National Mortgage News articles from July 2007

National Mortgage News archives from July 2007

Inside Track.
July 9, 2007... EDITORIAL NAMB Notations 4 OPEN FORUM New Mexico News 4 HOUSING SCENE Software Helps Borrowers 6 GRAPEVINE Chat Room Abuzz 10 EQUITIES Earnings and Dividends 18 SECURITIZATION Downgrade...

Broker Market Share Down to 58%.
July 9, 2007... SEATTLE -- The mortgage brokerage share of loan originations dipped to 58% in 2006, according to a preliminary tabulation of last year's production activity by Wholesale Access Mortgage Research and Consulting, Columbia, Md. The small...

HE Overdues Rise Sharply.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The delinquency rate on home-equity loans held by commercial banks increased sharply in the first quarter despite a decline in credit card overdue rates, according to the American Bankers Association. While credit card...

HE Overdues Drove Consumer Deterioration.
July 9, 2007... Consumer Credit Delinquency Rates Composite Home Equity HELOCs Bank Card Auto 1st Q '07 2.42% 2.15% 0.60% 4.41% 1.68% 4th Q '06 2.23% 1.92% 0.57% 4.56% 1.85% 3rd Q '06 2.12%...

Candidates Shun Housing.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Affordable housing, which according to research is one of the main issues expected to affect the 2008 presidential election vote, so far has not even made it to many a candidate's agenda. National Housing Conference president...

HUD & GAO Argue Over FHA Policy.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- HUD officials are contesting recommendations by a government watchdog agency that the Federal Housing Administration should use a pilot program to test the introduction of zero-downpayment mortgages. In a report to Congress,...

Bear Reduces Fund's Credit.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Bear Stearns here as of June 27 had reduced by half a $3.2 billion line of credit to one of its two subprime-related hedge funds, citing assets sales from the fund known as the High-Grade Structured Credit Fund. In a statement,...

First Street Closes Its Doors.
July 9, 2007... Mortgage wholesaler First Street Financial, Irvine, Calif., a top 40 ranked subprime lender, has closed its doors and transferred all its servicing to a third-party company believed to be Option One Mortgage. In the fourth quarter, First Street...

Regulators Take First Step in Tougher Oversight of Underwriting.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Federal banking regulators took their first stab at curtailing irresponsible subprime lending practices by issuing guidance that tightens underwriting standards on adjustable-rate 2/28 loans, but tougher rules are expected to be...

Schumer Seeks Fiduciary Obligation for Brokers.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Several Democratic senators want to impose a fiduciary duty on mortgage brokers so they are obligated to serve the best interests of the borrower and can be held accountable for violations of that trust. Sen. Chuck Schumer,...

Wells Shuts Down B/C Correspondent.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is shutting down its correspondent lending shop in Baton Rouge, La., and it has stopped purchasing nonprime loans from correspondent lenders. "As a result of changing market conditions, we will no...

Editorial: A Good Alternative.(Editorial)
July 9, 2007... Brokers attending the National Association of Mortgage Brokers' annual convention in Seattle recently heard the Federal Housing Administration touted as a good alternative to shrinking subprime volume. It's true. Brokers who have...

Open Forum: Counseling Can Reduce Defaults.
July 9, 2007... Ms. Cabral's recent remarks before the New Mexico Mortgage Lenders Association in Albuquerque are presented as our Open Forum. For many Americans, owning a home is a giant step on the ladder of economic mobility. It's a symbol of hard work,...

Opteum Inc. Completes Sale of its Retail Mortgage Platform.
July 9, 2007... VERO BEACH, FL -- Opteum Inc., a real estate investment trust here, has completed the sale of its retail mortgage platform, Opteum Financial Services LLC, to Prospect Mortgage Co. LLC. The price was $1.5 million plus the assumption of...

Access Lending Sold to Franklin.
July 9, 2007... HOUSTON -- Mortgage warehouse lender Access Lending has become a division of Franklin Bank SSB here as a result of an asset sale to Franklin Bank. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Access Lending founder David Fleig has been named...

Software Shows Consumers Way Out of Debt Management Problems.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The first step for homeowners hoping to refinance in the face of a big jump in their mortgage payments - or, for that matter, anyone who expects to buy a house in the face of tightening lending standards - is to push their credit...

