National Mortgage News articles from July 2003

National Mortgage News archives from July 2003

Inside Track.
July 7, 2003... OPEN FORUM Tighter Oversight for GSEs 4 COMMERCIAL Two Office REITs Bring IPOs to Market 8 SECURITIZATION GSE MBS Manager: Dislocations Lie Ahead 9 SALES CLIMB Sales of new single-family homes climbed 12.5%...

Comparing Earnings At Freddie vs. Fannie.
July 7, 2003... The news that Freddie Mac is restating past earnings by as much as $4.5 billion should be distressing not only to the company's directors, but to Fannie Mae's board as well. According to an analysis of earnings reports of the two conducted...

Is Self-Insuring an Issue at Freddie?
July 7, 2003... Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., is asking Freddie Mac's regulator to look into a possible charter violation by the government-sponsored enterprise involving self-insured risk. Recent disclosures by Freddie Mac revealed that the secondary...

Freddie Mac Underreported By Up to $4.5B.
July 7, 2003... Freddie Mac said it underreported its after-tax earnings by as much as $4.5 billion over the past three years, but it still could not tell investors what its earnings were for 2002 or the first quarter of this year. Freddie Mac chief...

Fairbanks Isn't Only Drag on PMI Profits.
July 7, 2003... Leaders at the PMI Group have reason to be preoccupied by the company's investment in Fairbanks Capital, but in a recent conference call they acknowledged that the company's mortgage insurance business is taking some hits as well. The PMI...

Delinquency Rates: Mixed in 1Q.
July 7, 2003... Overall: 4.52%, down 1bp Conventional prime: 2.62%, down 3bp FHA insured: 11.65%, up 20bp VA guaranteed: 7.89%, up 7bp Subprime: 12.40%, down 89bp Note: Quarterly changes...

Freddie Out Earning the Bigger Fannie?
July 7, 2003... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Company 2002 2001 2000 Name Earnings Earnings Earnings Freddie Mac $5,764 ...

U.S. Mortgage-Backed Securities Managers: CSFB Heads the Pack.
July 7, 2003... (part 1 of 2) 4/1/03 - 6/30/03 Proceeds* Market # of Managers ($Mil) Share Issues Credit Suisse 1st Boston 24,686.60 ...

Co-Founder, Former Chairman of Countrywide Dies.
July 7, 2003... David S. Loeb, the co-founder and former chairman of Countrywide Credit Industries Inc. (now Countrywide Financial Corp.) died on June 30 at his home here. He was 79. Mr. Loeb, along with Angelo Mozilo, co-founded the Calabasas,...

Bush Backing FCRA Extension.
July 7, 2003... The Bush administration is backing a permanent extension of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, but it also wants Congress to provide more consumer protections that could prove troublesome for lenders. "With the right additions, we can better...

OMB Doing Informal Review On RESPA Rule?
July 7, 2003... Expectations are growing that the Department of Housing and Urban Development is going to issue a rule that would revamp the mortgage application and settlement process later this summer. And a Washington lobbyist recently reported that HUD...

Foreclosure Level Hits Record, But Overall Late Payments Decline.
July 7, 2003... If the economy is on the mend, it hasn't done much to reduce the residential mortgage default rate. But it's just as easy to look at the most recent delinquency data and see a glass that's half full. In the first quarter of this year, the...

Survey Says: Rates Will Rise.
July 7, 2003... A survey of bond market economists shows that they expect accelerating economic growth to push 30-year mortgage rates up to 6.0% by next June, while home sales remain at record levels. "Any adverse effect of a rising mortgage rate...

Indian Summer.
July 7, 2003... As the first half of this amazing mortgage year closes and the second begins, the mortgage industry is enjoying the Indian Summer of the most favorable environment for lending in most people's lifetimes. Like those days of early autumn...

Tighter Oversight for GSEs.
July 7, 2003... Excerpts of chairman Baker's opening statement at a June 25 hearing on regulatory oversight of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are presented as our Open Forum. June 15, 2002, was an important day in the history of our economy. On that day the...

Longer-Term Rates Appear Headed Upward After Fed Cut.
July 7, 2003... The Fed had lowered short-term rates, but bond yields indicative of the longer-term rates that most of the mortgage market is pegged to were on the rise at press time last week. So, now that the geopolitical uncertainty that ruled the...

Goldman Gets Boost from MBS.
July 7, 2003... Goldman Sachs saw net revenue in its fixed income, currency and commodities area produce net revenue of $1.59 billion in the most recent quarter, its second best ever in those business lines. The company said the increase, which was a 39%...

