National Mortgage News articles from March 2009

National Mortgage News archives from March 2009

PROMOTION SPOTLIGHT: PETE MASELLI.
March 2, 2009... Mr. Maselli has joined Lender Processing Services Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., as a senior vice president of strategy and business development. Based in Washington, he brings more than 25 years of mortgage banking experience to his new role and...

Doc Vendors Look to Differentiate.(Special Report: Document Services)
March 2, 2009... DALLAS-As the mortgage industry has returned to more conventional loan products, document preparation technology has increasingly become a commodity. Now these vendors are fighting back with new features to set themselves apart. MRG...

A More Dynamic Process Makes SMART Docs Even Smarter.(Special Report: Document Services)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano The mortgage industry is trying to adopt processes and protocols that will create a better quality loan. While SMART Docs originally had been the end goal in this movement, a technology process that dynamically...

E-Signing and Document Adoption Gaining Momentum.(Special Report: Document Services)
March 2, 2009... PLEASANTON, CA-While some lenders continue to sit on the fence when it comes to electronically signing documents, others that are actively using e-signing are realizing the benefits today. "People are asking are loans closing? Are loans...

Vendor: E-Docs Are More Legally Enforceable than Paper.(Special Report: Document Services)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano Some lenders still shy away from electronic signatures and electronic documents because they fear that they are not legally enforceable. To the contrary, e-signing e-docs may be more legally enforceable than using...

Document Services: Reworking Dataflow.(Special Report)
March 2, 2009... The mortgage industry remains a very paper-intensive industry. However, as the market declines lenders are looking for efficiencies, which is prompting more and more to go paperless. Lend America is one of the most recent lenders to declare...

Bank Absorbs $37 Million in Charges.
March 2, 2009... LOS ANGELES-A charge of $4.5 million for an other-than-temporary impairment on investment securities, a provision for loan losses of $6.9 million and a writedown of other real estate-owned assets of $1.2 million negatively impacted Preferred...

Wilmington Trust Reports 4Q Loss.(Financial report)
March 2, 2009... WILMINGTON, DE-Wilmington Trust Corp. reported a loss for the fourth quarter of $68.5 million as a result of sharp declines in the carrying value of some of the securities in the investment portfolio, which required the company to record $98.4...

Life Insurers See CRE/MBS Risks.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein OLDWICK, NJ-Life insurers face several areas of investment risk for 2009, including commercial real estate loans and mortgage-backed securities and prime residential MBS, a report from A.M. Best Co. here declares....

BoA Combining CFC's TPO Divisions.
March 2, 2009... CALABASAS, CA-Bank of America has decided to combine the wholesale and correspondent lending divisions of Countrywide Home Loans into one unit, placing executive Doug Jones in charge of both. Mr. Jones also will oversee warehouse lending...

Several CMBS Ratings Drop as Cash Flow Concerns Increase.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock NEW YORK-Waves of commercial mortgage-backed securities downgrades are following in the wake of Moody's Investors Service's review of large loan and single borrower U.S. CMBS ratings, in which the rating agency found...

Massive Fraud Claimed at C.U. National Mortgage.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Ed Roberts NEWARK, NJ-The FBI is investigating claims of a massive fraud at U.S. Mortgage Corp., the privately held owner of C.U. National Mortgage, which filed for bankruptcy last week. More than three dozen credit unions are...

No Rebound for Metro Areas.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon NEW YORK-The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index recorded an 18.2% decline in the fourth quarter of 2008 vs. the fourth quarter of 2007. The 10-city and 20-city composites also set new records, with...

HECM Lenders Look to Outside Help.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi ATLANTA-Market experts believe one of the most efficient ways mortgage lenders can assist seniors in taking advantage of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration is through...

GSE Refi LTV Lid 'Could Be Raised'.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman WASHINGTON-The loan-to-value limit on loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can refinance under the president's foreclosure rescue plan could go higher than 105%, according to a mortgage industry veteran who has been...

MIs OK with GSE Refinance Plan as Long as It's Temporary.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-The mortgage insurance industry - which is badly in need of capital - is willing to back a new Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac refinancing program aimed at troubled homeowners. The sector's support of the refi...

Metrostudy Research Predicts 47% Drop in Starts for '09.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon HOUSTON-Builders slashed new-home production in 2008, and will scale back further in 2009, according to a new study by Metrostudy, a national housing market research firm here. "The cutbacks thus far have been...

