National Mortgage News articles from January 2009

National Mortgage News archives from January 2009

EDITORIAL: Hit the Ground Running.(Editorial)
January 5, 2009... The initial word out of the incoming administration about how to deal with the mortgage industry crisis is substantive, if not precisely to the mortgage industry's liking. Team Obama apparently intends to take on the foreclosure crisis...

One-Fourth of Seniors Rely on Home Equity.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi OAKLAND, CA-Losses in home values and the stock market are disproportionately affecting senior citizens, making it harder for them to deal with the financial crisis. However, data from Golden Gateway Financial here...

NYC Hails its Own Affordable Housing Program.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi NEW YORK-City officials here patted each other on the back for running the largest and best affordable housing program in the nation. Effective management and foreclosure intervention at the state level is key to...

LOs Can't Select AMCs.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Kate Berry, American Banker WASHINGTON-Loan officers cannot select an appraiser nor have any contact with the appraiser under a set of reforms that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with their regulator, have agreed to implement as...

GMAC Gets $5B TARP Funds.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-In the space of a couple of weeks, GMAC Financial Services has managed to become a bank holding company and get a $5 billion capital infusion from the government to keep its auto and mortgage lending...

IndyMac May Have Buyer.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Joe Adler & Emily Flitter, American Banker WASHINGTON-Dune Capital Management LP is said to be leading an investor team applying for IndyMac Bancorp's assets and deposits - and the team is said to include private-equity adviser J....

Fixing Foreclosures.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-NeighborWorks America is shifting gears to provide more support for the development of affordable rental housing and to deal with the problem of vacant and foreclosed properties. The foreclosure crisis...

Full Recovery Is Uncertain, But Small Improvements Likely.(Street Smarts)
January 5, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock Full market recovery may be uncertain this year but I think there are likely to be at least some temporary improvements possibly driven by government policy that could be investment opportunities in the short- or...

Technology Boosts FL Wholesaler.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano JACKSONVILLE-While many are exiting wholesale, Florida Capital Bank Mortgage here has opted to use Web-based technology to expand its wholesale footprint. "In 2007, we were looking for a Web-based system to...

Paralysis Hits CRE Sector.
January 5, 2009... Byline: James Comtois WASHINGTON-Senior real estate executives believe that dysfunctional U.S. financial markets and the broad economic downturn have paralyzed the income-producing real estate sector, encompassing office buildings,...

AIG Sells MBS Interests.
January 5, 2009... Byline: NEW YORK-American International Group Inc.'s life insurance companies have followed through with a Federal Reserve Bank of New York-assisted plan to sell its interests in a $39 billion pool of residential mortgage-backed securities...

Tarnished Credit Is Up Sharply.
January 5, 2009... Byline: NASHVILLE, TN-Today's recession victims may become the subprime borrowers of tomorrow, if data from a company providing services to consumers with credit problems are to be believed. According to BadCreditOffers.com, the number...

HUD Kills FHA Secure Effort.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-The Department of Housing and Urban Development has terminated its FHA Secure program, which was originally designed to help delinquent borrowers refinance into Federal Housing Administration loans. ...

Sales Rise in Sunshine State.(Financial report)
January 5, 2009... ORLANDO-Distressed sales in Florida during November continued to boost the state's existing home market on a year-to-year basis but Realtors say buyers there, as is the case nationwide, have yet to fully return to the market. The Sunshine...

Fairway Sees Positive '08 Growth.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon SUN PRAIRIE, WI-There is good news this holiday season for Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. here, which anticipates having closed $2 billion in loans in 2008 and about $160 million in December. This is a...

Lenders, Swamped by Short Sales, Often Giving Short Shrift.(Housing Scene)
January 5, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman WASHINGTON-More than a few financially strapped owners have tried to unload their homes via what's known in real-estate parlance as a "short sale," only to end up being stymied by what most believe to be an...

Genworth Has a Definitive Agreement to Buy InterBank.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein NEW YORK-Genworth Financial, Richmond, Va., has issued an update on its proposed purchase of InterBank FSB, Maple Grove, Minn. The two parties have now entered into a definitive agreement for the transaction....

