National Mortgage News articles from May 2005

National Mortgage News archives from May 2005

Inside Track.
May 2, 2005... EDITORIAL The Bright Line 4 OPEN FORUM The Federal Home Loan Banks 4 COMMERCIAL MORTGAGES Laureate Capital Buys R.J. Twitty 12 AFFORDABLE HOUSING NYC Contributes To New...

Originations Were Strong in 1Q.
May 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Mortgage bankers had a strong first quarter with production volumes topping $700 billion, according to preliminary survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News. On average, residential production rose 20% compared to the...

Residential Lenders in Q1 2005 (A Sample).
May 2, 2005... ($ in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Organization Name Location 1 Alaska USA FCU Anchorage, AK 2 America First CU Riverdale, UT 3 American Home Mtg. Investment...

Wachovia Launches LOS.
May 2, 2005... ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ -- Confounding the notion that major LOS implementations never come in on time, Wachovia Mortgage and Palisades Technology Partners said that Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia has concluded testing of Palisades' Impact...

$1.2 Bil Bond At Ameriquest?
May 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Ameriquest Capital Corp., the nation's largest subprime lender, is contemplating a $1.2 billion debt offering, investment banking sources told National Mortgage News. One advisor said the debt offering "is a way to raise money...

Industry Spotlight: S.A. Ibrahim.
May 2, 2005... Radian Group Inc., has appointed Mr. Ibrahim, a 27-year veteran of the banking and mortgage industries, as chief executive officer, effective May 5. Mr. Ibrahim succeeds Frank Filipps, who is retiring from Radian. Mr. Ibrahim joins Radian from...

Mapping Out GSE Bill's Path.
May 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Common sense dictates that when two congressionally chartered companies make $16 billion worth of accounting mistakes - and their top officers are shown the door - that they wouldn't have much of a bargaining position when it...

Mozilo One of Top Paid CEOs.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- Angelo Mozilo was the ninth-highest-paid CEO among the 500 largest American public companies last year, according to a list compiled by Forbes. Forbes.com calculated Mr. Mozilo's 2004 total compensation at $96.9 million last...

Housing Market Stays Red Hot.
May 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- In March, sales of new single-family homes set yet another record, rising 12% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.43 million units, according to figures released by the Commerce Department. The strong performance...

WaMu Takeover Rumors Make the Rounds Again.
May 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Is Washington Mutual, Seattle, the nation's largest thrift - and third-largest mortgage banker - on the auction block? Last week the company declined to comment, but investment banking officials told this newspaper that...

Promotion Spotlight: Steven M. Aberu.
May 2, 2005... North Fork Bancorporation Inc., Melville, N.Y., has appointed Mr. Abreu as president and chief executive officer of its wholly owned subsidiary, GreenPoint Mortgage. Mr. Abreu succeeds S.A. Ibrahim who will be joining Radian Group Inc. as its...

NY AG Investigates Mortgage Lenders.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- The New York Attorney General's office last week was in the early stages of a probe to determine if discriminatory practices have been used in the interest rates and fees charged on mortgage loans, a spokeswoman said last week. ...

Doral Faces Class Action Suit Filed on Behalf of Investors.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- A class-action lawsuit has been filed by Zwerling, Schachter & Zwerling LLP in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of investors who say Doral Financial Corp. violated a section of the Securities...

GMAC Offers New Program.
May 2, 2005... MINNEAPOLIS -- Catering to sophisticated customers interested in using their mortgage as a cash-flow management tool, GMAC Residential Funding executives say the new Payment Option Loan program allows borrowers to choose between up to four...

The Bright Line.
May 2, 2005... Forget it. It's not going to happen. Those of you who think that the struggling secondary agencies are going to be stripped of their proprietary automated underwriting technology in their hour of trouble, we think this one is a nonstarter. ...