New York's AG Probes Lenders.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo has initiated several investigations focusing on lender relationships with mortgage brokers and appraisers, industry sources told National Mortgage News. Industry observers say it is...

Hedge Fund Buying Hard-Money Lender.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- A hedge fund called Pacifico is working on a deal to buy into Quality Home Loans, a hard-money lender based in Agoura, Calif., industry sources told National Mortgage News. A QHL spokeswoman described the hedge fund as a...

Critics Say HUD Is Pushing Aside Downpayment Assistance Programs.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Department of Housing and Urban Development's efforts to marginalize the downpayment assistance programs run by Nehemiah, AmeriDream and other nonprofits has run into strong opposition in Congress and from U.S. mayors. ...

DPA Backers Get More Support.
July 9, 2007... LOS ANGELES -- While it is not certain whether public support for privately funded downpayment assistance will save the program that made housing affordable for thousands of people, the number of those joining the ranks of supporters keeps...

Mortgage Network Grows Even as Most Lenders See Contraction.
July 9, 2007... DANVERS, MA -- Mortgage Network Inc., an independent mortgage company headquartered here, recently unveiled the reunion of the "original dynamic duo" - Brian Koss, executive vice president, and Martha Harvey, senior loan officer, providing a...

Brokers Face Marketing Challenge as Underwriting Gets Tighter.
July 9, 2007... Doin deals in cali: What gives? All my marketing efforts are in the toilet. I was expecting the slowdown years ago, but come on. This market should have crashed back in 2005. You stated W-2 wage earners, 100% financing for anyone who could...

Roundup: Principal Sets Up Fund to Purchase Real Estate Debt.
July 9, 2007... DES MOINES -- Principal Real Estate Investors, the real estate investment arm of Principal Global Investors, has set up a commercial mortgage fund to invest in commercial real estate debt. The fund, which has capital commitments of about...

Sentinel Buys Apartment REIT.
July 9, 2007... OMAHA, NE -- America First Apartment Investors, a multifamily real estate investment trust, is being acquired by Sentinel Omaha for about $532 million, including the assumption of debt, in a deal that will take the REIT out of the publicly...

GE Names Pressman to Post.
July 9, 2007... STAMFORD, CT -- GE Real Estate has named Ronald Pressman president and CEO, succeeding Michael Pralle. Mr. Pressman was most recently president and CEO of GE Asset Management. He has been with the company since 1980, in various roles, GE...

GGP Joins S&P 500.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Standard & Poor's added General Growth Properties to its S&P 500 index on June 26. The financial information company reports that the real estate investment trust is replacing Mellon Financial Corp., which is being merged with...

Fitch Downgrades Debt Assessment on Mexican Housing Lender: 'Metrofinanciera's net income has increasingly relied on less stable revenue sources.'.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings has downgraded the foreign and local currency long-term issuer default ratings and long-term national scale issuer rating of Metrofinanciera, a large home finance company in Mexico. Specifically, the foreign and...

Countrywide Executive Sees a Glass Half-Full: Mr. Dal Porto predicts that loan production won't start increasing before the middle of next year.
July 9, 2007... SEATTLE -- Some people see the glass as half-empty, but not Todd Dal Porto. Although at least 10% of the potential market for home loans has been pulled out of the mortgage market because of tightened lending guidelines, the senior...

Freddie Prepares Subprime Program.
July 9, 2007... SEATTLE -- A new Freddie Mac subprime purchase program in development for release this summer is expected to, among other things, support prepayment penalties, but in a more consumer friendly manner than in the past, according to a presentation...

NAMB Wants its Own 'Good Housekeeping' Seal of Approval.
July 9, 2007... SEATTLE -- Nobody likes being a scapegoat, and neither does George Hanzimanolis. "I find it frustrating for a number of reasons," the new president of the National Association of Mortgage Broker said at the group's annual convention here...

Brokers Often Frustrated by Quality of Leads They Purchase.
July 9, 2007... SEATTLE -- Everyday, it seems, Jeff Slyter of Mortgage Lenders of America, Vancouver, Wash., receives five to 15 calls from lead generation companies. And he doesn't like it. Not one bit. Neither do the supposed "leads" these companies...

Brokers Use Savvy to Fight 'Trigger' Leads.
July 9, 2007... SEATTLE -- Tired of having your clients called by firms which purchase so-called trigger lists? Some brokers have had success in dealing with what is more technically and legally known as "prescreened offers of credit" by waiting until the last...

