National Mortgage News articles from June 2003

National Mortgage News archives from June 2003

Inside Track.
June 2, 2003... OPEN FORUM Chartering Federal Thrifts 4 STREET SMARTS Home Sales Spark a Sign of Recovery - But Will It Last? 5 SERVICING Arizona Veto Worries Foreclosure Firm 10 INTERNATIONAL Feedback Sought on Basel II...

Deal Creates Top 30 Wholesaler.
June 2, 2003... Bank One Corp. here, one of the nation's largest commercial banks, is getting out of the wholesale channel while the getting's good. Last week, the money center bank agreed to sell its residential wholesale division to RBC Mortgage, a...

Housing Surprise Lifts Stocks.
June 2, 2003... Strong home sales reports for the month of April are starting to get economists to wonder if 2003 is going to be a record year for new and existing home sales. Sales of existing single-family homes jumped 5.6% in April to a seasonally...

Wells Continues to Dominate Retail.
June 2, 2003... Loans produced through retail means accounted for 41.5% of all mortgages funded in the first quarter, its worst showing since the first quarter of last year. Wholesale funding (also known as table funding) accounted for 27.9% of all loans...

Fed Issues HMDA Rules.
June 2, 2003... The Federal Reserve Board has issued final transition rules for the new Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements that go into effect Jan. 1, 2004. Starting next year, mortgage lenders will have to report loan-level pricing on...

Scorecard Issue Emerges at HUD.
June 2, 2003... The Department of Housing and Urban Development is stirring up interest once again in its automated underwriting scorecard for Federal Housing Administration single-family loans. The FHA has been working on the TOTAL scorecard since 1998 to...

Top Retail Lenders in Q1-03.
June 2, 2003... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Wells Fargo Home Mtg San Francisco, CA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 Countrywide Fin'l Corp....

B&C Residential Retail Volume Leaders Q1-03.
June 2, 2003... ($ in Mils) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 CitiFinancial Baltimore, MD 2 Ameriquest Mtg Corp. (E) Orange, CA 3 Household Fin'l Svcs (E) Prospect...

Late Payments Down, But Jumbo Foreclosures Rising.
June 2, 2003... Mortgage delinquency rates fell to their lowest level in two years during the first quarter, but the numbers could be masking a rising tide of foreclosures - especially in the jumbo market. According to figures compiled by Foreclosures.com,...

Single-Family Delinquency Rate: Continues to Ease.
June 2, 2003... Period Total Industry's Average Ending Past Dues Loan Size Q1 '03 4.64% $117,886 Q4 '02 4.74% $115,589 Q3 '02 4.84% $112,184 Q2 '02 4.80% ...

Notices of Default Rising: California Counties.
June 2, 2003... County % Inc. in Foreclosures Name in 1Q-03 vs. 1Q-02 Santa Clara 40% San Joaquin 36% Alameda 30% Contra Costa 29%...

Fairbanks Gets Lifeline from Backers.
June 2, 2003... Fairbanks Capital Corp. here, the embattled subprime servicing giant, last week received a financial lifeline when its lenders and shareholders agreed to extend financing for servicing advances and working capital through Sept. 30, 2004. ...

Foreclosures Up For Low Incomes?
June 2, 2003... A new study is raising questions about government policies that promote homeownership opportunities for very low-income families. The study by Harriet Newburger of Bryn Mawr (Pa.) College shows homeownership programs in Philadelphia for...

Lawsuit Seeks to Stop Berkshire Hathaway Buy of Clayton Homes.
June 2, 2003... Green & Jigarjian LLP here has filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court to stop the acquisition of Clayton Homes Inc. by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the Omaha, Neb., holding company controlled by Warren Buffett. Clayton is a Knoxville,...

Editorial: The Leveraged Generation.
June 2, 2003... We recently saw two numbers that brought us up short: the current national debt and the current level of mortgage receivables. What brought us up short? They are the same. The U.S. government owes about $6.5 trillion to investors in its...

Open Forum: Chartering Federal Thrifts.
June 2, 2003... Mr. Gilleran recently addressed the Exchequer Club in Washington on the topic of vitality of the thrift charter xcerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. In chartering and supervising federal thrifts, OTS has adopted...

Home Sales Spark a Sign of Recovery - But Will It Last?
June 2, 2003... I'll admit I've been skeptical of there being any recent signs that the long-anticipated economic recovery was going to occur any time soon. But I'll have to say some of what I saw early last week changed my mind about that. I had wondered...