U.K. Lender Ups Funding.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock LONDON-Government-supported United Kingdom lender Northern Rock has made plans to increase mortgage funding by up to A[pounds sterling]14 billion ($20 billion), possibly within the next two years. The U.K....

In Obama's Plan, Less Lender Pain.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Kate Berry WASHINGTON-The fine-tuned version of mortgage bankruptcy reform in President Obama's housing plan may be considerably less painful for lenders than the legislation making its way through Congress. The administration...

OPEN FORUM: Staving Off Foreclosures.
March 2, 2009... I'm here today to talk about a crisis unlike we've ever known - but one that you know very well here in Mesa, and throughout the Valley. In Phoenix and its surrounding suburbs, the American dream is being tested by a home mortgage crisis that...

PEOPLE.
March 2, 2009... CALIFORNIA Irvine-Thompson National Properties said that Jason Larch joined the company as regional vice president, North Central United States. Previously, Mr. Larch was regional vice president at DBSI Inc., where he was responsible...

TARP Won't Prevent MI Credit Losses.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein PHILADELPHIA-TARP funds will do little to help protect current shareholders of mortgage insurance companies from coming credit losses, warns an FBR Capital Markets report on Radian Group Inc. here. Analysts...

REO Packages Seen Trading Higher Than Many '05-'07 MBS.(Street Smarts)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock When it comes to dealing with the mortgage debt left over from the excesses of 2005-2007, a lot hangs on how government plans take shape. In the meantime, experts say the market for this often-securitized product has...

EDITORIAL: The Blended Approach.(Editorial)
March 2, 2009... There was an interesting discussion of the loan modification problem at the recent Mortgage Bankers Association's National Servicing Conference in Tampa, Fla. As has become common knowledge, the industry's approach to loan mods has been an...

Virgin Money to Offer 'Social Mortgages'.
March 2, 2009... WALTHAM, MA-Virgin Money USA here is marketing its traditional and social mortgage lending through "Uncrunch America," a campaign with Lending Club and other personal finance companies aiming to provide viable financing alternatives to...

Deduction Cap Slammed.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-The Mortgage Bankers Association says it is adamantly opposed to the federal government capping the mortgage interest deduction as well as deductions for mortgage insurance payments and real estate taxes. ...

Non-Banks On Road to Extinction?(Inside Take)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo Last week, JPMorgan Chase - which looks as if it has plenty of cash on hand - threw in the towel on warehouse lending. Out in the cold were eight non-depositories that have a few months to find new bankers willing to...

CA Sets Moratorium.
March 2, 2009... SACRAMENTO, CA-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law a 90-day moratorium on California home foreclosures - but the measure carries certain exemptions for residential servicers. Passed as part of the state's recent budget, state...

CA Home SalesDouble in Jan.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon LOS ANGELES-Statewide home sales in January edged past 600,000, double the year before, signifying that the market is gradually working its way through the large numbers of distressed sales caused by the mortgage...

Huge Loss for Fannie.
March 2, 2009... WASHINGTON-Operating as a ward of the federal government, Fannie Mae posted a massive $25.2 billion loss in the fourth quarter, blaming its abysmal performance on asset- and derivative-related writedowns. For the year the GSE lost an...

LIME Chief Plans Return Warehouse Lender Commitments.
March 2, 2009... LAKE OSWEGO, OR-Zan Hamilton, former CEO of the recently defunct LIME Financial Services here, is already planning his return to the mortgage industry but isn't giving many hints about which direction he's headed. An official close to Mr....

Servicers to Address Demand for Loss Mit Expertise.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi TAMPA, FL-Special servicers are drawing on existing support functions and target training as the fastest way to develop new qualified staff capable to fulfill the high demand for loss mitigation expertise. Special...

Loan Modification Pros and Cons, from mortgagegrapevine.com.(Mortgagegrapevine.com)
March 9, 2009... The following is a compilation of portions of several threads regarding loan modifications posted on the Mortgage Grapevine website in the past few weeks. CJAX: Many brokers and non-brokers are jumping into the biz making quick money. I...

