National Mortgage News articles from July 2009

National Mortgage News archives from July 2009

Grassroots Counseling Approach Pays Off.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi ISELIN, NJ-A recent foreclosure prevention tour shows how large-scale grassroots collaboration events are one of the most effective loss mitigation tools for lenders. Chase Home Lending national managing executive...

PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: HARRY GARDNER.(News)
July 6, 2009... Electronic process vendor SigniaDocs, Jacksonville, Fla., named Mr. Gardner the company's chief strategy officer. He previously served as vice president of industry technology at the Mortgage Bankers Association and as president of the Mortgage...

NAMB Enters Loan Mod Field.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman SAN ANTONIO-A "best-in-class" loan modification company has been picked to be the first commercial firm affiliated with the National Association of Mortgage Brokers under the group's new for-profit division, NAMB...

No Future in Product Innovation.(News)
July 6, 2009... WASHINGTON-The days of innovation in housing finance aren't over, according to the Bank of America Mortgage executive who oversees first-mortgage product development. But the innovation won't be with loan products, he says, it will be in...

NAMB Pres Calls HVCC "Dangerous".(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman WASHINGTON-The controversial Home Valuation Code of Conduct is "the most dangerous thing facing the housing finance industry today," the National Association of Mortgage Brokers warned at the National Association of...

Will House Sizes Continue to Slip?(News)
July 6, 2009... WASHINGTON-After years of ever-increasing square footage, the size of new houses has abated of late as builders wrestle with ways to bring the price of their products back into line with what today's buyers can afford. But the question...

MF Mortgage Debt Unchanged.(Commercial Mortgages)
July 6, 2009... WASHINGTON-The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding remained relatively unchanged in the first quarter, at $3.48 trillion, according to an analysis by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The $3.48 trillion in...

Commercial RE Prices Fall by 8.6% in April, 26% for Year.(Commercial Mortgages)
July 6, 2009... Byline: James Comtois NEW YORK-Commercial real estate prices as measured by Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Indices decreased 8.6% in April, leaving the index at 25.3% below its level a year ago and 29.5% below the peak in prices...

Chase Pilot to Offer Jumbos Via its Correspondent Channel.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-JPMorgan Chase is starting a pilot program to offer jumbo loans through its correspondent channel again but this time it is limited to borrowers with Chase checking accounts. In addition, these jumbo...

Court Opens the Door For Predatory Lawsuits.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court ruled that the Comptroller of the Currency went too far in trying to block the states from investigating possible discriminatory lending practices at national banks. In a 5-4 ruling,...

New First Am Division Working with Reverse Lender On Titles.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein SANTA ANA, CA-First American Title Insurance Co. here has created a Trusted Reverse Transactions division, whose specialty is closing reverse mortgage loans. The company said there is a need in the marketplace for...

1st American Buys The Rest of FAC.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein SANTA ANA, CA-First American Corp.'s proposed acquisition of the minority stake outstanding of First Advantage Corp. will simplify the legal and organizational structure of the two companies and aid in the proposed...

HUD Urged to Up Monitoring.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock WASHINGTON-The General Accountability Office is urging the Department of Housing and Urban Development to increase its monitoring of housing counselors who provide information about FHA reverse mortgages to senior...

Chase Names Roetelle Head of Warehouse.(News)
July 6, 2009... NEW YORK-JPMorgan Chase has named Thanh Roetelle the head of warehouse lending for its bank division, putting him in charge of managing the company's five major mortgage banking clients. There have been unconfirmed reports that JPM might...

Retirement Plans Use More HE.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein WESTPORT, CT-Reverse mortgages, once positioned as a last resort to help seniors avoid financial disaster, are now being used by a small but growing number of older people earlier in retirement to maintain...

Loan Modifications Sinking Fast.(News)
July 6, 2009... WASHINGTON-Less than three in 10 mortgages that were modified by servicers in the first quarter of 2008 are still current, according to a new "mortgage metrics" report released by the Officer of the Comptroller of the Currency. The report...