OPEN FORUM: The Challenge for Regulators.(Editorial)
January 5, 2009... Byline: Donald Kohnvice, Chairman, Federal Reserve Mr. Kohn's Recent Remarks At The Office Of Thrift Supervision National Housing Forum In Washington Are Presented As Our Open Forum. I thought I might use these brief introductory...

PEOPLE.
January 5, 2009... CALIFORNIA Oakland-Charlie Badgett has been elected to the position of vice president of Old Republic National Commercial Title & Settlement Services in its Dallas office. The Old Republic National Commercial Realty Services Division...

Wintrust Buys Stake in IL Lender.
January 5, 2009... LAKE FOREST, IL-Wintrust Financial Corp. here has acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of Downers Grove, Ill.-based Professional Mortgage Partners' mortgage banking business and named PMP's president to an executive post...

Outlook: Home Value Depreciation Will Continue This Year.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi SEATTLE-Persistent home value depreciation has been documented on new data that show one-third of Americans who sold their home in the past year lost money, and experts say the trend will continue in 2009. Zillow's...

Zillow.com Expands Online Real Estate Listings.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi SEATTLE-High foreclosure rates and the rapid overall growth of the real estate-owned property market are fueling the expansion of online real estate broker communities such as Zillow.com, a provider of free national...

2009 Will Bring Regulation That Looks Out for Consumers.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon PALO ALTO, CA-For 2009, one thing is very clear - there is more regulation coming to the mortgage industry and most of it revolves around the idea of watching out for the consumer's best interests. As a result...

Stocks Face More Challenges in '09.
January 5, 2009... NEW YORK-Publicly traded firms in the mortgage industry faced a cataclysmic environment in 2008, and the prospects for 2009 offer only hints of relief. Most standalone mortgage companies went out of business or merged in 2008, often under...

A New E-Collaboration Player Is Emerging.
January 5, 2009... SAN DIEGO-Best known for its Funding Suite credit and automated valuation model product, Cogent Road has opted to expand its offerings to enable lenders to go fully paperless with Business Spaces, an electronic collaboration document management...

Perimeter and Techmate Partnering On IT Security.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano MILFORD, CT-On-demand security provider Perimeter security has partnered with Techmate, a back-office software solutions company, to provide complete, fully compliant information technology security services. ...

Top LenderSees VolumeGoing Up.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon PLANO, TX-Despite recession, one top-ranked originator that closed between 900 and 1,000 mortgages in 2008 doubled his volume in December and foresees an additional 50% higher production this year. In addition, he...

MortgageGrapevine.com: Are Subprime Loans Coming Back?
January 12, 2009... the voice of reason:Now that the government has helped one of the largest securitizers of subprime loans become a bank, are subprime loans going to be making a comeback? Once rates go way up with all this deficit spending and more fat is sucked...

IndyMac Servicing Shift?
January 12, 2009... WASHINGTON-Now that Dune Capital and its partners have agreed to buy IndyMac and its $180 billion servicing portfolio from the government, it is already engaging in talks with 'scratch and dent' subservicers to take over some of the heavy...

U.K. Looks to 'Subdued' 2009.(International Mortgages)
January 12, 2009... LONDON-The latest monthly gross United Kingdom mortgage lending figures suggest challenges for the U.K. housing market will continue next year, although government measures may mitigate them somewhat. "In looking ahead to the coming year,...

Kurland Back With Deal.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo CALABASAS, CA-Two-and-a-half years ago Stanford Kurland was the odd man out at Countrywide Financial Corp. when company founder and chairman Angelo Mozilo forced him out in a power struggle. Today, Mr. Mozilo's name...

Reorg for ResCap.
January 12, 2009... HORSHAM, PA-Javid Jaberi, senior vice president of servicing operations for Residential Capital Corp., Horsham, Pa., has left the company as part of a reorganization, according to an internal memo provided to this newspaper. An e-mail written...

Deal Reached on 'Cramdowns'.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-Key senators have reached a compromise with Citigroup that could speed passage of a bill that allows judges to modify mortgages and reduce, or "cram down" the principal amount of the loan to the fair value...