Texas House of Representatives OKs HELOC Bill.
June 2, 2003... The Texas House of Representatives recently passed a bill allowing home equity lines of credit. The measure, long opposed by reluctant Realtors and recently threatened by truant Democrats, allows a line of credit of up to 50% of the fair market...

FNF to Acquire Remaining FNIS Stock.
June 2, 2003... Fidelity National Financial Inc., which currently owns 66% of the outstanding stock of Fidelity National Information Solutions Inc., has submitted a proposal to the board of directors of FNIS to acquire the remainder of its outstanding stock....

Simon and Westfield Extend Cash Offer.
June 2, 2003... Simon Property Group, Indianapolis, and Westfield America Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of an Australian property trust, have announced the extension until June 27 of their all-cash offer of $20 per share for common shares of Taubman Centers Inc....

HFN Plans to Operate 3 Development Deals.
June 2, 2003... Homebuilders Financial Network has announced new development deals to create builder-based mortgage companies for three regional builders. HFN said it will establish and manage private-labeled lending operations for Duffy Homes, Columbus,...

Eaton Vance Fund Announces $2 Billion IPO.
June 2, 2003... Eaton Vance Corp. here has announced a $2 billion initial public offering of common shares of a closed-end fund that will invest in mortgage-backed securities, among others. Eaton Vance Limited Duration Fund issued 101 million shares at an...

Lodgian Completes $80 Mil. Financing.
June 2, 2003... Lodgian Inc., an owner and operator of hotel property, has announced the completion of an $80 million financing that brings 18 of its hotels out of bankruptcy. The company, which emerged from bankruptcy in November 2002, also announced...

Revenue Triples At Mortgage Store.
June 2, 2003... The Mortgage Store Financial Inc. tripled its revenue during the first quarter of 2003, TMSF Holdings Inc. reported. The $7.4 million in revenue for the most recent quarter was 302% higher than the $1.9 million brought in during the first...

Countrywide Puts $4.3 Mil into Arts.
June 2, 2003... Countrywide Financial Corp. pledged $4.3 million over five years to the Alliance for the Arts, the official fund-raising arm for the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in California. This pledge amounted to the largest donation in a campaign to...

RBMG Servicer Rating Raised.
June 2, 2003... Fitch Ratings has upgraded the residential primary servicer rating of RBMG from ''RPS3" to "RPS3-plus." The rating is based on RBMG's ability to manage its portfolio of conventional, conforming loan products. Fitch said the rating also...

AZ Veto Worries Foreclosure Firm.
June 2, 2003... The president of a national foreclosure investment advisory firm and publisher of foreclosure data says that recent political actions in Arizona should be of concern to foreclosure industry professionals. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D)...

Canadian Firm Gets S&P Servicer Ranking.
June 2, 2003... Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has assigned its "average" ranking to First National Financial Corp. here as a master, primary and special servicer of commercial mortgage loans. First National was added to S&P's Select Servicer List in...

Finnish Rating Criteria Changed.
June 2, 2003... The implementation of new legal amendments to the Finnish Mortgage Bank Act combined with the introduction of additional regulation by Finland's Financial Supervisory Authority have prompted Moody's Investors Service to update its rating...

Feedback Sought on Basel II Inequities.
June 2, 2003... New international risk-based capital rules could place small and midsize mortgage lenders at a competitive disadvantage to the largest U.S. banks, so federal regulators are planning to ask the industry if any changes are needed to the current...

Property Trust CEO Rouse Dies at 60.
June 2, 2003... Willard G. Rouse, the founder and former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Liberty Property Trust, has died of lung cancer at the age of 60, according to the company. Mr. Rouse founded the company, then called Rouse &...

TCN Joins the BridgeLink Network.
June 2, 2003... The Credit Network, Framingham, Mass., will offer its mortgage credit reporting services through the BridgeLink e-commerce network operated by London Bridge Group here. The BridgeLink network is a Web- and XML-based technology solution...

Ellie Mae Adds Docs Plus to ePass.
June 2, 2003... Ellie Mae Inc., a firm that specializes in providing desktop and Web-enabled productivity solutions and software primarily to mortgage brokers, has added Docs Plus on the Web, a fully Web-based closing document preparation solution that...

