National Mortgage News articles from March 2007

National Mortgage News archives from March 2007

Inside Track.
March 5, 2007... EDITORIAL The Tab for Fraud 4 STREET SMARTS Shorts Target Subprime 1,5 TECHNOLOGY Improved Data Management 7 EQUITIES Earnings and Stock Reports 10 People 26 HOT STAT New-Home Sales Plummet...

Citi Gets Option on Argent.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Citigroup last week signed a deal that gives it an "option" to buy subprime wholesale giant Argent Mortgage, Orange, Calif., and the $65 billion servicing platform of its sister company, Ameriquest Mortgage. Both units are...

If Citigroup Buys Argent/Ameriquest.
March 5, 2007... ($ in Millions) PRODUCTION: Lender B&C Vol. Market Name in 4Q 06 Share CitiFinancial (e) $5,000 3.57% Argent Mortgage (w) (e) $4,000 2.86% Combined...

Big Subprime Woes at CFC.
March 5, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Countrywide Financial Corp. reported late last week that $22 billion, or 19%, of its subprime receivables are in some form of delinquency, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. An internal report...

Fremont Delays Reporting Net.
March 5, 2007... SANTA MONICA, CA -- Subprime giant Fremont General Corp. here said it will delay the release of its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, sending its shares tumbling to a new 52-week low last week. The earnings delay - and the revelation...

ABX Benchmark Adds to Worries.
March 5, 2007... There's been a lot of talk about the ABX, especially last week when it reportedly made millions for one trader but added to the woes of the already beleaguered credit-sensitive portions of the mortgage market. The tradable asset-backed...

Old-Line Shop Closes Doors.
March 5, 2007... FOLSOM, CA -- Central Pacific Mortgage here - a midsized non-depository headed by former Mortgage Bankers Association chairman John Courson - closed its doors last week after it could not meet payroll. CPM's wholesale operation was slated...

Fannie Hints B&C Expansion.
March 5, 2007... WASHINGTON -- While rival Freddie Mac was swearing off certain subprime products last week, Fannie Mae executives said in a conference call with investors and analysts that they anticipate opportunities to grow that aspect of their business....

Top Subprime Lenders in 4Q 2006.
March 5, 2007... ($ in Millions) Subprime Volume Percent Market Rk Organization Name Q4 06 Q4 05 Change Share 1 HSBC Finance $12,303 $15,773 -22%...

Freddie CEO Fighting Back Over GSE Supervision.
March 5, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Freddie Mac chairman and chief executive Richard Syron has been warning legislators not to "hamstring" his mortgage company and now he is pushing for big changes to a compromise that was considered a major breakthrough in the long...

After Bad B&C News, Heads Roll at HSBC.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- HSBC Holdings said Bobby Mehta, CEO of HSBC Finance Corp., Charlotte, N.C., has resigned from the troubled subprime lender. Additionally, the bank said Sandy Derickson, president and CEO of HSBC Bank USA, has departed as well....

Illinois Congressman's Bill Clamps Down on Predatory Lenders.
March 5, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., is working on a bill to clamp down on unscrupulous mortgage brokers and to hold them accountable for putting borrowers into high-risk loans they cannot afford. "Too many hardworking families are...

Ellie Mae to Launch New Encompass Website.
March 5, 2007... DUBLIN, CA -- Returning to its original roots as a mortgage website provider - a market it since largely ceded to companies like Myers, vlender and a la mode - Ellie Mae here is poised to release its new Encompass WebCenter as a next-generation...

Editorial: Just How Bad Will It Get?(Editorial)
March 5, 2007... The problem of mortgage fraud has been one of the most vigorously voiced topics in the industry over the past year. Even so, the concern may be understated. Special agent Bill Stern of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, speaking at the...

Open Forum: New Loans Pose Higher Risk: Excerpts of Ms. Taylor's recent address to the New York Bankers Association during its annual meeting and legislative conference are presented as our Open Forum.
March 5, 2007... On the consumer protection front, we saw the Home Equity Theft Prevention Act passed which regulates the sale of property in foreclosure or default. By requiring financial institutions to give additional notice to homeowners in foreclosure of...

Temple-Inland Splits Into Three.
March 5, 2007... AUSTIN, TX -- Bowing to pressure from corporate raider Carl Ichan, Temple-Inland Inc. here has made plans to split into three separately traded public companies, two of which are real estate related. It will retain its manufacturing...