Thornburg Raises $69 Million to Finance Additional ARM Lending.
July 9, 2007... SANTA FE, NM -- Thornburg Mortgage here has priced a public offering of preferred equity stock in a deal that generated $68.8 million of gross funds for the company. Aggregate net proceeds to the company are estimated to be $66.2 million....

Archive Systems Raises $11.5 MM.
July 9, 2007... FAIRFIELD, NJ -- Archive Systems, a provider of document process automation, has completed its Series B round of funding to raise $11.5 million. The new round of funding increases the company's total amount of capital raised to $20 million. ...

Former MBA Chairman Back in the Business.
July 9, 2007... BLUE BELL, PA -- Declaring she was a "mortgage banker at heart," Regina M. Lowrie, the first woman to head the Mortgage Bankers Association, has jumped back into the business, launching a new company, Vision Mortgage Capital here. Vision...

American Home Mortgage Adds to Loss Reserves.
July 9, 2007... MELVILLE, NY -- American Home Mortgage said it expects to post a loss for the second quarter due to skyrocketing repurchase requirements on its now discontinued stated-income loan program. On the bright side, the company also said it plans...

FBR: Credit 'Overshadows' Growth.
July 9, 2007... ARLINGTON, VA -- Mortgage insurers have continued to post respectable growth of their insurance-in-force portfolios, but deterioration in the credit quality of their portfolios has weighed down stock prices for the industry, according to a...

Impac Drops 2Q Dividend Payment.
July 9, 2007... IRVINE, CA -- Impac Mortgage Holdings here, a mortgage REIT, said it will not pay a dividend in the second quarter as the company struggles to cope with higher-than-expected losses on real estate-owned. The company had previously planned to...

Study Finds Differences Between 1998, 2007 Subprime Meltdowns: 'The actual cause of rising subprime delinquencies has yet to be determined.'.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- A white paper issued by NERA Economic Consulting here said that while some of the symptoms of the current subprime lending crisis are similar to those of the 1998 collapse, "the underlying problems have different causes." The...

Wells Fargo Gives Tips on How to Increase FHA Loan Production.
July 9, 2007... SEATTLE -- Amid the sudden subprime implosion, Federal Housing Administration enhancements and proposed FHA reform are encouraging a popular comeback for this old reliable program. How FHA benefits and opportunities can be used to leverage the...

Roundup: Deterioration Continues to Drive Recent Rating Action.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Four classes of notes from two collateralized debt obligations managed by ACA Management LLC have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. The affected securities are Class D of ACA ABS 2003-1 and Classes B-F,...

Bear Deal Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Eight certificates from four transactions issued by Bear Stearns Mortgage Funding Trust have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. The affected securities are as follows: Series 2006-SL1,...

C-BASS Classes Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two classes from Credit Based Asset Servicing and Securitization LLC series 2006-SL1 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and placed on Rating Watch Negative, and three other classes have also been placed on Rating Watch Negative....

CSFB CMBS Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two classes of Credit Suisse First Boston's commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, Series 2005-CND2, have been downgraded and removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. Class M was downgraded from BBB-minus to...

Credit Suisse MBS Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two classes of Credit Suisse's CSMC Series 2006-7 mortgage-backed deal have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, and one has been placed on Rating Watch Negative. Class DB-8 of Groups 6-12 was downgraded from BB to B-plus, and...

Countrywide ABS Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Five classes of Countrywide Asset-Backed Securitizations series 2006-SPS1 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and six classes have been placed on Rating Watch Negative. The downgrades were as follows: Class M-6, from A to BBB-...

CWALT Deal on Review.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two classes of CWALT 2006-43CB mortgage-backed securities have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. The affected securities are Classes III-B-3 and III-B-4. Fitch also affirmed the ratings on 10 classes from...

EquiFirst Deal Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two classes of EquiFirst Mortgage Loan Trust series 2004-1 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. Class M-7 was downgraded from BBB-minus to BB, and Class B-1 was downgraded from BB-plus to B. In addition, Fitch upgraded...

IndyMac HE Classes Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two classes from IndyMac Home Equity Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed Trust INDS 2006-A have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service and placed on review for possible further downgrade. Class B-2 of series INDS 2006-A was...

IndyMac Deal on Watch.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Classes 2B-4 and 2B-5 of IndyMac MBS Inc. Residential Asset Securitization Trust, Series 2004-A2 Group 2, have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on seven other classes...