Promotion Spotlight: Chrstine Kirby.
June 2, 2003... Mortgage Banking Systems, McLean, Va., has named Ms. Kirby the company's president and chief executive officer. Ms. Kirby has more than 15 years of experience in the areas of financial management, executive management, planning and analysis....

Roundup: Basel II Still Posing Threat to GSE Securities?
June 2, 2003... NEW YORK-The third consultative paper issued by the Basel Committee - like an earlier draft of the proposed international capital rules - appears to eliminate the more favorable regulatory risk weighting currently afforded to...

Roundup: Several Securitizations Face Downgrades.
June 2, 2003... NEW YORK-Class of Salomon Brothers Mortgage Securities VII Inc.'s series 2000-C2 commercial mortgage pass-through certificates has been downgraded from B-minus to CCC by Fitch Ratings. In addition, classes L and M of the deal were placed on...

Fannie Launches 'Home Front' Loan.
June 2, 2003... In an effort of support and appreciation, Fannie Mae has launched the Home Front Mortgage, a new $5 million pilot program designed to help active duty military personnel from Fort Campbell, Ky., purchase homes in Tennessee and Kentucky. ...

Mortgage Industry Equity Composite.
June 2, 2003... MIEC Index: 162.4 Change: 5.0 (part 1 of 2) 5/22/03 5/29/03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Alltel (AT) 47.73 47.07 -1% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp....

Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms.
June 2, 2003... B&C Stock Price Index: 162.9 Change: 7.8 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 5/29/03 Aames (AMSF) 0.35 2.30 1.88 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 15.86...

Fitch Gives CATIC an A-Minus in Financial Strength.
June 2, 2003... Fitch Ratings has affirmed the "A-" financial strength rating of Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Co. here, which three years ago was the victim of theft by a former employee. The Rating Outlook is "stable." In 2000, CATIC discovered...

GEMICO Called AAA and 'Stable'.
June 2, 2003... Fitch Ratings has affirmed the "AAA" rating of General Electric Mortgage Insurance Co. here and given the firm a rating outlook of "stable." Separately, Fitch has also affirmed the "AAA" rating of the other mortgage insurer who is at that...

Affinity Programs Target Mortgages.
June 2, 2003... Members of the Delta Air Lines SkyMiles program or the Hilton Hotels Corp. HHonors program will receive bonus miles or points for using certain mortgage, real estate or moving van line services. The two companies entered into separate...

Experts Agree Tomorrow Will Look Different for AVMs.
June 2, 2003... What will tomorrow look like for mortgage lenders interested in getting a valuation on real estate? That was the question posed by speakers at the Valuation Innovation & Leadership Summit held here last week. The meeting, which was attended by...

Alaska Builders Back State Bill.
June 2, 2003... With the support of the Alaska State Homebuilders Association, the Alaska State Senate voted unanimously to extend the life of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska until 2007. The decision, in the form of House Bill 111, had already passed...

Judge Dismisses Allied Capital Suit.
June 2, 2003... A judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit brought against Allied Capital. The lawsuit, which was being pursued on behalf of the company's shareholders by Schiffrin & Barroway LLP, alleged that Allied Capital had overstated its earnings in...

Inside Track.
June 9, 2003... EDITORIAL New Technology Boom? 4 OPEN FORUM FHLB-Atlanta's Mission 4 AFFORDABLE HOUSING Raines a Man with a Plan 8 SECURITIZATION SAXON HE Issue 12 SPECIAL REPORT Secondary Marketing ...

2nd Home Volumes Soar...
June 9, 2003... The housing and "purchase money" markets are on the fire - but it's not just because interest rates are at a 40-year low and first-time homebuyers are swelling the ranks. According to interviews conducted by National Mortgage News over the...

Smith Tries Again On Premiums.
June 9, 2003... Momentum is building for a another tax-cut bill and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., said he plans to use this opportunity to advance his bill that would make mortgage insurance premiums tax deductible. "It is likely there will be an additional...

Top Residential Correspondent Lenders Q1/03.
June 9, 2003... (dollars in millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 Chase Home Finance...

...but Home Price Gains Lose Momentum.
June 9, 2003... Record low interest rates continue to fuel strong home sales, but the rate of price appreciation slowed markedly in the first quarter, according to data released by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and Freddie Mac. But...

Annualized Rate of Home Price Appreciation.
June 9, 2003... (Dollars in Millions) 1st Qtr '03: 3.77% 4th Qtr '02: 5.40% 3rd Qtr '02: 6.85% 2nd Qtr '02: 9.30% Source: OFHEO Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com...