The Federal Home Loan Banks.
May 2, 2005... Mr. Pollock's recent testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs is presented as our Open Forum. To begin with the main point, I fully support creating a common housing GSE regulator which would include the...

Favorable Developments for Originators Seen in the Market.
May 2, 2005... It looked like a good week for those on the origination side of the business up through press time. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield - as tracked by Yahoo! Finance - fell again last week and some strong housing numbers came in. The...

HUD Ups Fines In Servicing Area.
May 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Department of Housing and Urban Development is increasing its fines on residential servicers that fail to engage in loss mitigation on federally insured mortgages. Under a regulation that goes into effect in late May, HUD...

S&P: GSE Ratings Continue to Depend on Capitalization Levels.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- Standard & Poor's is waiting to see if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can maintain capital levels above minimum standards than both have previously reported as Fannie finishes its accounting restatements and Freddie returns to its...

LaSalle: CMOs Are Not Necessarily Just for Institutional Investors.
May 2, 2005... BOCA RATON, FL -- Institutional investors generally are targeted when it comes to sales of collateralized mortgage obligations. But individual investors can be a viable market as well, albeit a very different one, according to LaSalle...

U.S. Bancorp Sees Record Net.
May 2, 2005... MINNEAPOLIS -- U.S. Bancorp here reported record net income of $1.07 billion for the first quarter of 2005, compared with $1.01 billion a year earlier. Net income of $0.57 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2005 was higher than the...

Hibernia Earns $85.8 Million.
May 2, 2005... NEW ORLEANS -- Hibernia Corp. earned $85.8 million in the first quarter, up 30% from one year earlier. The bank said earnings per share assuming dilution were $0.54, up 29% from a year earlier. Capital One Financial Corp. and Hibernia...

Investors Challenge Astoria Stock Plan.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- PL Capital said it plans to vote against a stock incentive plan for officers and employees of Astoria Financial Corp. that the corporation's board plans to put to a vote at the company's May 18 annual meeting. PL Capital said...

Astoria's EPS Rises by 21%.
May 2, 2005... LAKE SUCCESS, NY -- Astoria Financial Corp., the holding company for Astoria Federal Savings and Loan, reported net income of $59.5 million, or $0.57 per share, for the first quarter, up from $53.4 million, or $0.47 per share, a year earlier....

Multifamily Transactions.
May 2, 2005... Deutsche Bank Berkshire Mortgage has provided $79 million in three Freddie Mac ARMs for the refinancing of three Mid-Atlantic properties. GMACCM has provided Kennedy Wilson $23.324 million in debt and equity funding - including a $19.5...

Laureate Capital Buys RJ Twitty.
May 2, 2005... CHARLOTTE, NC -- Laureate Capital, a subsidiary of Branch Banking and Trust Co., has acquired R.J. Twitty & Co., a Tampa, Fla.-based mortgage banker. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The acquisition adds R.J. Twitty's...

Ventas Will Acquire Provident Senior.
May 2, 2005... LOUISVILLE, KY -- Ventas Inc., a health care real estate investment trust, has entered into a merger agreement to acquire Provident Senior Living Trust, an unlisted senior living REIT, in a transaction valued at $1.2 billion. Provident...

Multifamily Transactions.
May 2, 2005... * Deutsche Bank Berkshire Mortgage has provided $79 million in three Freddie Mac ARMs for the refinancing of three Mid-Atlantic properties. * GMACCM has provided Kennedy Wilson $23.324 million in debt and equity funding - including a $19.5...

GMAC Offering New Suite of Fraud Prevention.
May 2, 2005... MINNEAPOLIS -- GMAC Residential Funding, through a relationship with TPG Mortgage Assurance Solutions, is offering a new suite of mortgage fraud prevention services for its clients in order to address what the company sees as a growing problem...

ABS Downgrades For Saxon Asset.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- Ten subordinate certificates from five transactions issued by Saxon Asset Securities Trust in 2000 and 2001 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. The downgrades were as follows: class MF-2, from A2 to Baa1; class...