Ipswich Deal on Watch.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two classes of notes issued by Ipswich Street CDO Ltd. and Ipswich Street CDO LLC have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. The affected securities are classes D and E. The transaction is a collateralized debt...

MABS Deals Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Class M-10 of Mortgage Asset Securitization Transactions Asset Back Securities Trust mortgage pass-through certificates, Series 2005-FRE1, has been downgraded from BB+ to B by Fitch Ratings. Fitch also placed Classes M-8 and...

Merrill Deal on Review.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Three classes of certificates from two transactions issued by Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Trust in 2006 have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. The affected securities are Class B-5...

Merrill Deal Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Class B5 of Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Trust series 2005-HE1 has been downgraded from BB to B+ and removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. In addition, Class B4 was removed from Rating Watch Negative, and the...

Another Merrill Deal.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two classes of Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Trust series 2006-SL2 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. Class B1 was downgraded from BB+ to B+ and placed on Rating Watch Negative, and Class B2 was downgraded from BB to B...

Morgan Deal Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two classes from two issues of Morgan Stanley Capital I Inc. commercial mortgage-backed securities pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. Class F of series 1997-RR and Class F-7 of Series 2004-RR were...

Another Morgan Deal.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Fifteen classes of mortgage-backed securities issued by Morgan Stanley in 2002 and 2003 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. In addition, Class B-3 of Series 2004-HE4 was placed on Rating Watch Negative and the ratings on 46...

New Century Deal Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Eighteen tranches from several 2001, 2002 and 2003 deals with loans originated by New Century Mortgage Corp. have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. In addition, five tranches have been placed under review for...

RALI Classes Downgraded.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Three classes from two Residential Accredit Loans Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. The downgrades were as follows: Series 2003-QS23, Class B-1, from BB to B and placed on Rating...

RAMP Deal on Review.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Class M-II-3 of Residential Asset Mortgage Products Inc. Trust series 2003-RS7 has been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. The negative rating action was attributed to credit enhancement...

S&P Downgrades 45 HE Classes.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Forty-five classes backed by closed-end second-lien collateral in 14 securitizations from nine issuers have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, as well as 11 subprime classes in nine deals from three issuers. ...

Seniors Cashing In on HUD's Reverse Mortgages.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Reverse mortgages are becoming increasingly popular among seniors. Recent Department of Housing and Urban Development data show since 1990 over 300,000 seniors have used the HUD-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loan...

Native American Program Renewed.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Native American Home Ownership Opportunity Act of 2007, signed into law by President Bush, will increase minority homeownership by guaranteeing private mortgage loans made to eligible Native American families, tribes and...

Freddie Commits New AH Funds for Low-Income Katrina Victims: 'New Orleans has pockets of outstanding affordable housing projects evolving.'.
July 9, 2007... NEW ORLEANS -- Freddie Mac and the Freddie Mac Foundation have committed another $5 million in funding earmarked "to help rehabilitate and rebuild housing as well as provide needed resident services for many low- to moderate-income families."...

Bill Would Create Housing Fund: 'The growing shortage of affordable housing is one of the serious social and economic problems facing our country.'.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Nearly $1 billion in federal grants would be distributed annually to states, cities and Indian reservations to fund affordable housing projects under a bill introduced by House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank,...

Coalition Will Educate Customers.
July 9, 2007... SEATTLE -- A first-of-its-kind coalition that integrates customer advocacy with mortgage education for brokers and loan officers said its "unprecedented agenda" includes campaigns to influence legislative changes, homeownership seminars,...

New Fulfillment Provider Now Open.
July 9, 2007... DENVER -- Former Guardian Mortgage Services executive Mary Kladde has gone out on her own to form Titan Lenders Corp., a closing, post-closing and mortgage fulfillment services provider. Titan is being positioned as a variable cost...

Mortgage Industry Equity Composite.
July 9, 2007... MIEC Index: 124.1 Change: -4.2 Company 6/28/2007 6/21/2007 Wkly. 52 52 % Chg. P/E % Chg. wk/lo wk/hi Ratio American Home (AHM) 20.87 22.23 -6% 19.51...

KB Home Earnings Are Down 41%.
July 9, 2007... LOS ANGELES -- For the second quarter ended May 31, KB Home said that housing revenue of $1.3 billion was down 41% from the 2006 second quarter, the result of a 36% year-over-year decline in unit deliveries to 4,776 and an 8% year-over-year...