Metavante: Lenders Have to Think About How to Cut Costs.(Convention Special Edition)
March 9, 2009... Lenders attending the MBA tech show will be serious about investing in solutions and should take a hard look at the technology vendor's financials when making that final decision, advised Cy Brinn, president of Metavante Lending Solutions. ...

How to Find the 'Real' Las Vegas.(Convention Special Edition)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Glenn McCullom For such an interesting history, Las Vegas just loves to blow it up. Gone are classics like the Sands, Desert Inn, Stardust, Dunes and Frontier. So where does one go looking for some old-school Las Vegas saved from...

Escape at Red Rock Canyon.(Convention Special Edition)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein LAS VEGAS-While this city is full of glitz and lights, it is easy to forget that it is located in the middle of the Mojave Desert, an area full of some spectacular views of nature. About 20 miles from the...

Wave: Lenders Attending Need an E-Mortgage Roadmap.(Convention Special Edition)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano Kelly Purcell, executive vice president, global sales and marketing at Wave eSign Systems, Lee, Mass., expects lenders attending the MBA tech show to be thinking about e-mortgages. "The attendance numbers are...

Getting Serious About Tech.(Convention Special Edition)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Anthony Garritano While attendance is expected to be down well over 50% from what is was last year, most still going to the MBA tech show this year are looking forward to a serious show that tackles serious problems and provides...

Panel: Integrating Creates Efficiency.(Convention Special Edition)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock The basis for purchasing automation within the thin margins of today's volatile market often involves spending money to save money, and at least one panel presentation planned for the Mortgage Bankers Association's...

CitiMortgage Redefaults Just 23%.
March 9, 2009... NEW YORK-CitiMortgage says that 23% of delinquent home loans it modified over the past year fell into default again - into the 60- and 90-plus day late categories. Citi's results appear to be better than government figures released late...

Losses, OTTI for Many FHLBanks.
March 9, 2009... RESTON, VA-Five of the 10 Federal Home Loan Banks that have thus far released unaudited 2008 financial results have taken fourth-quarter net losses and at least four of those have recorded "other than temporary impairments" for the year linked...

Is GNMA GoingInto Warehouse?
March 9, 2009... WASHINGTON-Certain factions of the mortgage industry are pushing an idea that would allow the Government National Mortgage Association to get involved in warehouse financing. At press time GNMA officials were not prepared to comment on the...

Geithner Alludes to Program for Toxic Assets.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Emily Flitter WASHINGTON-The Treasury Department plans to announce details within the next two weeks on the creation of a public-private partnership for purchases of toxic assets, Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said last...

HSBC Abandons Financial Units.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock PROSPECT HEIGHTS, IL-HSBC said it plans to cease all new U.S. real estate-secured originations through the HSBC Finance Corp. and Beneficial brands only, but will continue the prime credit quality business done...

MI and Title Cos. Report More Losses.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein NEW YORK-The bad news continues for the mortgage insurance and title insurance sectors as the latest three companies to report all had sizable losses. The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., reported a...

Freddie Hunting for a New CEO.
March 9, 2009... WASHINGTON-Freddie Mac, which has been operating under a conservatorship since early September, is in the hunt for a new, permanent chief executive. Its current CEO, David Moffett, the first to manage the GSE under government rule, is...

OPEN FORUM: Staving Off Foreclosures.
March 9, 2009... So here's what my plan does: establishes clear guidelines for the entire mortgage industry that will encourage lenders to modify mortgages on primary residences. Any institution that wishes to receive financial assistance from the government,...

PHH's Mortgage Business is Valued at Zero by FBR Group.
March 9, 2009... MOUNT LAUREL, NJ-A report from FBR Group gives PHH Corp. here a share price target of $8 but a zero value for the mortgage business. PHH's mortgage production segment was profitable in December, allowing it to break even for the fourth...

PEOPLE.
March 9, 2009... CALIFORNIA Irvine-Finacorp Securities has hired Itai Benosh, formerly a director at Freddie Mac and a debt capital markets banker at Lehman Brothers. As senior vice president, business development and GSE debt, Mr. Benosh's chief...

Still No New Private-Label MBS, But Glimmers of Hope Seen.(Street Smarts)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock New issuance of private-label mortgage-backed securities remains questionable, as does how to resolve the existing subperforming ones out there. But certain players are now saying particular hurdles oft cited in...