Banks Facing More Housing Woes.
January 12, 2009... NEW YORK-U.S. banks are continuing to struggle with housing-related credit woes, and the slowing economy has only exacerbated consumer credit problems, according to a report from Canadian-based rating agency DBRS. Analyzing third quarter...

Analyst Still Bearish on Financials.
January 12, 2009... WALTHAM, MA-HIS Global Insight, an economic and financial forecasting firm, remains bearish about the prospect for financial stocks this year. The company has an "underweight" recommendation for the financial sector in the U.S. and Europe....

Fed Buys First GSE MBS.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-The Federal Reserve Board purchased $10.2 billion in GSE mortgage-backed securities last week, kicking off a $500 billion effort to increase liquidity in the mortgage market and reduce loan rates for...

ACORN Likes Obama Moratorium.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon WASHINGTON-In a conference call to discuss its "ACORN 2009 Agenda," the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said it is committed to making President-elect Barack Obama's 90-day moratorium on...

Mortgages CauseDrop in Ratings.
January 12, 2009... CHICAGO-In downgrading its ratings on Carmel, Ind.-based insurance company Conseco Inc., Fitch Ratings' office here cites concerns with the company's commercial and residential mortgage investments. Fitch cut Conseco's issuer default rating...

PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: JOHN A. COURSON.
January 12, 2009... Mr. Courson has taken over as president and chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association as of Jan. 1. Most recently, Mr. Courson was MBA's chief operating officer. He succeeds Jonathan L. Kempner, who in July announced that he would...

Banks, Others Get FASB Impairment Break.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-The Financial Accounting Standards Board approved changes to its impairment guidance last week that should reduce the amount of charges banks and other holders of mortgage-backed securities have to report...

OPEN FORUM: Stop the Downward Spiral.
January 12, 2009... Byline: James Lockhartdirector, Federal Housing Finance Agency Mr. Lockhart's Remarks At A Press Conference In Washington Where He Discussed A New Streamlined Loan Modification Program Are Presented As Our Open Forum. As housing prices...

Pending Home Sales Drop Again.
January 12, 2009... WASHINGTON-The skittish economy is affecting future home sales, declared the National Association of Realtors in connection with its Pending Home Sales Index, which fell 4% between October and November to the lowest point since the trade group...

Wells Drops Wholesale B&C.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein DES MOINES, IA-In a move that is probably more symbolic than anything else, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage here has decided to "temporarily suspend" the purchase of nonconforming mortgage loans through its wholesale...

EDITORIAL: Rays of Hope.(Editorial)
January 12, 2009... Are there any rays of hope to be found in the truly dismal third quarter delinquency report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association? Yes, but you have to look hard for them. Alaska, for example. The nation's biggest state (by land...

SourceMedia's Editors Take a Look at What 2009 May Bring.
January 12, 2009... The year just passed was one of the most remarkable on record for the financial services industry. Indeed, for many market participants, the changes witnessed over the previous 12 months were once thought inconceivable. Bear Stearns and Lehman...

More than One Reason behind 'Non-Monetary' Foreclosures.(Housing Scene)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman WASHINGTON--The plight of Joe Wurzelbacher, the Toledo, Ohio, plumber who received far more than his 15 minutes of fame during the presidential debates, highlights what few people realize when they take out a...

Paulson, MBA Weigh in on Future of Fan/Fred.
January 12, 2009... WASHINGTON -Declaring that the secondary mortgage market is "broken," the Mortgage Bankers Association has formed a working group to explore what lies ahead for the industry in regard to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and related issues. MBA's...

Are Fed's Initial MBS Buys a Move toward 'Normal' Market?(Smart Streets)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock The much-touted Federal Reserve plan to buy mortgage-backed securities had done a lot before it even got underway last week and at press time last Thursday - the morning before the Fed's release of information on the...

Reaction Mixed to U.K. Rescue.(International Mortgages)
January 12, 2009... LONDON-The United Kingdom government's plan to underwrite certain deferred mortgage interest for up to two years may have negative "liquidity and credit implications for U.K. residential mortgage-backed securities transactions" as well as...