Mortgages Mixed Blessing for NE Banks.
July 7, 2003... Despite pressure on net interest margins and a lack of growth in commercial lending, banking institutions in the Northeast should report profit gains in the second quarter, according to analysts with Sandler O'Neill. But the mortgage...

MH Servicing Scrutiny Increases.
July 7, 2003... With the manufactured housing industry continuing to face a glut of foreclosures, loan servicing practices are coming under increasing scrutiny. Recently, Fannie Mae amended its rules that apply to manufactured housing lenders oting that...

Barrier to Clayton Buy Lifted.
July 7, 2003... Clayton Homes Inc., a builder and financer of manufactured housing, won a decision from the Delaware Chancery Court, which ruled the company does not have to hold an annual meeting before a planned July 16 special meeting to vote on the...

At a Glance: Northeast Bank and Thrift Institutions 'Most Likely to Report EPS Upside Surprises'.
July 7, 2003... BankNorth Group (NYSE: BNK) Dime Community Bancshares (OTC: DCOM) New York Community Bancorp (NYSE: NYB) Staten Island Bancorp (NYSE: SIB) Source: Sandler O'Neill Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

Roundup: Two Office REITs Bring Their Initial Public Offerings to Market.
July 7, 2003... NEW YORK-Two office real estate investment trusts made initial public offerings of common stock on June 25, both of which were well received. The Jenkintown, Pa.-based American Financial Realty Trust, focusing on acquiring properties...

Roundup: GSE MBS Manager Says Dislocations May Lie Ahead.
July 7, 2003... NEW YORK-A Freddie Mac mortgage portfolio manager warned on June 25 that he believes interest rate and-or credit-related market dislocations may lie ahead and promised that the government-sponsored enterprise would support the market if they...

Roundup: S&P Revises Criteria for MH Loans in Residential Securitizations.
July 7, 2003... NEW YORK-Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has announced a revision of the criteria it applies to manufactured housing mortgage loans in residential mortgage-backed securities. Effective for transactions closing on or after July 1, S&P is...

MA REIT Dispute Ends.
July 7, 2003... A dispute between the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and most state banks affected by a law that closed a popular tax loophole has ended. The law made banks responsible for all taxes that had been avoided since Dec. 31, 1999. Alan...

PMI Group Looking at FGIC?
July 7, 2003... In a conference call with analysts, leaders of the PMI Group here were asked to comment on a rumor that PMI may lead an investment group seeking to buy FGIC, a financial guaranty firm. While PMI officials did not comment directly on the...

S&P Places GEMICO on CreditWatch Negative.
July 7, 2003... Standard & Poor's has put GE Mortgage Insurance Corp., Raleigh, N.C., on CreditWatch Negative and threatened to drop the "AAA" rated mortgage insurer (one of only two with that rating) down to "AA+." S&P said the move was made because of...

Mortgage Industry Equity Composite.
July 7, 2003... MIEC Index: 166.3 Change: 0.8 (part 1 of 3) 6/19/03 7/2/03 Wkly % Chg Alltel (AT) 48.84 50.00 2% Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC)71.21 70.56...

Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms.
July 7, 2003... B&C Stock Price Index: 215.3 Change: -1.7 (part 1 of 3) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi Aames (AMSF) 0.35 3.47 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.05 15.86 ...

The MBA Nominates Its First Elected Female Officer.
July 7, 2003... The Mortgage Bankers Association has nominated Regina Lowrie to be its first elected female officer, placing her in line to become the association's first chairwoman in October 2005. The founder, president and chief executive of Gateway...

Promotion Spotlight: Jonathan Kempner.
July 7, 2003... The Mortgage Bankers Association of America's board of directors, at a meeting held at the association's annual President's Conference, named Mr. Kempner president and chief executive officer. Mr. Kempner previously served as president and...

Florida AG Files vs. Lehman.
July 7, 2003... The state attorney general here has filed a complaint against Lehman Commercial Paper, an affiliate of Lehman Brothers, for its role in funding the abusive loan practices of First Alliance Mortgage Co. The merits of the case are very...

CSFB Named Top MBS Underwriter.
July 7, 2003... Credit Suisse First Boston took the lead in the rankings of mortgage-backed securities underwriters in the second quarter, edging out UBS Warburg, according to Thomson Financial, a National Mortgage News affiliate. MBS deal volume totaled...