Paul Financial Will Use MSP.
May 2, 2005... JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Fidelity Information Systems here, a division of Fidelity National Financial, said that Paul Financial, a startup mortgage company, recently marked its one-year anniversary on Fidelity's Mortgage Servicing Package. Paul...

DOCX Has Patent Pending For Recording.
May 2, 2005... ATLANTA -- DOCX, a provider of real estate recording services to the mortgage industry, said the patent application for its RID technology is scheduled for publication. DOCX applied for the U.S. patent in early 2004 for the RID...

MortgageIT Expands Using MISMO and Web.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- Lenders like MortgageIT here are in the process of aggressively expanding their geographic footprint using Web technology as a tool. Ron Litt, senior vice president, retail operations at MortgageIT, said, "Our hope is to expand...

Caps for FHLB Portfolios.
May 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Housing Finance Board is going to place a cap on the size of the Federal Home Loan Banks' mortgage portfolios later this summer. Finance Board chairman Ronald Rosenfeld told the Senate Banking Committee last week...

Capstead Net Down Slightly.
May 2, 2005... DALLAS -- Capstead Mortgage Corp. reported net income of $7.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, compared to $8.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2004 and $12.3 million for the first quarter of 2004. Operating income declined...

Stewart Agrees To Settlement.
May 2, 2005... SACRAMENTO, CA -- Without admitting wrongdoing, Stewart Title of California Inc., San Diego, agreed to pay a settlement of $750,000 to the California Department of Insurance. The company allegedly made payments for business support service,...

The Calyx/Ellie Mae Feud Heats Up.
May 2, 2005... SAN JOSE, CA -- Calyx Software here and Dublin, Calif.-based Ellie Mae continue to fight it out in the courts over possible copyright infringement. In the meantime, Calyx continues to update its Point product by releasing its new LoanBridge...

NYC Commits $130 Million to New Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the city of New York has committed $130 million in Battery Park City Authority funds to create an affordable housing trust fund, thus settling an old dispute on how much money should go towards...

Roundup: Fidelity National RES and ShowingTime Join Forces.
May 2, 2005... The MLS Systems and Solutions group of Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, Jacksonville, Fla., has entered an agreement with ShowingTime to provide access to the latter's Web-based property-showing management system. Under the...

Health Care Reit Makes Tender Offer.
May 2, 2005... Health Care REIT, Toledo, Ohio, has made a cash tender offer for any and all of its $100 million outstanding principal amount of 7.625% senior notes due March 2008. The total payment for the notes will be based on a 75-basis-point fixed...

HEALTH CARE reit Prices Notes.
May 2, 2005... Health Care Property Investors Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Long Beach, Calif., has announced the pricing of $250 million of 5 5/8% senior unsecured notes at 99.585. The effective yield will be 5.673%, the REIT said. The...

GHR Enters ERS Market.
May 2, 2005... GHR Systems Inc., Wayne, Pa., has introduced the Enterprise Reporting System, which is designed to create instant reports with research capabilities and graphical analysis. ERS also provides historical and real-time views into a lender's...

Moody's Eyes New Century Classes.
May 2, 2005... One class from each of two deals originated by New Century Mortgage Corp. have been placed under review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. The negative watchlist placements were as follows: class B1, Morgan Stanley Dean...

HUD Backs 1st loan under program.
May 2, 2005... The Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to guarantee its first loan under a HUD mortgage program designed to provide more affordable housing and homeownership opportunities to Native Hawaiians. The $3.04 million loan from the...

Deutsche Bank Revamps unit.
May 2, 2005... Deutsche Bank is restructuring and expanding its Infrastructure Investments business, a unit in the bank's Deutsche Asset Management division. "Previously an Australian-based operation, Infrastructure Investments will become a New...

Applications Rise.
May 2, 2005... The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, rose from 672.6 to 712.4 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended April 22, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications...