Mortgages Still Hurting UBS.
March 9, 2009... ZURICH-UBS's ongoing government-assisted repositioning of problem assets, including mortgages, contributed to a net charge of 4.2 billion Swiss francs ($3.6 billion) in the fourth quarter, when the company as a whole took a net loss of 8.1...

WKFS Starts Settlement Unit.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein MINNEAPOLIS-Over the years, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services here has expanded its operations through acquisitions and the creation of partnerships. Now the company has created a dedicated settlement services...

EDITORIAL: Use It or Lose It.(Editorial)
March 9, 2009... American Indian housing is one of the beneficiaries of the Obama stimulus plan, to the tune of half a billion dollars. This is a great use of stimulus money. But tribes will have to obligate and then spend the money quickly, or it will be...

Time Running Out on Reauthorization of NFIP.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein WASHINGTON-With less than one month for Congress to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, a trade group representing insurance agents has begun a letter writing campaign to all members of the House and...

Redefault Risk Cited in Mod Plan.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Kate Berry WASHINGTON-Critics of the Obama administration's loan modification proposal say that it would not adequately address consumers' non-mortgage debt loads or the second liens on their homes, and that many borrowers would...

Canadian Starts Still Down.
March 9, 2009... OTTAWA-The downward trend in Canada's housing starts is expected to persist through 2009, ending with a slight rebound in 2010, according to a first quarter outlook by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. "Housing market activity will...

Aid May Quell RBS's Continuing Asset Woes, and Boost Lending Activity.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock EDINBURGH, Scotland-The U.K. government-supported Royal Bank of Scotland Group continued to suffer billions of dollars worth of writedowns in 2008, a significant amount of which stem from U.S. mortgage-related...

Mortgage Brokers: Down For Now, But Surely Not Out Forever.
March 9, 2009... PARK CITY, UT-Mortgage brokers may be down, but they are far from out, their chief spokesman in Washington said here late last month. Roy DeLoach, the chief executive officer of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, told the...

Wholesale Lending Now A Big Industry Issue.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman PARK CITY, UT-Wholesale lending and the federal tax deduction for mortgage interest, two items that weren't even on the radar screen of the housing finance lobby a year ago, have suddenly vaulted to the top of its...

Looking for Other Ideas Than Caps for Mortgage Deduction.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman PARK CITY, UT-There were plenty of ideas of what to do with the heretofore sacrosanct deduction for mortgage interest at the 37th annual Midwinter Housing Finance Conference here late last month. But capping wasn't...

Pair of Economists Advises, Hasten Foreclosures, Don't Delay Them.
March 9, 2009... PARK CITY, UT-Though well intentioned, the government's plan to end the housing crisis is missing the mark, a pair of economists said here late last month at the annual Midwinter Housing Finance Conference. John Burns, a Southern California...

What Happened to FM Watch?(Inside Take)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo Formed in 1999 or thereabouts, FM Watch was a lobbying group whose sole mission in life - at least early on - was to block and thwart the then-expansionist tendencies of Congressionally chartered mortgage behemoths...

SARs Filings Up 44% in 2008.
March 9, 2009... WASHINGTON-The nation's financial institutions last year filed 62,084 mortgage-related Suspicious Activity Reports with government regulators, a 44% increase from the prior year, according to new figures released by the Financial Crimes...

GSEs' Fate: Maybe Next Year.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Lew Sichelman PARK CITY, UT-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's federal regulator has promised "a healthy debate" on the future of the two troubled government-sponsored enterprises. But it probably won't occur until next year at the...

2008 Volume Is Down 39%.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-The mortgage industry funded a meager $273 billion in the fourth quarter, as the nation's economy spiraled into a deep recession and lenders continued to exit certain loan channels and tighten program...

Carveouts Complicate Cramdowns.
March 9, 2009... NEW YORK-Over one-third of outstanding U.S. prime and alternative-A credit residential mortgage-backed securities may have so-called bankruptcy carveouts, Fitch Ratings found as part of its review of the cramdown legislation's potential effects...

Obama's Plan Gets Some Praise.(News Analysis)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-It appears the mortgage industry likes the White House's new, somewhat, detailed plan to refinance or modify up to nine million home mortgages, but will it work? Last week the Mortgage Bankers Association...