Court Rules Against TILA Class Action Claim: The Truth in Lending Act 'does not easily forgive technical errors.'.
March 5, 2007... BOSTON -- A U.S. Appeals Court here has overturned a class certification in a mortgage rescission case, asserting that class-action remedies are not available under the Truth in Lending Act. The ruling by the First Circuit Court of Appeals...

Seattle FHLBank CEO Will Retire.
March 5, 2007... SEATTLE -- The Federal Home Loan Bank here said James Gilleran is stepping down on April 30 and his right-hand man, Richard Riccobono, will become the new president and chief executive of the Seattle FHLBank. A former Office of Thrift...

NMA Recognized for 'Upfront' Service.
March 5, 2007... ATLANTA -- National Mortgage Alliance has been awarded the Upfront Mortgage Lender designation by Jack Guttentag, professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Guttentag, who publishes...

CA Bill Makes Regulators Talk.
March 5, 2007... SACRAMENTO, CA -- The California Legislature introduced a bill that, if passed, would require interagency communication between the Department of Real Estate and the Department of Corporations regarding investigations of real estate licensees,...

Washington Savings Sees Lower Earnings.
March 5, 2007... BOWIE, MD -- In its results for both its second-quarter and the six-month period ending Jan. 31, Washington Savings Bank FSB reported a reduction in its construction loan portfolio by approximately 55% compared to Jan. 31, 2006. WSB listed...

Lenders Urged to Improve Data Management.
March 5, 2007... WESTLAKE, OH -- Industry participants have stressed the importance of data control in the current lending environment. As lenders look to move toward adoption of the electronic mortgage to cut costs, become more efficient and gain a competitive...

Roundup: Citi '03 Deal among Those Affected by Rating Changes.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Class MV-4 of CitiFinancial Mortgage Securities Inc. 2003-1 has been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. In addition, 18 tranches from four Citi transactions have been placed on review for...

ABSC Home Equity Deal.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Class M5 of Asset Backed Securities Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2003-HE3, has been downgraded from BBB-minus to BB by Fitch Ratings. In addition, Fitch placed the following four ABSC classes on Rating Watch...

Farmer Mac Prices Deal.
March 5, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., better known as Farmer Mac, has purchased a $365 million portfolio of securities backed by rural cooperative mortgage loans from the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. ...

Bear Deal Exits Watch List.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Class M-7 of Bear Stearns Asset-Backed Securities series 2005-2 has been removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on seven other classes in the deal. The Rating Watch...

Centex Deal Downgraded.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Class B-1 of Centex Home Equity Loan Trust series 2002-C has been downgraded from Baa2 to Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service. The downgrade was based on low credit enhancement levels compared with current loss projections,...

C Notes Downgraded.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- The class C notes issued by Fulton Street CDO Ltd. and Fulton Street CDO Funding Corp. and Sunrise CDO I Inc. have been downgraded from B/DR1 to B-minus/DR1 by Fitch Ratings. The downgrade was based on declining performance...

JPM CMBS Deal Downgraded.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Two classes of J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2002-CIBC4, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. Class L was downgraded from B2 to B3, and...

UBS Classes Downgraded.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Three classes of LB-UBS Commercial Mortgage Trust 2001-C2 commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2001-C2, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. The downgrades were as follows: class M, from B2 to B3;...

Mezz Cap Deal Downgraded.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Class J of Mezz Cap commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2004-C2, has been downgraded from B-minus to C and assigned a Distressed Recovery rating of DR5 by Fitch Ratings. Fitch also affirmed the ratings on nine...

Northlake CDO Downgraded.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Three classes of notes issued by Northlake CDO I, a collateralized debt obligation that includes mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. The downgrades were as follows: class II floating-rate notes,...

Option One Deal on Review.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Eight tranches from five deals originated with collateral from Option One Mortgage Corp. in 2003 have been placed under review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. The affected classes from Option One Mortgage...

RBC Opens Chicago CRE Office.
March 5, 2007... CHICAGO -- RBC Capital Markets' real estate mortgage capital unit has opened an office here to originate and securitize commercial mortgage-backed securities. Sean O'Malley, regional director, will be responsible for overseeing the CMBS...

RBC: Hotels Gain Momentum: Renovations and property acquisition have positioned several lodging REITs for growth.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Equity analysts at RBC Capital Markets have started coverage on four new REITs, giving three of them "outperform" ratings. RBC analyst Mike Salinsky gave DiamondRock Hospitality Co., Highland Hospitality Corp. and LaSalle Hotel...