FHFB Urged to Get Justice Dept. Ruling.
July 7, 2003... Two senators are urging the Federal Housing Finance Board to get a legal opinion from the Department of Justice before it advances a proposal dealing with multidistrict memberships. Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Christopher Bond,...

Subprime Residential Lending Volume Leaders Q1-03.
July 7, 2003... (Dollars in Mils) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Household Fin'l Svcs (E) (1) Prospect Heights, IL 2 CitiFinancial Baltimore, MD 3 New Century Financial Corp....

Production Consolidation 1993-2000: Mixed Signals?
July 7, 2003... Lender Period Combined Mkt Sh (1) No. of Funders Category For Mkt Sh of Group of Retailers in Res Industry (*) Top 5 2002 42.80% 15.90% 7,660 (e) Top 5 ...

Inside Track.
July 14, 2003... OPEN FORUM FCRA Expands Access to Credit 4 EQUITIES Mortgage Pipelines Remain Full 8 TECHNOLOGY ABN Amro Selects RealEC's iSelect 10 SPECIAL REPORT Warehouse Lending In many ways, going to a warehouse...

CA Home Rush Is On.
July 14, 2003... California's homebuilders will produce more houses this year and next than they have at any time in nearly 15 years. But it still won't be enough to make up for a shortage of new construction that has persisted since the 1990s or the demand...

ABFS Fires 150 and Moves.
July 14, 2003... American Business Financial Services Inc., having laid off 150 employees, has relocated its corporate headquarters here from Bala Cynwyd, Pa. It will relocate 700 of its 917 full-time employees to the new facility by the end of August. This is...

Hot Pace for 2nd Lien MBS.
July 14, 2003... Issuance of second-lien mortgage-backed securities reached more than $6.5 billion in the first quarter, putting this segment of the market on track for a record-breaking year, Moody's Investors Service here has reported. "The higher...

Freddie Up, Fannie Down In Purchases.
July 14, 2003... Is Freddie Mac starting to gain back some of its lost market share? It may be too early to tell, but loan purchase figures for May show that Freddie's acquisitions increased by $13.1 billion while Fannie Mae's fell by about $10 billion. ...

CSFB Looks At GMACCM.
July 14, 2003... Credit Suisse First Boston is conducting due diligence on GMAC Commercial Mortgage here, the nation's largest commercial lender and servicer, sources told National Mortgage News late last week. According to one commercial official, "CSFB is...

Is Crash Landing in Store?
July 14, 2003... Mortgage Bankers Association of America chairman John Courson believes the industry will not have a "soft landing" when the current refi boom ends. Speaking at the Western Secondary Market and Mortgage Bankers Conference in San Francisco,...

Fannie Mae Mortgage Purchases 2002-2003.
July 14, 2003... ($ in Mils) (part 1 of 3) Year/ Mort. Port. Portfolio Multi- Month Holdings Growth Rate Family(1) Sept $751,423 8.90% $406 Oct $751,347 ...

Freddie Mac Mortgage Holdings-Purchases.
July 14, 2003... ($ in Mils) (2002-2003) (part 1 of 2) Year/ Total Retained PCs Held Port. Grwth Month Portfolio in Port Rate(1) Sept $530,694 $327,835 3.60% Oct ...

Congressman Proposes Consolidation of GSE Oversight at Treasury.
July 14, 2003... As Congress considers how to strengthen supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it appears another government-sponsored enterprise - the Federal Home Loan Banks - is going to get caught up in the debate. Rep dward Royce, R-Calif., is...

Bush Backs Pre-Emption of States on Credit Reporting.
July 14, 2003... The Bush administration is backing a bipartisan bill in the House that would permanently ban states from interfering with federal standards on consumer credit reporting. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., and Rep. Darlene...

Wall Street Banker Is Pick to Fill Treasury Post Dealing with GSEs.
July 14, 2003... President George Bush announced his intention to nominate Wall Street investment banker Kenneth H. M. Leet to be Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, succeeding Peter Fisher. However, Mr. Fisher will probably remain at his post...

Clarke Resigns from E*Trade Board.
July 14, 2003... Former Freddie Mac executive vice president Vaughn A. Clarke, who left the government-sponsored enterprise during its audit-related management shakeup earlier this month, has resigned from the board of E*Trade Group Inc. here, a recent...

The Predatory Puzzle.
July 14, 2003... It is a puzzle: predatory lending often targets communities of the underserved that think they have no other access to finance. And these communities are ill-served by the transition from no finance to bad finance. Of course, this happens...