OFHEO Takes First Action Against GSE.
June 9, 2003... Fannie Mae's federal regulator took its first supervisory action against the government-sponsored enterprise last September after a key indicator of interest rate risk swung in a dangerous direction. "A Prompt Supervisory Response action...

'Decline, Fall' For MI Firms?
June 9, 2003... The mortgage insurance industry could be in for some challenging times the next five years, according to a new report penned by Morgan Stanley & Co. Moreover, the investment banker downgraded the two largest players in the MI sector, MGIC...

Banks Add $57.4B MBS.
June 9, 2003... Commercial banks shifted their investments away from whole loans in the first quarter and added $57.4 billion in mortgage-backed securities to their balance sheets, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC report shows...

Mozilo: Could Origination Volume Hit $4 Trillion?
June 9, 2003... Could the mortgage industry see a $4 trillion year? At least one industry leader believes so, as Countrywide chief executive Angelo Mozilo said it is a possibility at the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Strategic Decisions Conference in New York...

WaMu Confident that Servicing Fee Can Be Reduced.
June 9, 2003... Kerry Killinger, chairman and CEO of Washington Mutual, said at an investor conference here that he is confident that the size of the servicing fee required to be held on loans can be lowered. Traditionally, the government-sponsored...

'Unrecognized' Fees Feather Fannie's Nest.
June 9, 2003... At a time when its credit losses are at a record low, Fannie Mae is holding $1.6 billion from "risk based" pricing that cannot be recognized as current income, but the company isn't shy about touting this hidden windfall. Speaking at a...

Fannie Mae's Unrecognized Risk-based Pricing Fees.
June 9, 2003... Dec. 2000 $521 million Dec. 2001 $880 million March 2003 $1,596 million Source: Fannie Mae Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com

Fannie Mae Won't Do New Servicing Business with Fairbanks Capital.
June 9, 2003... Fannie Mae is suspending deliveries of new loans to Fairbanks Capital Corp. after finding that the nation's largest subprime servicer charged borrowers "improper fees" on Fannie Mae-owned loans. Responding to a request by Sen. Paul...

Embattled Lender Fires President.
June 9, 2003... Embattled subprime servicer Fairbanks Capital Corp., Salt Lake City, has fired its president and another top officer, National Mortgage News has learned. A source familiar with the matter said, "More firings are in the works." In an...

A New Technology Boom?
June 9, 2003... Refinancings are showing no current indication of declining, but they will some day. And when that happens, no one in the mortgage industry (with the possible exception of servicers) will be happy. But could there be a silver lining in that...

FHLBs Won't Overlook Core Market.
June 9, 2003... Mr. Christman recently responded to concerns expressed by some members of the Congressional Black Caucus that the Federal Home Loan Banks may be straying from their mission by purchasing members' mortgages and might, in the process, lose focus...

Low Rates, Refinancing Look to Be Back in the Saddle Again for Now.
June 9, 2003... Anyone who might have wondered briefly (as I did) during the stock market rally the other week whether originators might start to find it harder to rustle up refinance volumes probably stopped wondering about it last week when the longstanding...

Lennar Buys RE from Coleman Homes.
June 9, 2003... Lennar Corp. entered the Bakersfield, Calif., market in late April by purchasing all of the real estate assets of Coleman Homes. Lennar, a Miami-based company that said it was one of the nation's largest homebuilders, will acquire a backlog...

Seven-Year Term for Mortgage Fraud.
June 9, 2003... The leader of a $20 million mortgage fraud scheme was sentenced to seven years in prison, about one year after he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport while trying to re-enter the country Memorial Day weekend 2002. The capture...

Raines Most Proud of Fannie Low-Moderate Effort.
June 9, 2003... Fannie Mae chairman and chief executive Franklin D. Raines is most proud of Fannie for taking "a system that had worked very well for the middle class and empowered many more families who were below the median income with homeownership." ...

Defaults Don't Stress Fannie Mae CEO.
June 9, 2003... Assisting lenders to reach out to poor neighborhoods, which are perceived as risky areas, is one task a Fannie Mae executive recently said Fannie is all for - for as long as it takes. Responding to concerns expressed to Fannie chairman and...