NAHB Gains RESPA Delay.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-The National Association of Home Builders has asked a U.S district court to block the government from implementing a RESPA rule that bans builders from offering discounts to homebuyers who use the builder's...

It's Not Easy to Start Buying Assets.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Kate Berry, American Banker CALABASAS, CA-It has taken Stanford Kurland a lot longer than he expected to build an operation from scratch to buy and service distressed mortgages. "I'm working a lot harder than I thought," said...

New Firm Hopes to Auction Bulk REO Portfolios.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon SURPRISE, AZ-The director of operations for a new bulk REO website, which is slated for launch in February, has high hopes the new endeavor will help simplify and expedite real estate auction sales for institutional...

Prominent RE Exec Steven Good Dies.
January 12, 2009... CHICAGO-Commercial real estate firm Sheldon Good & Co. Auctions International LLC marked last week's passing of its 52-year-old chairman and chief executive officer, Steven L. Good - a globally known author and philanthropist - by closing all...

REO Vendor Advances Mobile Technology for Contractors.
January 12, 2009... TAMPA, FL-Mortgage Contracting Services, a provider of property preservation and inspection services to the mortgage industry, has launched updated mobile technology that lets contractors upload information from the field on a real-time basis....

Agency Warehouse Lines?
January 12, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-Two years ago - when the mortgage market was still reasonably healthy - the idea of allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide warehouse credit to primary lenders would've been slapped down by industry...

Body Blow for Wholesale.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-The future of wholesale lending took yet another turn for the worse last week with the announcement by JPMorgan Chase - the nation's largest table funder - that it will no longer originate broker-sourced...

NEWS ANALYSIS: Citi Deal a Stretch.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo NEW YORK-Will Citigroup have any chance whatsoever of separating out its subprime mortgage division and unloading it as a consumer finance company? That was one question investment bankers and mortgage professionals...

A Ginnie Expansion? Top Residential Wholesalers in 3Q 08.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Kate Berry, American Banker WASHINGTON-The president of the Government National Mortgage Association, says his agency could fill a gap left by federal programs designed to resolve the housing crisis. All the agency needs is a little...

Industry Hates Cramdown.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-Citigroup says it negotiated a good legislative deal that allows bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages, but most industry groups are not signing on. "We are not participants in the recent agreement...

Bernanke SeesMore Options.
January 19, 2009... LONDON-If the Treasury supplements injections of capital by removing troubled assets such as mortgages from institutions' balance sheets, as was originally proposed for the U.S. financial rescue plan, Treasury may consider public purchases, as...

MBA Is Now in Favor of Federal Regulator.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein NEW YORK-The Mortgage Bankers Association is now supporting the creation of a national mortgage regulator, the group's chief executive, John Courson, said in a meeting with the SourceMedia Mortgage Group editorial...

'Bold Effort' On Foreclosures.
January 19, 2009... WASHINGTON-The incoming administration of Barack Obama wants to make the FHA Hope for Homeowners program and the FDIC loan modification program key elements of its "bold" foreclosure prevention plan, according to Shaun Donovan, the nominee to...

Congress to Spruce Up FHA.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-With the Federal Housing Administration approaching a 30% share of the mortgage market and more lenders seeking approval to make FHA single-family loans, Congress is finally taking an interest in making...

Fed: Time to Buy Bad Loans.
January 19, 2009... WASHINGTON-It looks as though the government might be using taxpayer money to buy troubled mortgages after all. The vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board said last week that the Treasury Department should consider buying troubled...

Notices of CA Defaults Double.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon DISOVERY BAY, CA-Notices of default in California have rebounded from the stall caused by California State Senate Bill 1137, according to the latest California foreclosure report and year-end summary from...

Reverse Mortgage Volume Is Holding Up Well.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-Originations of the reverse mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration are holding up well in this turbulent market, according to fourth-quarter data. FHA endorsed 27,653 reverse mortgages...

AMCs Get Ready for New Code of Conduct.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein NEW YORK-Appraisal management companies are beginning to gear up for when the government-sponsored enterprises will begin to comply with the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. There is already one company,...

