses as a result of an increase in the limit on GI loans that are bundled into securities for sale to investors on the secondary mortgage market. ...

Better Late.
January 12, 2004... The Bush administration deserves some congratulations on the recent passage of the American Dream Downpayment Assistance Act. The $200 million authorized and signed into law by President Bush for each of four fiscal years will help low-income...

Pre-Emption Benefits Consumers.
January 12, 2004... Ms. Williams spoke before the Consumer Federation of America's 15th Annual Consumer Financial Services Conference in Washington recently. Excerpts of her remarks are presented as our Open Forum. We are acutely aware that in many quarters...

Outlook: If Yield Curve Flattens, MBS Demand Will Lessen.
January 12, 2004... I've aired some relatively optimistic views of how this year is likely to pan out in recent columns. This week I'd like to focus on what some experts think this year's challenges might be. "The biggest challenge will be twofold," according...

Wachovia Pays $42.5 Million for Lend Lease Mortgage.
January 12, 2004... Wachovia Bank has acquired Lend Lease Mortgage Capital in a $42.5 million deal that will strengthen Wachovia's presence in the multifamily lending and servicing arena. The acquisition gives Wachovia a servicing presence in the Fannie Mae,...

CRE Transactions at a Glance.
January 12, 2004... * MetLife has sold 11 Madison Avenue in New York City to private investors for a reported $675 million. * GE Real Estate has provided LaSalle Hotel Prop. a $65 million 5.25%, five- year, fixed rate mortgage loan secured by a 462-room San...

HEI Hires Clark To Guide Growth.
January 12, 2004... HEI Hospitality, a hotel investment and operating company, plans to make up to an additional $750 million in hotel acquisitions. To further this goal, the company has tapped Roger Clark for the position of senior vice president, acquisitions....

Life Insurers Create CRE Loan Index.
January 12, 2004... A group of life insurance companies has released performance data for commercial mortgage loans based on an index which is the first benchmark for the private commercial mortgage market, according to the companies. The "LifeComps" index is...

Luminent Plans Public Stock Offering.
January 12, 2004... Luminent Mortgage Capital, an investor in mortgage-backed securities, is making an initial public offering of 9.5 million shares of common stock, with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey as the managing underwriter to the offering. The offering...

Portland Market Shows Resilience.
January 12, 2004... The economy in Oregon is sluggish and the unemployment rate remains high, but that isn't preventing some large projects from taking place in the Portland area. Four large apartment buildings are going up in a northwest section of the...

E-Lending: Secondary Market Players Expect Slow but Steady Progress.
January 12, 2004... The process of creating a truly electronic mortgage has been excruciatingly, but necessarily slow, key secondary market players said here earlier this month. James Newell, associate general counsel at Freddie Mac, said the need to move at...

Illinois Lender Raises $13.6 Million.
January 12, 2004... United Financial Mortgage has priced an offering for just over two million shares of its common stock at a price of $6.67 per share, raising gross proceeds of approximately $13.6 million. Maxim Group, the sole underwriter, has been granted an...

Bank Headed by Ranieri Prices IPO.
January 12, 2004... Franklin Bank Corp. here, a savings and loan holding company chaired by mortgage-backed securities pioneer and former Bank United Corp. executive Lewis S. Ranieri, has priced an initial public offering of 7.45 million shares of common stock at...

Latin America Sees Jump in MBS Volume.
January 12, 2004... Cross-border Latin American mortgage- and asset-backed securities issuance last year increased 45% over the previous year's issuance, according to Moody's Investors Service here. Cross-border MBS/ABS issuance in Latin America totaled $5.6...

GE Brings TPO Tool To Canadian Market.
January 12, 2004... Technology that has been used in the United States to handle the flow of documents between third-party originators and lenders is now being made available north of the U.S. border through GE Mortgage Insurance Canada here. The effort is...

U.K. Lenders Lobby For Homeownership.
January 12, 2004... Government officials in the United Kingdom have been eyeing the creation of rental units as means of addressing the U.K.'s housing deficit, but the Council of Mortgage Lenders here believes the proposed strategy would only "partially" solve the...

HUD Cancels GSE 'Bonus Points' for Apartment Loans.
January 12, 2004... The Department of Housing and Urban Development has decided not to extend the bonus points Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have used over the past three years to meet their affordable housing goals. "HUD feels the program has served its purpose...

BoA Earmarks $750M for Communities.
January 12, 2004... Bank of America Corp. has pledged $750 billion in community development over the next 10 years. The largest national initiative so far, it represents the expanded joint contribution of BoA and FleetBoston Financial once the banks merge sometime...