OPEN FORUM: The Present and Future of the GSEs.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: James Lockhart, Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency Excerpts of Mr. Lockhart's recent statement before the House Financial Services Committee are presented as our Open Forum. (Second of two parts.) Both the Making Home...

PEOPLE.(News)
July 6, 2009... ARIZONA Phoenix-Marix Servicing LCC hired Kenneth Ganiel as chief financial officer. Mr. Ganiel most recently held the position of senior vice president of strategy at the consumer mortgage lending division of HSBC Finance Corp. in...

Recovery? If So, RE May Be Patchy as Some Areas Lag.(Street Smarts)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock The economy may be recovering, but even in a recovery residential real estate's performance is likely to continue to vary by market, a portfolio manager told attendees at a recent New York Society of Security...

TALF CMBS Program Set Up, But No Deals Yet.(News)
July 6, 2009... NEW YORK-The Term Asset-Backed Securities Lending Facility opened its monthly subscription window for new issue commercial mortgage-backed securities in June and the program made some progress that month, but at press time it appeared that no...

TBW Settles With 14 States.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon HARRISBURG, PA-Wholesale lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. will modify loans for struggling homeowners and pay $9 million in fines as part of a settlement with the Pennsylvania Banking Department and 13...

Texas Mortgage Banker Expanding into SE.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo DALLAS-The Lending Partners here, a non-bank lender, is expanding into the Southeast market and has hired a regional sales manager to accomplish the goal. Currently the mortgage banker, which has focused mostly on...

EDITORIAL: Staying the Course.(News)(Editorial)
July 6, 2009... Recently a number of publications have exited the beleaguered originations side of the mortgage industry. But we're staying in it, and even adding to it. National Mortgage News will continue to be keenly interested in all aspects of...

EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT: CHARLES E. HALDEMAN Jr.(News)
July 6, 2009... Mr. Haldeman, a top executive at Putnam Investments, has been chosen by Freddie Mac's board to be the GSE's next chief executive. His nomination must be approved by Freddie's regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He would replace John...

125% LTV for Refis.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have received the green light from their regulator to refinance underwater homeowners with loan-to value ratios as high as 125%. The special refinancing plan that Obama...

JPM's Dimon Is a Smart Guy, Well Sort Of.(Inside Take)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo I like Jamie Dimon. Don't get me wrong. As chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase he's a survivor who steered his institution clear of the worst excesses on Wall Street, poising his $2.1 trillion baby to grow stronger and...

MBA Lowers Volume Outlook.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: James Comtois WASHINGTON-The Mortgage Bankers Association lowered its forecast of mortgage originations in 2009 to $2.03 trillion, a drop of more than $700 billion from its March forecast. Only $84 billion of the drop is due to...

Pair Takes Over at NAMB.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman SAN ANTONIO-Corpus Christi broker Jim Pair quietly took over the reins at the National Association of Mortgage Brokers here late last month, vowing to put the struggling organization back on a solid foundation. ...

Wells Sells $600MM NPLs.(News)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-Wells Fargo & Co. has apparently found a buyer for a $600 million portfolio of nonperforming subprime loans, according to investment banking officials. However, at press time it was unclear who the...

1K CMBS Deals Watch Negative.(News)
July 6, 2009... NEW YORK-Standard & Poor's has placed more than 1,000 U.S. conduit and fusion commercial mortgage-backed securities deals on "watch negative." The "scope and timing" of the downgrades is of "significant magnitude" but matched expectations,...

Top Residential Second Lien Lenders.
July 6, 2009... 2nds Funded % Market Rank Organization Name Location in 1Q 2009 in 1Q 2008 Change Share 1 Bank of AmericaCharlotte, NC $2,357 $15,265 -85% 25.10% 2 Wells Fargo & Co.San Francisco, CA $2,259 $2,287 -1% 24.06% 3 ChaseIselin, NJ...