Sale of HomeBanc Is Called Unlikely.
March 5, 2007... ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Analysts at Friedman Billings Ramsey have downgraded HomeBanc Corp.'s stock to "underperform," saying that the company continues to lose money and that a sale in today's environment "is unlikely." The company has also...

Online Service Provides Construction Loan Quotes.
March 5, 2007... SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- AFP Solutions Inc. has introduced a free online service to assist customers in obtaining competitive construction loan quotes. AFP Funding Request is a new service that enables contractors, developers, investors and...

PA Home Prices Lag U.S. Trend: 'Pennsylvania real estate markets tend to follow, rather than lead, national trends.'.
March 5, 2007... HARRISBURG, PA -- Home prices in Pennsylvania have increased but not as much as in other parts of the country, according to a new report by the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors. "The PAR report was authored by PAR consulting economist,...

CRE Growth Appears to Peak.
March 5, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Growth in the commercial real estate sector appears to be plateauing out, after a period of heated run-up in activity. A leading index for brokerage activity in the commercial real estate market maintained by the National...

Metrofund Offers Commercial Lending.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- Metropolitan Funding Corp., a HUD/FHA lender based here, has formed a commercial real estate lending platform called Metrofund Group in joint venture with Sagecrest, a Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund, and Merchant Equity Group....

Blackstone Sells Some Buildings.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- After engaging in a bidding war for Equity Office Properties, The Blackstone Group has already made plans to dispose of some of the assets. In one transaction, the real estate investor is selling EOP's Orange County and...

Maintaining Homes.
March 5, 2007... It might be just a small portion of the total mortgage business, but no sector has been growing faster in the last few years as reverse mortgages. A reverse mortgage is a loan made to a person 62 years of age or older. Rather than having to pay...

New Tools Help Lenders Serve Market Demand.
March 5, 2007... As reverse mortgage loans become more and more popular, higher loan origination volume has also stimulated the introduction of new products. "More consumers are continuing to recognize that through a reverse mortgage the home can play an...

Sun West's New Jumbo Product.
March 5, 2007... CERRITOS, CA -- Sun West Mortgage here is the latest reverse mortgage originator to come out with its own proprietary jumbo product. This new program is called Cash Keeper. The product is already being originated on a limited basis and will...

Study: More to Offer Reverses.
March 5, 2007... CHICAGO -- A Grant Thornton study found the number of banks that offer reverse mortgages to their customers could double within the next three years. Currently, the survey found, 15% of banks offer their customers reverse mortgages. When...

LLS Opens Wholesale Channel.
March 5, 2007... MELVILLE, NY -- Lender Lead Solutions here has formed a wholesale reverse mortgage lending division, LLS Financial. To the public, the company's Senior Lending Network is known for its commercials which are currently featuring actor Robert...

HECM Volume Up Nearly 44% In FY 2006: Wells Fargo led all FHA originators last year by producing three out of every 10 retail loans.
March 5, 2007... According to Department of Housing and Urban Development data, Wells Fargo finished fiscal year 2006 as the leading retail originator of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages. During the fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2006, the Federal...

Promotion Spotlight.
March 5, 2007... Michelle Minier Ms. Minier has assumed full chief executive officer duties at Irvine, Calif.-based Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp. as part of a management succession plan made in July 2006. Since that time, Ms. Minier has been...

Family Members Can Make Reverse Mortgages: These loans are more flexible and eliminate many of the cost and restriction of regular reverse mortgages.
March 5, 2007... Home equity can now be tapped to supplement life's financial needs in a smarter and more flexible way. CircleLending Inc., a company that formalizes and services mortgage loans between friends and family, is providing an innovative private...

RMs Growing but Still Specialized.
March 5, 2007... SIMI VALLEY, CA -- The reverse mortgage, while growing in popularity and promise, remains a specialty product due to the many details that require attention in originating these loans. Among these are issues surrounding title, as the house...

Seattle Starts Check Program.
March 5, 2007... SEATTLE -- Seattle Mortgage and its affiliate, Reverse Mortgage of America, have been very active in recent weeks as it has introduced a new product, opened new offices and joined the industry trend of offering loans with lower margins to...

If Citigroup Buys Argent/Ameriquest.
March 5, 2007... ($ in Millions) Servicing: Servicer B&C Serv. Market B&C Serv. Name at 3Q 06 Share Rank Ameriquest Mortgage $65,000 5.10% 4 CitiFinancial (e) $63,750...

HUD Gives Up on Zero-Down.
March 5, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Department of Housing and Urban Development will not seek a zero-downpayment option as part of an FHA reform bill in an effort to appease critics and increase the bill's chances of passage this year. "We will remove from...

