National Mortgage News articles from July 2004

National Mortgage News archives from July 2004

Inside Track.
July 12, 2004... TECHONLGY First American Buying Basis100 15 COMMERCIAL MORTGAGES Is Taubman's 1998 Restructuring Open To Legal Challenge? 20 AFFORDABLE HOUSING Providing Homebuyers With An Electronic Learning Center 21 JOBS...

Washington Mutual Lowers Guidance.
July 12, 2004... Washington Mutual has lowered its earnings guidance for 2004, saying that expectations for a "sustained increase in long-term interest rates" will significantly impact its mortgage banking results. Higher rates have lowered the company's...

Top Residential Wholesalers In Q1 2004.
July 12, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 Wells Fargo Home...

Top Correspondent Lenders In Q1 2004.
July 12, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 Wells Fargo Home Mortg. ...

NAMB & HUD Eyeing RESPA.
July 12, 2004... The National Association of Mortgage Brokers had a "cordial" first meeting with representatives of the Department of Housing and Urban Development over the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act's reproposal, according to NAMB president Bob...

Chicago MPF Program May Face Limits.
July 12, 2004... Federal regulators have taken aim at the Mortgage Partnership Finance program and they have directed the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago to cap the growth of its mortgage portfolio at 10% a year. Under a supervisory agreement with the...

Fraud Seen as 'Epidemic'.
July 12, 2004... There has been a notable increase in mortgage identity theft and application fraud, according to fraud prevention technology vendors who spoke as part of a panel on high-tech lending fraud recently. "A year-and-a-half ago we started doing...

Castaneda Makes Her Mark.
July 12, 2004... For someone who would prefer to stay out of the headlines, Alicia Castaneda is sure shaking up the Federal Home Loan Banks in the brief time she has served as the chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board. In a few short months, the...

Freddie Releases Earnings, Says Return to Normal Will Take Time.
July 12, 2004... Freddie Mac reported decent earnings for 2003 despite its accounting woes but it also warned that its efforts to return to regular and timely financial reporting will take longer than expected. The giant mortgage company posted $4.9 billion...

Freddie Mac's 2003 Earnings.
July 12, 2004... ($ in millions) 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q $2,270 $2,510 -$288 $406 Source: Freddie Mac Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com...

OCC: Banks' Loan Investments a Concern.
July 12, 2004... National banks have been loading up on mortgage loans and securities over the past few years and they could get into trouble as interest rates rise, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. "A number of banks have chased...

HUD Dismisses AH Goal Suggestions by Fannie, Dems.
July 12, 2004... Housing secretary Alphonso Jackson has brushed aside suggestions by Fannie Mae and House Democrats to take a new approach to setting the affordable housing goals. In a meeting with secretary Jackson, Fannie Mae chairman and chief executive...

The Wild, Wild West.
July 12, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission in its wisdom has recommended that hedge funds be registered, which, if it happens, could be considered the equivalent of a wild west town getting its first marshal. The mortgage industry's stake in...

Fighting Predatory Lending.
July 12, 2004... Sen. Sarbanes recently spoke before "The Community Law Center First Annual Regional Conference on Predatory Lending" in Baltimore. Excerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. I want to begin by thanking the Community Law Center...

Fed Raises Rates, GSEs and Banks Appear to Face Market Changes.
July 12, 2004... Short-term rates have risen, long-term rates have fallen, Freddie Mac has released earnings but is not quite back to normal, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago is facing new challenges with a new leader. As you'll note while reading...

MBA: Apps Rose During Week.
July 12, 2004... The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, jumped from 575.0 to 687.0 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended July 2, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications...

Cendant Corp. May Sell Mortgage Units.
July 12, 2004... Cendant Corp. here said that it will consider strategic options that include the sale of its mortgage origination platform and its mortgage servicing business. However, the company said any transaction would be aimed at preserving "the...

Regulators Focused on Basel II Capital Accord.
July 12, 2004... Federal regulators have taken another step towards adoption of the Basel II capital accord for the largest U.S. banks and they finally made a commitment to review the existing risk-based capital standards for other domestic banks. The...