FCRA Expands Access to Credit.
July 14, 2003... Secretary Snow recently spoke about the renewal of the Fair Credit Reporting Act at the Treasury Department xcerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. The uniform national standards in the Fair Credit Reporting Act expire...

Prepayment Speeds Cause TBA Callability Worries.
July 14, 2003... Although rate-indicative bond yields had been slightly higher as of press time last week and could theoretically quell refis in the long term, I think that - given the recent June prepayment report - it's safe to say the market's concern with...

Evolution of Fannie and Freddie Creates 'Unique Concentration of Risks'.
July 14, 2003... To the editor: From the time of its establishment in 1968 as a government-sponsored enterprise through 1980, Fannie Mae's operating structure was nothing more than that of a giant S&L. It raised deposits on Wall Street via...

Mortgage Pipelines Remain Full.
July 14, 2003... Analysts who cover the mortgage banking industry see little evidence that refinancing "burnout" has dampened mortgage lending business. In fact, with long-term interest rates slipping to their lowest level in nearly half a century,...

Positive Aspect to Freddie Restatement.
July 14, 2003... Freddie Mac, which announced in late June that its financial restatement process will likely increase retained earnings by $1.5 billion to $4.5 billion, will see an increase in its book value when it releases the restatement during the third...

WaMu's 'Aggressive Growth Seems Intact'.
July 14, 2003... At a recent investors meeting, Washington Mutual reiterated its earnings guidance, and at least one analyst says the firm's aggressive growth strategy remains intact. In a recent report to investors, Citigroup Smith Barney's Matthew Vetto...

ABN Amro Selects RealEC's iSelect Decisioning Platform.
July 14, 2003... ABN Amro Mortgage Group here has chosen the e-commerce Exchange from Santa Ana, Calif.-based RealEC Technologies as its bundling solution for its One-Fee Services division. The lender will also use RealEC's iSelect tool to manage the settlement...

AVM Acceptance Poised to Grow.
July 14, 2003... "The growth prospects for insured-valuation products are very good, as they gain acceptance at the pilot level by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors." So said Shawn McGowan, executive vice president and chief strategic officer for...

LandAmerica Financial Looking Abroad for New Title Insurance Opportunities.
July 14, 2003... LandAmerica Financial Group, Richmond, Va., has been expanding its reach abroad, setting up ventures to underwrite commercial land title insurance in Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. Although its Israeli venture, LandIsrael...

Roundup: Foreclosure Auctions Resume in Beijing after SARS Scare.
July 14, 2003... The office of the China Huarong Asset Management Corp. here has reported that its foreclosure real estate auction activity has resumed, ending a disruption in that business caused by the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in the city...

Deadline for Basel Comments.
July 14, 2003... A key comment period for proposed Basel II international risk weighting standards will close at the end of July, Diane Hilleard, manager of the United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority, told attendees at the American Securitization Forum's...

Australia Delays 'Mortgage Duty'.
July 14, 2003... The introduction of an Australian Capital Territory mortgage duty that Standard & Poor's had feared would constrain issuers of residential securitizations has been delayed in response to industry concerns. The legislation, originally...

Morgan Buys Stake in Firm.
July 14, 2003... Morgan Stanley here has reported that it will acquire a majority of the U.S. real estate equity investment businesses of Lend Lease Corp., Sydney, Australia. E. Davisson Hardman, who previously ran Morgan Stanley's Asian real estate...

Citigroup Commits $3 Bil for Neighborhood Assistance.
July 14, 2003... Citigroup Mortgage has turned a market-tested partnership with the Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America into a $3 billion, 10-year commitment for affordable housing lending for low- and moderate-income borrowers who graduate from NACA's...

WaMu Starts Closing Cost Program.
July 14, 2003... Washington Mutual is starting a $1 million program to help American Indians with closing costs on reservation mortgages. The program, announced at the annual meeting here of the National American Indian Housing Council, will provide up to...

Fannie Mae Facilitates Financing for Small Apartment Properties.
July 14, 2003... Lenders interested in creating a secondary market link to affordable housing have a choice. Fannie Mae is emphasizing the need to expand its network of lenders dedicated to funding smaller-size, affordable housing loans that are repackaged and...

MBA Launches Ownership Site.
July 14, 2003... The Mortgage Bankers Association of America initiated Homeownership Month celebrations launching "The Resource Center for Expanding Homeownership" website designed to provide data resources about borrowers in emerging markets across the...