Downpayment Still Biggest Obstacle To Getting Mortgages.
June 9, 2003... It sounds like old news, but a recent online survey confirms that the downpayment still is or at least is perceived as the biggest obstacle in buying a home. Lack of and/or insufficient downpayment funds concerned about 51% of the 1,000...

Tax Credit Boosts Rural Homeownership.
June 9, 2003... Several members of Congress have proposed a "rural housing tax credit" that would provide a $5,000 tax credit for low- and moderate-income rural homebuyers, but the chances of enactment may be slim. The tax credit, which is not part of...

Freddie and Lenders 'Rolling Out' Homebuyer Education On Wheels.
June 9, 2003... Freddie Mac has joined a coalition of state and national lenders in cooperation with the Sacramento Valley Organizing Community launching the "Home Education on Wheels" program designed to help increase the low homeownership rate among the...

IN Seminar Seeks To Boost Ownership.
June 9, 2003... The Mortgage Bankers Association of America joined the mayor of Gary to host the first in a series of roundtable discussions on increasing minority homeownership in America. Participants at the first "Blueprint for the American Dream" were...

Roundup: Saxon Brings $600 Million Home Equity Deal to Market.
June 9, 2003... Saxon Capital Inc. here has securitized its nonconforming and home equity loans in a $600 million transaction. Credit Suisse First Boston is the lead manager for the deal and RBS Greenwich Capital, J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch & Co. are...

S&P Raises Part of AMRESCO Deal; Lowers Other Parts of the Deal.
June 9, 2003... Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has raised its rating on the top class of AMRESCO Residential Securities Corp. Mortgage Loan Trust 1997-#'s mortgage loan pass-through certificates to "AAA" from "AA-plus." Concurrently, the rating on...

Bear Stearns Deal Downgraded.
June 9, 2003... Class B-5 of Bear Stearns Mortgage Securities Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1996-3, has been downgraded from B to CCC by Fitch Ratings. The rating agency said the action was due to high delinquency levels in the deal...

Health Bonds Downgraded.
June 9, 2003... Two series of Illinois Health Facilities Authority revenue bonds issued on behalf of Bethesda Home and Retirement Center have been downgraded from A-minus to BBB by Fitch Ratings. The affected securities are approximately $3.5 million of...

High Delinquencies on Sac.
June 9, 2003... Class B2 of Impac SAC mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1999-2, has been downgraded from B to CCC by Fitch Ratings, and class B1 has been placed on Rating Watch Negative. The rating actions were attributed to high delinquencies...

Accredited's First Earnings Solid.
June 9, 2003... The first reported quarterly earnings of Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. here as a publicly-traded company "was as solid as we expected," said a report from U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray senior analyst Robert Napoli. He reiterated his...

MH Lender Sees Rating Downgrades.
June 9, 2003... Eighteen classes from eight UCFC manufactured housing transactions have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, which cited uncertainty surrounding the servicing operation since UCFC's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 1999. The affected...

Irwin Opens New Headquarters.
June 9, 2003... Irwin Mortgage Corp. opened its new headquarters in Fishers, Ind., on May 29. The company, a division of Irwin Financial Corp., has been doing business since 1944 and has over 150 offices nationwide and a $20 billion portfolio in...

Private-Branded Assetwise Gains 50% Penetration of Target Market.
June 9, 2003... The spreading popularity of GMAC Residential Funding's private label version of its Assetwise automated underwriting engine signals that subprime wholesalers should think twice before building an in-house AUS system. Assetwise currently is...

Agenda Set for Frost/Abraham Seminar in Las Vegas.
June 9, 2003... Final preparations are underway for the Mortgage Masters University to be held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas on Aug. 13, 14 and 15. Headlining the show will be top mortgage producer Greg Frost and sales advisor Jay Abraham. National...

The Future of Appraisers and AVMs.
June 9, 2003... When Fidelity National Information Solutions invited 150 of the industry's top decision-makers to a summit here late last month, the stated purpose was to discuss the state of collateral valuation, but much of the conversation was reduced to a...

S&P Keeping Eye on Resona, Maison.
June 9, 2003... Standard & Poor's office here has updated its views regarding "the possible effect... of the activation of certain transaction trigger events relating to the Bank of Japan Law Article 38" on three residential mortgage-backed securities...

Fannie Extends Hours for International.
June 9, 2003... Fannie Mae here has reported that it has permanently extended its long-term funding desk hours to 5 a.m. EST for the benefit of international investors. Fannie senior vice president and treasurer Linda Knight said in a written statement...