Ex-Bear Senior Managing Director Starts Firm.
July 12, 2004... Industry veteran, Dale Kurland, a former senior managing director at Bear Stearns, has formed a new advisory firm, hoping to tap what could be a hot merger market for mortgage companies in the next few years. "We anticipate a robust market...

Vets Eligible For FHA Break.
July 12, 2004... The Department of Housing and Urban Development is reminding lenders that veterans are eligible for special treatment under the Federal Housing Administration single-family loan program. The 3% cash investment generally required to get a...

Wells Fargo Denies ACORN Allegations of Predatory Lending.
July 12, 2004... The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now has filed a lawsuit in Superior Court of California here against Wells Fargo on claims of alleged predatory lending, allegations the lender promptly denied. The complaint, which was...

MICA MI Levels Decrease Slightly.
July 12, 2004... The members of the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America here wrote $19.3 billion of new primary mortgage insurance in May, down slightly over 1% from April's $19.4 billion. In May 2003, MICA members wrote $35.4 billion, but those numbers include...

Escrow Accounts Eyed in GSE Suit.
July 12, 2004... Four apartment investors have sued Fannie Mae, alleging the giant mortgage company improperly profited from the escrow accounts set aside for their Federal Housing Administration-insured multifamily loans. The plaintiffs claim the Federal...

S&P Changes Rules For Some NJ Loans.
July 12, 2004... Standard & Poor's Ratings Services here said that it is eliminating its previously published criteria for New Jersey "covered home loans" for loans originated on or after July 6. The criteria applied to home loans defined by New Jersey...

Downpayment Bill Hurt by Estimate.
July 12, 2004... The Bush administration's initiative to create a federally insured zero downpayment mortgage program is being sidelined by a "pessimistic" cost estimate. The Bush administration originally estimated that a Federal Housing Administration...

KeyBank Real Estate Capital Purchases American Capital Resource.
July 12, 2004... KeyBank Real Estate Capital has acquired American Capital Resource, an Atlanta-based originator and servicer of FHA and USDA multifamily and health care mortgages, in a bid to expand the permanent financing options it offers. The terms of the...

First American to Acquire Basis100 in Multimillion Dollar Deal.
July 12, 2004... The First American Corp. here said that it will acquire Basis100 Inc. in a deal including $33 million in cash and is expected to close in 3Q 2004 after shareholder approval. First American additionally will redeem outstanding Basis100...

Interfirst to Measure Broker Satisfaction.
July 12, 2004... InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending, a division of ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, has enlisted CFI Group consultants to help measure the customer satisfaction of its broker partners using a new relationship tool called SatisfactionFirst. The...

eAppraiseIT Takes Insured AVMs To Next Level.
July 12, 2004... eAppraiseIT here has released a new version of its insured automated valuation model product dubbed EagleCert that will provide lenders with what the company is calling "soft coverage" designed to protect the lender if the loan is rejected for...

Roundup: Fitch Downgrades One Class of GMACCMS Passthroughs.
July 12, 2004... Class J of GMAC Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc.'s mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1997-C1, has been downgraded from CCC to D by Fitch Ratings. The rating agency attributed the downgrade to $5.4 million of realized losses...

Calwest Downgrades.
July 12, 2004... Five classes of Calwest Industrial Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2002-CALW, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. The downgrades were as follows: class A-FL, from Aaa to Aa1; class A, from Aaa to...

Bristol Downgrades.
July 12, 2004... Two classes of notes issued by Bristol CDO I Ltd. have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. Class B was downgraded from AA to A-plus, and class C was downgraded from BBB to B. In addition, the ratings on classes A-1 and A-2 in the deal were...

Reviews for credit suisse.
July 12, 2004... Seven classes of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2001-FL2, are being reviewed for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. The affected certificates are...

CSFB off rating watch.
July 12, 2004... Five classes of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp.'s multifamily mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1995-M1, have been removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. The affected classes were as follows:...

Taubman's 1998 Restructuring Open to Legal Challenge?
July 12, 2004... An avenue appears to have opened up to challenge a 1998 restructuring of Taubman Centers which helped the Taubman management fend off a hostile bid from Simon Property Group last year. The law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman,...