Flagstar Settles Discrimination Case.
January 12, 2004... What started out as an employment discrimination case filed by a Flagstar Bank loan officer fired two-and-a-half years ago, recently turned into a $1.1 million class-action settlement that the bank will pay for mortgage lending discrimination...

President's Homeownership Initiative Puts Focus on Emerging Markets.
January 12, 2004... Ever since the 2000 census data came out, the refinancing boom slowed down and the Bush administration launched its $5.5 billion commitment to minority homebuyers, the mortgage industry is placing unprecedented attention to affordable housing...

Website Caters to Spanish Speakers.
January 12, 2004... Bilingual Scout, an Internet marketing firm here, has developed Micasaprestamos.com to guide Spanish speaking U.S. residents interested in becoming homeowners in finding Spanish-speaking mortgage lenders nationwide. "Whether it is a new...

Dorado Expands Site To Serve New Markets.
January 12, 2004... Dorado Corp. has diversified its Web-based ChannelMaster product offerings to better serve the needs of underserved, minority and low-income borrowers nationwide. Dorado said the company will help lenders provide bundled affordable housing...

Brendsel Key to Street's Role in Scandal?
January 12, 2004... The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight thinks ousted Freddie Mac CEO Leland Brendsel may hold the key to unraveling Wall Street's role in the company's accounting scandal - but for now he doesn't want to talk. In court papers...

Short Positions on Nonconforming Rise.
January 12, 2004... The boom in mortgage originations appears to be over and that means short sellers are starting to target mortgage stocks, in particular, nonconforming lenders and servicers. According to figures compiled by Dow Jones, short positions in...

Mortgage Industry Equity Composite.
January 12, 2004... MIEC Index: 188.6 Change: -0.7 (part 1 of 2) 12/11/2003 1/8/2004 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Countrywide Financial Corp.(CFC) 101.27 70.81 -30% 37.86 Capstead Mtg. (CMO) ...

Former Treasury Aide Joins BlackRock.
January 12, 2004... Peter R. Fisher, a former undersecretary for domestic finance at the U.S. Treasury, has joined investment and risk management firm BlackRock Inc. here, a company with a high-profile client list that includes Freddie Mac and a number of other...

FHA Insurance Claims.
January 12, 2004... Not a Pretty Picture ($ in billions) Category 2003 2002 Pct Chg # of Claims Filed 85,186 65,026 31% Claims Paid $7.8 $5.5 42% Source: KPMG Audit/Table by NMN...

Countrywide Breaks $400 Billion.
January 19, 2004... Countrywide Financial Corp. became the first lender in history to officially cross the finish line with more than $400 billion in annual home loan volume, according to data released by the company last week. Countrywide announced that it...

Bank One: Domino Effect?
January 19, 2004... J.P. Morgan Chase's $60 billion purchase of Bank One Corp., may change the face of commercial banking but, for now, it will have a negligible effect on the residential mortgage business. However, industry executives say it could spur more...

JPM Chase Buying Bank One: What Does it Mean for Mortgages?
January 19, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) Residential Production Res Prod Prod Res Prod Institution Vol 3Q Rank Mkt Share Chase Home Fin. $93,620 4 7.78% Bank One ...

BridgeSpan Shuts, Fires 200 Workers.
January 19, 2004... Reports at deadline say BridgeSpan, a title company and online closing specialist, has ceased operations and closed its doors. More than two hundred BridgeSpan employees were given notice the day before the closure, according to a brief item...

Industry Spotlight: Brian Fitzpatrick.
January 19, 2004... Mr. Fitzpatrick has been named chief executive officer at Decade Systems, Corp. in Jacksonville, Fla. Mr. Fitzpatrick previously served as Decade's executive vice president of sales and marketing and has more than 15 years of sales and...

Ugly Times for Fairbanks.
January 19, 2004... Fairbanks Capital Corp. here, which has been under fire for its servicing practices, is now hemorrhaging contracts and plans to close one of its four platforms. The company's servicing portfolio - most of which represents subservicing...

Top Online Originators In Q3 2003.
January 19, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name, Location 1 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 2 ABN Amro Mortgage Ann Arbor, MI 3 Chase Home Finance Edison, NJ 4 CitiMortgage, Inc.,...

'03 MBS, ABS Reach $1.5T.
January 19, 2004... Mortgage-backed securities underwriting volume in the United States totaled $900.15 billion in 2003, up 11.8% from the $805.34 billion recorded in 2002, according to Thomson Financial, a National Mortgage News affiliate. Another $580 billion...

New Member Joins Finance Board as SEC Debate Heats Up.
January 19, 2004... Alicia R. Castaneda is the newest member of the Federal Housing Finance Board, replacing Timothy O'Neill who served on the board for nearly eight years. Ms. Castaneda has worked in commercial banking for 27 years - most recently as senior...