Northeast, CA MSAs Top Risk Index.
May 2, 2005... The risk of a general decline in home prices over the next two years is highest in the Northeast and California, according to the latest PMI Risk Index. The average value of the index for the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas stood...

CA Resale Prices Up 15.7%.
May 2, 2005... The median price of an existing home in California was 15.7% higher in March than the level recorded a year earlier, and resales were up 7.5%, according to the California Association of Realtors. The median price of an existing...

Florida Sales Report - March 2005: Single-Family, Existing Homes.
May 2, 2005... (part 1 of 2) Statewide & Realtor Sales Metropolitan March March % (MSAs) 2005 2004 Chg. STATEWIDE ...

Doral Being Reviewed for Possible Moody's Downgrade.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- The ratings of Doral Financial Corp., San Juan, P.R., have been placed under review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. Doral's senior debt is currently rated Baa2. The rating action came in the wake of...

Freddie Remic.
May 2, 2005... MCLEAN, VA -- Freddie Mac has priced Reference REMIC R-001, class AE, the $1.25 billion inaugural issue of real estate mortgage investment conduit securities under a recently announced new program. The issue (CUSIP: 31395RAR9) was priced at...

Rating Watch For Notes.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- Three classes of notes issued by HarbourView CDO III Ltd., a collateralized debt obligation that includes mortgage-backed securities, have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. The affected securities are...

3 Classes Negative.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- Classes K, L and M of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Capital I Inc. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2001-Top 1, have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. The actions were attributed to the...

Fitch Downgrades.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- Five classes from three Structured Asset Mortgage Investments Inc. securitizations have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. The downgrades were as follows: series 1999-1 group 2, class 2B-4, from BB to B, and class 2B-5, from CCC...

MBA to Help Develop Affordable Housing Market for Russia.
May 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Mortgage Bankers Association and the Russia-based National Mortgage Association have agreed to help foster development of an affordable housing market in the Russian Federation. Under the memorandum of cooperation, the...

Canadian Apps.
May 2, 2005... TORONTO -- MortgageBrokers.com Inc. here said it has received regulatory approval to start accepting mortgage applications in Ontario. The company plans to get the licenses needed to do business across the rest of Canada, as well as...

Canadian Starts.
May 2, 2005... OTTAWA -- Canadian housing starts rose on a seasonally adjusted basis to 218,500 in March from 217,800 in February, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. here. "The high level of starts in March indicates that demand for new...

1st DUBAI MBS.
May 2, 2005... LONDON -- Moody's Investors Service's office here has assigned a provisional long-term rating of (P)Aaa to what it said is the first mortgage-backed transaction in Dubai and the Middle East region. Moody's said the deal issued by Cayman...

Fannie Introduces DUS Program that Allows Mezz. Financing.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- Fannie Mae has introduced a delegated underwriting and servicing plus program that allows the use of mezzanine financing in conjunction with its regular DUS program. And Freddie Mac's multifamily division is also planning to...

Half See Bubble In RE, Half Don't.
May 2, 2005... PHILADELPHIA -- There is a real estate bubble, according to about half of the lenders nationwide surveyed in February by Phoenix Management Services. The management services firm reports that 46% of the 122 commercial lenders responding to...

U.K. Vols Seem Relatively Strong.
May 2, 2005... LONDON -- Gross mortgage lending in the United Kingdom during March rose 13% to PN20.1 billion (about $38.3 billion) from PN17.8 billion (approximately $33.9 billion) in February, according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage...

Texas Bill Seen as Reforming 'Contract for Deed'.
May 2, 2005... AUSTIN, TX -- Contracts for deeds have created an unregulated market for very low-cost and substandard dwellings along the Texas-Mexico border region and are among the reasons why substandard housing has flourished in the region. Thus the Texas...

First Security Opens Branches.
May 2, 2005... BURBANK, CA -- First Security Lending here has opened new branches in the Wilshire area of Los Angeles and in Pasadena. The company also plans to open an office in Encino, which would be the third branch to open in 2005. The additions...