Hines Interests Announces IPO.
July 12, 2004... Hines Interests Limited Partnership is making an initial public offering of 200 million shares of common stock in Hines Real Estate Investment Trust at $10 each and has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission...

JER Private Placement Raises $172 Mil.
July 12, 2004... JER Investors Trust, a newly formed associate of J.E. Robert Co., has sold 11.5 million shares of common stock for gross proceeds of $172.5 million in a private placement. JER Investors Trust will use the net proceeds from the offering to...

NYCB Sets Multifamily Volume Record.
July 12, 2004... Multifamily loan originations at New York Community Bancorp Inc. here totaled $1.5 billion in the second quarter, establishing a new record, and more than doubling the company's first-quarter 2004 production of $706 million. "As a result,...

Survey: CRE Pros Eyeing Rate Rise.
July 12, 2004... A nationwide survey of 134 commercial real estate professionals by Bryan Cave, a law firm, found that they are concerned about the effect of an increase in interest rates (the survey was conducted in April and May), according to Barry C. Ross,...

MBA Providing Online Learning Center for Consumers.
July 12, 2004... The Mortgage Bankers Association has launched the Home Loan Learning Center, a new consumer website (www.homeloanlearningcenter.com) that provides basic homebuying and homeownership information for interested consumers. Topics include the...

Targeting an Increase In Boston Homebuying.
July 12, 2004... Freddie Mac has joined forces with a coalition of nine nonprofit organizations to launch in the Boston area CreditSmart, a financial literacy campaign designed to help expand homeownership opportunities, particularly for minority families. ...

GMAC-RFC Moving Up in UK.
July 12, 2004... GMAC-RFC hopes to fund $10 billion in home mortgages in the United Kingdom this year, a 12% gain from last year. According to Chris Nordeen, president of GMAC-RFC's international business group, GMAC-RFC is now the 12th largest residential...

'Covered Bond Group Starting in Europe'.
July 12, 2004... Plans are underway to start a European covered bond council that will partner with the European Mortgage Federation, Louis Hagen, secretary general of German mortgage banking association Verband Deutscher Hypothekenbanken, told this...

US/Mexico Builder Venture a Go.
July 12, 2004... Builder trade groups in the United States and Mexico have formed an alliance. The agreement between the National Association of Home Builders here and Mexico's National Industry Chamber for Development and Promotion of Housing (Camara...

European GSEs Slow to Catch On.
July 12, 2004... Although the U.S.-style secondary market model is catching on in many parts of the world, the proposed creation of a European equivalent of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac continues to face opposition from some mortgage market participants. Most...

Firm Does Biggest UK Deal to Date.
July 12, 2004... GMAC-RFC has closed its largest United Kingdom mortgage securitization to date through its RMAC program, a multicurrency, mixed-collateral transaction with a total value equivalent to $2.7 billion. Barclays Capital and The Royal Bank of...

'Disappointing' Euro Regulation.
July 12, 2004... The European mortgage industry's efforts to regulate through its code of conduct for home loans has, so far, been "disappointing" to the European commissioner for health and consumer protection. The commissioner, David Byrne, told...

Europe Faces Lending Directive.
July 12, 2004... Europe is facing a directive on consumer credit that currently does not include mortgages but may include equity release loans - the equivalent of home equity loans in the U.S. that are used for purposes other than the purchase of a home,...

'Rebuke' Gets Mixed IUHF Marks.
July 12, 2004... "Not everyone agreed" with the "rebuke" the European commissioner for health and consumer protection delivered to European mortgage market participants at the International Union for Housing Finance World Congress here (see related story page...

Mideast Tensions Don't Deter MIs.
July 12, 2004... Mortgage insurers working in the Middle East told attendees at the International Union for Housing Finance World Congress here that the political tensions in the region have not deterred them from doing business there. Chaim Kiffel, chief...

MI Expands International Ops.
July 12, 2004... Mortgage insurer AIG United Guaranty here has expanded its international operations that are aimed at promoting greater customer focus and facilitating global management from three key locations: Hong Kong (Asia), London (Europe and the Middle...

200 Attend IUHF's World Congress.
July 12, 2004... More than 200 attendees from 44 different countries attended the International Union for Housing Finance World Congress here, European Mortgage Federation president Claude Sadoun said in welcoming attendees to the event, which was hosted by the...