SEC Backs Registration of Federal Home Loan Bank Debt.
July 14, 2003... The Securities and Exchange Commission can accommodate the concerns of the Federal Home Loan Banks in devising a securities disclosure system, according to a high ranking SEC official. "The FHLBank System is one of the largest issuers of...

Regulators Extend Counseling Mandate.
July 14, 2003... Federal regulators have updated their examination procedures for determining if lenders and servicers are properly notifying delinquent borrowers that homeownership counseling is available. The update notes a decision by Congress to repeal...

Study Says N.C. Lending Law Has Not Blocked Credit.
July 14, 2003... The Center for Community Capitalism here at the University of North Carolina has found that the North Carolina anti-predatory lending law has not reduced access to subprime credit, and that it has curbed predatory lending. The Center for...

Warehouse Lending: Providing Liquidity.
July 14, 2003... In many ways, going to a warehouse lender to fund a loan is like going to a well to draw a pail of water. The supply is there for originators for when they need it. However, that supply should not be taken for granted. Consider the saying...

Warehouse Commitments Continue to Boom, GMAC-RFC Leads Pack.
July 14, 2003... Lyndon Merkle, president of First Collateral Services, Concord, Calif., has never, ever seen a year like 2003 ot only are First Collateral's warehouse commitments going through the roof, but each month the company struggles to add new employees...

NJ Predatory Law Cause of Concern.
July 14, 2003... Popular Warehouse Lending hears trouble knocking on its front door. The New Jersey-based company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Popular Inc., already withdrew from Georgia because of a broad predatory lending law ow, with the assignee...

Size of Warehouse Market.
July 14, 2003... Measured in Commitments 1999-2002 (Dollars in Millions) Commitments Period Ourtstanding Year-end 2002(e) $55,200 Year-end 2001 $48,043 Year-end 2000 ...

Top Residential Warehouse Lenders.
July 14, 2003... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Company Name Location 1 GMAC Residential Funding/RFC Bethesda, MD 2 Bank of America Dallas, TX 3 Washington...

WarehouseOne Combines Warehouse Lending With Back-Office Fulfillment.
July 14, 2003... Reaching out to a growing number of broker-to-banker clients, WarehouseOne Inc., West Trenton, N.J., has introduced LoanPro Partners, a beta-tested initiative that combines traditional warehouse lending services with a Real Estate Settlement...

National Mortgage Capital Exec: Brokers Preparing For Shift To Banker.
July 14, 2003... Even though the Department of Housing and Urban Development-proposed rules have not been finalized, a number of mortgage brokers are preparing for the eventuality. This includes seeking warehouse lines of credit so they can close in their own...

Warehouse Commitment Volume Leaders in '00.
July 14, 2003... (Dollars in Miliions) Commitments Commitments Percent Warehouse Lender in '00 in '99 Change Bank of America $7,500 $6,300 19% GMAC-RFC...

New Century Ups Warehouse Capacity.
July 14, 2003... New Century Financial Corp. here has increased its warehouse funding capabilities by $750 million to a total of $4.5 billion. By provider, the line from Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Inc. increased from $900 million to $1.3 billion. ...

Exec: Warehouse Providers Looking For Originator Assurances.
July 14, 2003... Warehouse lines have been in high demand as originators have struggled to keep up with the market's high volumes, according to William L. Beschel, principal at Warehousing Advisory Services Inc., Los Angeles. But warehouse providers,...

Freddie Mac Dismisses Ex-Comptroller.
July 14, 2003... A former comptroller at Freddie Mac who a year ago moved over to the business side of the company has been let go by the secondary market giant. For now, Freddie Mac is saying little about the departure of Gregory Reynolds who according to...

Third Avenue Voting Against Purchase.
July 14, 2003... Another shareholder of Clayton Homes has come out in opposition to the acquisition of the company by Berkshire Hathaway, Omaha, Neb. Third Avenue Management LLC here said it will vote against the deal to acquire the Knoxville, Tenn.,...

Commercial AVMs Haven't Taken Off.
July 14, 2003... The use of Automated Valuation Models in home appraisals has taken off, but they are at a preliminary stage of use when it comes to commercial property valuations. Essentially, this is technology that assesses the value of a property...

Kentucky Law Prompts Fitch Move.
July 14, 2003... Fitch Ratings will not rate residential mortgage-backed securities containing high-cost loans from the state of Kentucky, the rating agency announced on June 27 - just three days after the state's anti-predatory lending law went into effect....