MBS Go on CreditWatch Negative.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock NEW YORK-Standard & Poor's has put 3,279 ratings of first-lien prime jumbo U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities from 2006 and 2007 on CreditWatch Negative, citing an increase in projected losses to 40% from...

ACPT Secures Apt. Financing.(Commercial Mortgages)
March 16, 2009... ST. CHARLES, MD-American Community Properties Trust has secured financing that will enable it to begin construction of Gleneagles Apartments, a new 184-unit rental property in the planned community of St. Charles. Steve Griessel, chief...

Brookdale Amends, Extends LOC.(Commercial Mortgages)
March 16, 2009... NASHVILLE, TN-Brookdale Senior Living Inc., an owner and operator of senior living communities here, and its lenders have entered into a second amended and restated credit agreement. The amended credit agreement consists of a $230 million...

JEMB Realty Launches Group.(Commercial Mortgages)
March 16, 2009... NEW YORK-To capitalize on the opportunities in the debt market JEMB Realty here has launched Basis Investment Group LLC. Tammy K. Heyman, who previously directed CWCapital's fixed and floating rate capital markets lending division, will serve...

Hot-Button Topics at Servicing Conference.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Harmon NEW YORK-Attendees at SourceMedia's Third Annual Mortgage Servicing Conference April 6-7 in Dallas will hear all about the latest servicing updates, including the recent approval of cramdowns by the House of...

CapitalSource Loses $298M.(News)
March 16, 2009... CHEVY CHASE, MD-CapitalSource Inc. here, the company that acquired the banking branch operations (but not the charter) of Fremont Investment & Loan this past June, lost $298 million during the fourth quarter and $223 million for the year. ...

Ambac Takes $2.3 Billion Loss.(News)
March 16, 2009... NEW YORK-Residential mortgage-backed securities insurance concerns continued to weigh on Ambac Financial Group Inc. in the fourth quarter of last year when it took a net loss of $2.34 billion, somewhat of an improvement over its net loss of...

Chase Disses Mortgage Brokers.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein WASHINGTON-The head of JPMorgan Chase trashed the mortgage broker business in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Annual Capital Markets Summit here. Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive, started the...

Congress Increases FHA Authority By $130B.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-It will be a banner year for FHA. Congressional appropriators are expecting another big year for the FHA single-family program, which could generate $300 billion in new loans by the time the 2009 fiscal...

Subprime Bill Vehicle for Reforms.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., wants to change the way mortgages are securitized and serviced and he is going to use a subprime lending bill to advance his reforms. ...

Freddie to Lease REO Inventory.(News)
March 16, 2009... MCLEAN, VA-Freddie Mac has launched its new REO rental initiative giving qualified tenants and former owners the option to lease their recently foreclosed properties on a month-to-month basis. The initiative will be managed by HomeSteps,...

Goldman Scaling Back Wholesaler.(News)
March 16, 2009... FORT MILLS, SC-Goldman Sachs & Co. is scaling back the lending operations of Senderra Funding here, in particular its wholesale division, sources told National Mortgage News last week. A spokesman for Goldman Sachs in New York declined to...

Korell Moves to JPMorgan.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Paul Muolo NEW YORK-Mark Korell, who once headed the nation's largest mortgage banking firm, has joined JPMorgan Chase and will assist the bank in regard to what he calls "cross strategies" tied to its correspondent lending group....

FHA Wants Strong QC Effort.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Brad Finkelstein NEW YORK-To be a Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved Federal Housing Administration program originator, there must be a strong quality control program in place. There is a requirement that 10% of...

Do-It-Yourself Loan Modification Tool for Homeowners.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Amilda Dymi LOS ANGELES-A new DVD offers homeowners in distress a loan-modification tool that opens the door to a more affordable, do-it-yourself approach to modifications. Homeowners in distress intimidated by the traditional...

MBIA Pays Second-Lien Claims.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock NEW YORK-MBIA Inc. said it paid a total of $1.4 billion in claims associated with its second-lien residential mortgage exposures in 2008 but noted it could see some reimbursement for these claims if pending legal...

OPEN FORUM: The Future of Fannie and Freddie.(News)(Conference notes)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Alex Pollock, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and Former President and Ceo Of The Fhlb Of Chicago. Mr. Pollock's Recent Remarks At A Conference On "crisis Is A Terrible Thing To Waste" At New York University Are...