Subprime: A RED Hot Business.
July 12, 2004... As typically happens when refinancing volumes have dwindled, interest in subprime credit mortgages has heated up. Like summer campers roasting marshmallows over an open fire, a lot of folks have been drawn to the red-hot subprime business in...

New Century Financial Corp. Wins Ethics in America Award.
July 12, 2004... New Century Financial Corp. here has been given the Ethics in America Award co-sponsored by the Passkeys Foundation and the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics at Chapman University. The Ethics in America award...

California Collects Fine From WaMu.
July 12, 2004... The California Department of Corporations has collected $800,000 from Long Beach Mortgage Co., a subsidiary of Washington Mutual, as part of an agreement to settle a civil complaint filed by the department for charging excessive interest on...

Origen Overallotment.
July 12, 2004... Origen Financial Inc., a manufactured housing lender that recently completed an initial public offering, said the underwriters for that IPO have purchased an additional 625,900 shares of the company's common stock at $8 per share. The...

Fairbanks Capital Changes Name, Seeks New Beginning.
July 12, 2004... For one troubled subprime mortgage subservicer, a new name might give it a chance to create a new image. Capping a year-long shakeup to address allegations of improper collection practices, Fairbanks Capital Corp. has chosen a new name: Select...

'Unprime' Wholesaler Moves Customer Service Center.
July 12, 2004... Novelle Financial Services, a subsidiary of Impac Funding Corp., said that it will begin the relocation of its customer service center from San Diego to Impac's corporate offices in Newport Beach, Calif. The transition is scheduled to be...

Secured Funding Added 500 Brokers to Network in 1st Half '04.
July 12, 2004... Secured Funding Corp. has added 500 mortgage brokers to its network of wholesale mortgage originators during the first half of 2004, marking a 250% increase over the same period last year. The company said the large increase in the number...

ABFS Acquires Certain ESI Assets.
July 12, 2004... American Business Financial Services here has acquired certain assets of ESI Mortgage LP, which a press release states is the oldest subprime mortgage wholesale lender in Texas. As a result of the deal, Lisa Kelly, ESI's president, has been...

Moody's Downgrades Four Credit Suisse First Boston Deal Classes.
July 12, 2004... Moody's Investors Service has downgraded four classes of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-FL1. The downgrades were as follows: class F, from Ba2 to B1; class G,...

Sunset Financial Securitizes Loans.
July 12, 2004... Sunset Financial Resources Inc. here has securitized $219.4 million in residential mortgages through J.P. Morgan Mortgage Trust 2004-3 in exchange for a like amount of investment securities. "By participating in this securitization with...

MortgageServ Available 24-7.
July 12, 2004... The Fiserv Lending Solutions Group of Fiserv Inc. here has deployed what the company is calling "around-the-clock processing" through deploying the MortgageServ loan servicing system in a hosted services environment. Specifically, referred...

People.
July 12, 2004... CALIFORNIA Brea-ResMAE Financial Corp. has named Jeffrey A. Sorensen senior vice president, managing director, capital markets. Mr. Sorensen has over 22 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining ResMAE,...

Couch Sees Three Top Concerns.
July 12, 2004... Predatory lending, foreclosures and housing subsidy funding issues appear to be the top three concerns that bother both the legislators and the mortgage industry, said chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, Robert Couch, at the opening...

At a Glance: Analysts Mixed on WaMu Prospects.
July 12, 2004... Ranking Number of Analysts Buy/Strong Buy 3 Hold 11 Sell/Strong Sell 4 Source: Yahoo! Finance, based on data from Thomson/First Call. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc....

Publicly-traded Subprime and Alt-A Related Firms.
July 12, 2004... B&C Stock Price Index: 212.9 Change: 2.6 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 7/8/2004 Aames (AMSF) 1.75 5.40 2.90 American Business Fin. (ABFI) ...

AmNet Repurchases More of Its Shares.
July 12, 2004... AmNet Mortgage, the parent of American Mortgage Network, a wholesale mortgage bank serving mortgage brokers nationwide, has purchased 500,000 shares of its own stock at $8.80 per share through a privately negotiated transaction with a single...