Should Brokers Be Responsible?: In some cases lenders with little capitalization have little choice but to try and push it back.
July 9, 2007... SEATTLE -- Early payment defaults are being pushed back to lenders in record numbers, and more and more lenders being hit by these buybacks are trying to push responsibility down to the mortgage broker. The law offices of Lane Powell...

Fidelity National Program Seeks to Curb Abuse: 'Mortgage fraud and identity theft are a growing concern not only for our industry, but for our customers.'.
July 9, 2007... JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Through a partnership with a subsidiary of Experian, Fidelity National Title Group here, a provider of title insurance, specialty insurance and claims management services, has launched a new product offering to help its...

Bank Regulator Pressures Lenders to Aid Troubled Borrowers.
July 9, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Comptroller John Dugan is challenging non-bank lenders and servicers to step up their efforts to help delinquent subprime borrowers and prevent foreclosures. The top supervisor of national banks noted that banks have been...

Power Express Buys Valley Mortgage.
July 9, 2007... NEW YORK -- Power Express Mortgage Bankers, a multibillion-dollar direct lender of jumbo home loans nationwide, has acquired Pasadena, Calif.-based Valley Mortgage Bankers, which has been originating and closing residential, commercial and...

People.
July 9, 2007... CALIFORNIA Santa Ana-The First American Corp. said that Jo Etta Bandy has been appointed senior vice president, corporate communications. Ms. Bandy, who joined the First American Corp. in 1998 as director of communications, was...

Inside Track.
July 16, 2007... EDITORIAL Ouch 4 OPEN FORUM Foreclosure Help 4 STREET SMARTS Eyeing Subprime Recalibrations 5 EQUITIES Doral Shareholders Get Recommendation 10 COMMERCIAL MORTGAGES Limited-Service Hotel Performance...

Avalanche of Downgrades Hits Niche.
July 16, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two major rating agencies last week at press time had taken hundreds of additional negative rating actions affecting billions of dollars in securitized 2005 or 2006 subprime mortgages, a troubled subset of the market that had...

Highest Delinquencies Based on $.
July 16, 2007... % Past % % % Fore- Rk Organization Name. Due 30-59 days 60-89 days 90+ days closure 1 Netbank 13.85% 8.19% 2.35% 1.17% 2.14% 2 EMC Mortgage ...

Aegis Selling Servicing Unit?
July 16, 2007... HOUSTON -- Aegis Mortgage Corp. here which is controlled by hedge fund giant Cerberus Capital has placed its servicing platform on the auction block and is winding down its home-equity division, industry sources told National Mortgage News....

YSP Decision Reaffirmed.
July 16, 2007... WASHINGTON -- In the late 1990s, the mortgage industry was under siege from class-action attorneys who filed over 100 cases claiming that lender-paid fees to mortgage brokers were illegal kickbacks. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had...

FDIC: Brokers Part of B&C Problem.
July 16, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman Sheila Bair believes residential wholesalers need to know who they are doing business with and blamed the nations subprime crisis partly on unregulated loan brokers. Speaking before a...

WMC Auctions $3B in Loans.
July 16, 2007... IRVINE, CA -- WMC Mortgage here General Electrics beleaguered subprime division recently auctioned off $3 billion in subprime loans but without disclosing any details on the sale. A source familiar with the lenders auctions of early...

Lower Origination Fee for FHA's HECMs Added to Pending Bill.
July 16, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Reverse mortgage lenders and the senior citizen advocacy group AARP have reached an agreement that lowers the origination fee on FHA-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages as part of a bill that is currently pending in Congress....

Lost Facility May Affect OO Sale.
July 16, 2007... IRVINE, CA -- Option One Mortgage Corp. here has lost a warehouse facility with Lehman Brothers Bank, Wilmington, Del., which leaves the company close to the minimum capacity specified as a closing condition of its sale from current owner...

OTS Mulling Ban on 'Unfair and Deceptive' Lending Practices: The Office of Thrift Supervision plans to proceed deliberately and slowly in its rulemaking process.
July 16, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Office of Thrift Supervision is in the very early stages of a rulemaking process that could lead to the issuance of a regulation that bans certain unfair and deceptive lending practices, according to agency officials. OTS...