LandAm CEODeparts Post.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein RICHMOND, VA-Now that bankrupt LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. here has disposed of its title underwriting units, its chairman and chief executive, Theodore L. Chandler Jr., was expected to leave the company on...

NovaStar Settles Shareholder Suit.
January 19, 2009... KANSAS CITY, MO-NovaStar Financial here has entered into a $7.25 million cash settlement of a shareholder lawsuit filed in 2004. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division and covers...

OPEN FORUM: Behind the GSE Takeover.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury Mr. Paulson's remarks on the role of the GSEs in supporting the housing recovery before the Economic Club of Washington are presented as our Open Forum. Mr. Paulson's remarks on the role...

PEOPLE.
January 19, 2009... GEORGIA Atlanta-Beazer Homes USA Inc. appointed Kenneth F. Khoury as executive vice president and general counsel. Most recently, Mr. Khoury was executive vice president and general counsel of Delta Air Lines from September 2006 to...

FHLB to Report Cap Deficiency.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Steven Sloan, American Banker WASHINGTON-Dragged down by losses related to private-label mortgage-backed securities, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle said last Monday that it expects to fall below regulatory capital minimums as...

Restoring the Integrity of Mortgage-Backed Security Data.(Smart Streets)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock While groups like the American Securitization Forum and the Mortgage Bankers Association have been working on "what" to do to restore liquidity to the mortgage-backed security market through the distribution of more...

New Internet Auctions Might Help Sell REO.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman LOS ANGELES-A new concept for auctioning residential real estate is being tried here at a downtown condominium. If it proves successful, the Internet-based system could be a boon for lenders everywhere who need to...

Earthquake Would Accelerate CA Meltdown.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon CHICAGO-As a result of not having mandatory earthquake insurance in California, a new report from an advisor says high levels of mortgage defaults would take place in the state if a major earthquake occurred there....

EDITORIAL: An Immediate Danger.(Editorial)
January 19, 2009... President-elect Barack Obama is entitled to savor the pomp and circumstance of his historic installation as president tomorrow, as well as the support of millions of expected citizens wishing him well and the elegance of the many inaugural...

Lenders Use Lock-in Fees.
January 19, 2009... WASHINGTON-Selected lenders are beginning to charge "rate lock" fees to both consumers and loan brokers, according to industry participants. One mortgage executive, requesting anonymity, said his current servicer, Chase of Iselin, N.J.,...

Foreclosures Up 81%.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon IRVINE, CA-The 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac here shows a total of 3,157,806 foreclosure filings were reported on 2,330,483 U.S. properties during the year, an 81% increase from 2007 and a 225%...

Mortgage Trades Hurt JPM.
January 19, 2009... NEW YORK-Continued writedowns on mortgage trading positions and leveraged loans totaling $2.9 billion pretax contributed "largely" to "disappointing" fourth-quarter results at JPMorgan Chase, but the company also noted that there were some...

Fixed Rate Drops Below 5%.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano MCLEAN, VA-For the first time ever, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has averaged under 5%, standing at 4.96% last week, according to Freddie Mac. The rate decrease has some optimistic about overall industry...

Phoenix Capital Using Compass Analytic.
January 19, 2009... DENVER-Phoenix Capital here, a provider of servicing analytics, will begin using Compass's CompassPoint technology in determining the value of mortgage servicing rights. CompassPoint will be used by Phoenix as the cash flow engine and...

PMI: Price Drop Risk Broadens.
January 19, 2009... WALNUT CREEK, CA-A quarterly index that attempts to quantify the risk that housing prices will deteriorate over the next two years shows that the likelihood of further home value declines has broadened. The index, created by mortgage...

FirstAm Does E-Post-Closing.
January 19, 2009... SANTA ANA, CA-Realizing the demand for more meticulous post-closing practices, First American Document Solutions here has launched ePostClosing.com, its new online portal designed to help lenders and servicers reduce their post-closing document...

IT Spending Likely to Suffer.
January 19, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano ATLANTA-The William Mills Agency here released its sixth annual Bankers as Buyers Survey, confirming as research done by MORTECH and others has that lenders will be spending less on technology this year as...