Inside Track.
July 19, 2004... EDITORIL The Art of Lending 4 SECURITIZATION Speeds Slow 12 COMMERCIAL MORTGAGES Better Times Ahead 14 TECHNOLOGY The Missing Ingredient 15 RATES HIT 6% The average rate on 30-year...

AH Goals Won't Crimp Two GSEs.
July 19, 2004... Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not have to pull back from the higher end of the conforming mortgage market to meet the new affordable housing goals, according to Department of Housing and Urban Development officials. Purchasing a larger...

2Q Drop in Loan Volume May be As High As 35%.
July 19, 2004... Residential loan production fell by about 35% in the second quarter to $727 billion, according to preliminary survey figures compiled by this newspaper. However, at $727 billion, it was still a strong quarter and an improvement over the...

Residential Lenders in Q2 2004 - (A Sample).
July 19, 2004... ($ in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name, Location 1 Astoria FS & LA, Lake Success, NY 2 Cherry Creek Mortgage, Greenwood Villiage, CO 3 First Magnus Financial Corp., Tucson, AZ 4 ...

WaMu Is Using Subprime Subservicers.
July 19, 2004... In the first quarter, Washington Mutual, Seattle, stopped telling the world, in particular the financial trade press, how much in subprime servicing rights it owned. A spokeswoman for the company said it would no longer disclose that data...

GE Consumer, Citi Suitors for Cendant?
July 19, 2004... Now that Cendant Mortgage Corp. is "officially" for sale, investment bankers are beginning to talk out loud - but anonymously, of course - about who might buy the nation's 11th largest originator. Industry sources say topping the list of...

Appintell Automates 4506.
July 19, 2004... Appintell here has set out to simplify the cumbersome and time-intensive process required to verify the 4506 employment/income form by automating the process and making it more cost effective at the same time through a new product offering. ...

The Money Store is Back.
July 19, 2004... The Money Store, a once high-flying icon of subprime lending that crashed and burned at the turn of the century, is back. Well, sort of. MLD Mortgage, Union, N.J., a company founded in 2000 by former Money Store vice chairman Morton Dear,...

Freddie Hires CIO for $630B Portfolio.
July 19, 2004... Freddie Mac has hired Patricia L. Cook to be chief investment officer and manage its $630 billion retained mortgage portfolio. Freddie's new executive vice president for investments comes from J.P. Morgan Fleming Assets Management where she...

OFHEO Unhappy with Fannie Effort.
July 19, 2004... The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight is making progress in its special examination of Fannie Mae, but the regulator is not satisfied with the giant mortgage company's cooperation. Fannie's cooperation has been "spotty," OFHEO...

Republic Bank Nets 16.3 Million in 2Q.
July 19, 2004... Republic Bancorp, with $5.7 billion in assets, reported a record net income of $16.3 million for the quarter ending on June 30, an increase of 8% over the net income of $15.1 million earned for the second quarter of 2003. In retail...

Kroll Factual Data to Expand With Closing of MMC.
July 19, 2004... Kroll Factual Data here expects to expand its footprint in the market with the official closing of the Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. acquisition of its parent company Kroll Inc. "We have been instructed to continue business as usual and do...

The Art of Lending.
July 19, 2004... Lending is not always an exact science made up of FICO scores and income ratios and underwriting variables. Sometimes it can resemble an art form, with the attendant risks and great rewards that can come with artistic achievement. Such...

Housing Gains Remain Incomplete.
July 19, 2004... Ms. Williams recently spoke before the annual meeting of the Cleveland Neighborhood Housing Services. Excerpts of her remarks are presented as our Open Forum. As the OCC's designate on the board of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp.'s...

Barclays MBS Desk Getting Started; SEC Proposal Causes Concern.
July 19, 2004... There were at least two developments in the mortgage-related capital markets last week that I wanted to highlight in this space. * The London-based Barclays Capital has started up a mortgage-backed securities trading desk in New York. ...

Connecticut Law Strengthens Mortgage Lock-in Requirements.
July 19, 2004... Prior to leaving office, former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, signed a Senate bill into law regarding mortgage rate lock-ins. The bill strengthens and updates mortgage rate lock-in requirements to reflect current industry practices,...