New Home Sales Are Way Down.
March 5, 2007... WASHINGTON -- New home sales plummeted nearly 17% in January sparking concerns that tighter underwriting and the contraction in subprime mortgage lending is making it harder for homebuyers to get financing. Wachovia Corp. economic analyst...

Nonprime Loans Hurt Two REITs.
March 5, 2007... NEW YORK -- A pair of mortgage real estate investment trusts reported losses for the fourth quarter, continuing the trend of a number of firms which have adopted this structure, especially those who specialize in nonprime originations. The...

Mortgage Industry Equity Composite.
March 5, 2007... MIEC Index: 129.6 Change: -7.1 Company 3/1/2007 2/22/2007 Wkly. 52 52 % Chg. P/E % Chg. wk/lo wk/hi Ratio American Home (AHM) 27.21 29.67...

Freddie Mae Clamps Down On Problem 2/28 ARM Product.
March 5, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Freddie Mac has jumped ahead of regulators in clamping down on loose-lending practices associated with 2/28 ARMs that are contributing to rising defaults and foreclosures on subprime loans. Starting Sept. 1, the mortgage giant...

People.
March 5, 2007... CALIFORNIA Morgan Hill-Pinnacle Bank said that Steve Wotherspoon has joined the bank as senior vice president, real estate, Stuart Thomas has joined the bank as senior vice president, senior relationship manager and David Soares has joined...

IndyMac Plots New Strategy: The lender sees the changes as fine tuning rather than a major strategic shift.
March 5, 2007... PASADENA, CA -- The chairman and chief executive of IndyMac Bancorp Inc. here, Michael W. Perry, sent a letter to stockholders which says the company will de-emphasize growth in its whole loan and mortgage-backed securities investment...

Inside Track.
March 12, 2007... EDITORIAL Fraud and Default 4 OPEN FORUM It's All About Knowledge 4 STREET SMARTS Reflections on Subprime 5 GRAPEVINE.COM 8 SERVICING MBA Servicing Coverage 12 COMMERCIAL MORTGAGES NMHC Data...

Liquidity Squeeze Batters B/C.
March 12, 2007... NEW YORK -- Subprime funders and sellers - particularly smaller, independent firms - were being battered last week by an increasing liquidity squeeze in portions of the credit sensitive market. "Credit concerns in the subprime market have...

HSBC May Sell Off Nonprime Holdings.
March 12, 2007... NEW YORK -- Hammered by losses on its subprime business, banking giant HSBC Holdings is contemplating unloading some of its A- to D loans which total in the billions, investment banking sources told National Mortgage News. The bank - which...

Fremont Hopes For B/C Sale.
March 12, 2007... SANTA MONICA, CA -- Fremont General Corp. here is in discussions to sell its subprime division - one of the largest in the nation - after agreeing to a cease-and-desist order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. However, late last week...

GM May Take $1B Hit on Subprime.
March 12, 2007... NEW YORK -- General Motors may need to contribute almost $1 billion to cover delinquent mortgages made by the lending affiliates of General Motors Acceptance Corp., according to a new report by Lehman Brothers. GMAC affiliate GMAC-RFC is...

Top Residential Originators in Q4 06.
March 12, 2007... (Dollars in Millions) Origination Volume % Market Mkt Shr Rk Organization Name Q4 06 Q4 05 Change Share % pt. +/- 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. $121,904...

New Century Gets Funding.
March 12, 2007... IRVINE, CA -- New Century Financial Corp. late last week had secured a $265 million line of credit from a large unidentified lender but was not funding certain loan packages. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the...

Some Think GSEs May Benefit from B&C Crisis.
March 12, 2007... WASHINGTON -- GSE supporters are hoping the turmoil in the subprime market will make it more difficult for Congress to pass legislation that imposes higher-capital requirements on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or forces them to cut back on the...

CFC's Mozilo Defends Stock Sales.
March 12, 2007... CALABASAS, CA -- Countrywide Financial Corp. chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo is defending his decision to sell $140 million worth of company stock over the past 14 months, noting, "I have almost all my personal net worth tied up in the company."...

Hedge Fund Citadel Agrees to Acquire ResMAE for $180 Million.
March 12, 2007... BREA, CA -- Citadel Investment Group LLC, a hedge fund, has agreed to buy the assets of bankrupt subprime wholesaler ResMAE Mortgage for $180 million, beating out Credit Suisse, which earlier said it had a deal for the lender. Among...

RI Bank Shuts Wholesale Unit.
March 12, 2007... CRANSTON, RI -- Domestic Bank here closed its wholesale division last week, citing Wall Street's reluctance to bid any higher than 97 on certain nonconforming loan types it specialized in. A bank memo provided to National Mortgage News...

With CPM Shut, TMSF Kills Deal.
March 12, 2007... LOS ANGELES -- TMSF Holdings here has officially terminated its agreement to acquire certain wholesale assets of the now-defunct Central Pacific Mortgage, Folsom, Calif., due to what it calls "adverse market conditions." A non-depository,...

Editorial: Fraud and Default.(Editorial)
March 12, 2007... Last week we looked at the mortgage fraud situation through the eyes of Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Bill Stern, who outbid all previous guestimators by saying industry fraud could be a $4 billion a year problem, rather than the $1...

Open Forum: It's All About Knowledge: Mr. Reich's remarks to the Financial Literacy and Education Commission in Washington recently are presented as our Open Forum.
March 12, 2007... One of the key objectives of the commission was the development of the national strategy in April 2006. I want to acknowledge several recent accomplishments of the Treasury Department and commission members that were outlined in the national...

Eyeing Potential Strategies in Response to Subprime Market Moves.
March 12, 2007... Subprime markets have gone through cycles before but what appears to be different this time around - and may be important for market participants to consider strategically in today's market - is the complexity of risk dispersion. Some...

IndyMac Lets Mortgage Brokers 'Draw' Their Own Closing Documents: 'We wanted to have 75% of our brokers using this by the end of the year.'.
March 12, 2007... PASADENA, CA -- In order to make the process more seamless for its correspondents, IndyMac Bank has released iDraw, an addition to the company's e-MITS system that allows correspondents to draw docs directly. iDraw gives mortgage brokers the...

HUD Inspector General Is Uncertain about Proposed FHA Reforms: 'If we get involved in an investigation, we have to get the loan files.'.
March 12, 2007... WASHINGTON -- As Department of Housing and Urban Development officials lobby Congress to pass a Federal Housing Administration reform package, they cannot be sure their inspector general will support the legislation. In an interview, HUD...

MortgageGrapevine.com Group Debates B/C.
March 12, 2007... JustplainMarvin: I started in 1980. The biz has been like waves on the beach. It's hot, it's not, it's hot, it's not. We have had massive price adjustments in stupidly overblown areas like California. It always came back. This time we allowed...

OTS Official Takes Aim at Hybrid Loan Products: 'Not all subprime loans are predatory. Subprime in and of itself should not be viewed as bad.'.
March 12, 2007... PARK CITY, UT -- Maintaining that subprime lending has gone too far, the deputy director of the Office of Thrift Supervision invoked Newton's Third Law last week at the Midwinter Conference here. "For every action, there is an equal and...

Serving Multicultural Markets Helps Bottom Line.
March 12, 2007... SAN DIEGO -- The chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association urged servicers to pay more attention to multicultural markets which are gradually turning into the traditional customers of today and tomorrow. Given demographic growth expected...

MERS Prevails In Florida Case.
March 12, 2007... MCLEAN, VA -- The Second District Court of Appeals of Florida, in Tampa, has ruled that MERS has the right to be a party in a foreclosure action. MERS said the victory affirms the legal premise upon which the electronic registry for...

Apartment Sales Slowing, But Overall Market Remains Healthy.
March 12, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The National Multi Housing Council's quarterly survey of conditions in the multifamily market finds that sales of multifamily properties are down in more markets overall. The January survey shows a sales volume index of 41,...

Mavent Compliance Targets Midtier Lenders with New Console.
March 12, 2007... IRVINE, CA -- Automated compliance vendor Mavent has been known to cater to primarily top 20 lenders. However, with the addition of its Mavent Compliance Console dubbed MC2, its automation is more accessible to lenders of all sizes. MC2,...

Welbaum Joins MortgageBot.
March 12, 2007... MEQUON, WI -- Fiserv veteran Dan Welbaum has been hired as chief marketing officer at Mortgagebot. He will be responsible for developing and executing Mortgagebot's marketing strategy, including overseeing industry partnerships and marketing...

Mozilo: Proposed Rule Will Squeeze Liquidity.
March 12, 2007... PARK CITY, UT -- Angelo Mozilo, one of the mortgage business's few true icons, says the proposed federal underwriting guidelines for so-called exotic mortgage products will do more harm than good. Mr. Mozilo, chairman of Countrywide...