FirstFed Earned $18.5 MM in Qtr.
May 2, 2005... SANTA MONICA, CA -- FirstFed Financial Corp., parent company of First Federal Bank, reported net earnings of $18.5 million for the first quarter of 2005 compared to net earnings of $16.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. Net interest...

FAMB Commends Nonprime Credit Study's Findings on Costs.
May 2, 2005... TALLAHASSEE,FL -- The Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers here is commending a study, which shows that home loan applicants with less-than-stellar credit pay lower costs when they obtain financing through mortgage brokers instead of...

Bear Stearns Talking Up New Alt-A Guidelines.
May 2, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO -- Bear Stearns' conduit recently expanded its alternative-A credit loan product guidelines and that is among the topics that Mary Haggerty, one of the executives attending the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary...

Portland Base for Chinese Firm.
May 2, 2005... PORTLAND, OR -- A major Chinese real estate development company has plans to launch a business operation in North America from a headquarters site based here. The company is Shaanxi Jierui Group of Xian, China, which has already shown an...

HUD, Hispanic Radio Team Up.
May 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Department of Housing and Urban Development has partnered with the Hispanic Radio Network to launch a fair housing education campaign in Spanish that targets 13 of the country's largest metropolitan areas. The new radio...

Harlem Seen as 'Somewhat Insulated' from Projected Downturn.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- More people are trying to live as close to work and their families as possible, which is one of the reasons for the tremendous growth in development that is currently going on in Harlem, according to Chris Halliburton, executive...

MN Savings/Community and Commercial Bank Groups to Merge.
May 2, 2005... MINNEAPOLIS -- The board of directors of the Minnesota League of Savings & Community Bankers has voted to join forces with the Minnesota Bankers Association. The league, a trade association incorporated in 1942, provides advocacy, education and...

People.
May 2, 2005... CALIFORNIA Calabasas-Countrywide Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc. has appointed Eric Gutke as vice president and head of credit in the Midwest. He is based at the firm's regional office in Chicago. In addition, the company has added...

'CRE Markets See Slow Improvement'.
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK -- Commercial real estate markets nationwide continue to improve slowly, if somewhat unevenly, according to the fourth-quarter 2004 commercial market update report from Moody's Investors Service. Sally Gordon, a Moody's analyst...

Ex-Fannie Chair Omitting Mention of GSE Stint?
May 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Is ex-Fannie Mae chairman James A. Johnson ashamed to be associated with his former company? Mr. Johnson was traveling and did not return a reporter's phone call by press time. But judging from the Target Corp.'s annual proxy...

Earnings Rise At Countrywide.
May 2, 2005... CALABASAS, CA -- Countrywide Financial Corp. here has reported consolidated net earnings of $688.9 million ($1.13 per share) for the first quarter, a 27% increase from $543.2 million ($0.90 per share) in the first quarter of 2004. Pretax...

Mortgage Industry Equity Composite.
May 2, 2005... MIEC Index: 157.7 Change: 1.5 (part 1 of 2) Company 4/21/2005 4/28/2005 Wkly. % Chg. Astoria Federal (AF) 24.75 ...

Inside Track.
May 9, 2005... EDITORIAL Brand New HFAs 4 OPEN FORUM Goals At HUD 4 STREET SMARTS Retro Trends, Maybe 5 TECHONLOGY GSEs And Their Aus 12 ...

FBI Wants Broker Fraud Cooperation.
May 9, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government, which is fighting a rising tide of mortgage fraud cases, is pushing for regulations that would require loan brokers to report suspicious activity in the origination process. At a press briefing at FBI...

The FBI & Loan Fraud: Current Case Loan.
May 9, 2005... # of SARs filed in 2004: 17,127 # of SARs filed in 2003: 6,936 Current 'open' cases: 642 Mort. fraud convictions in '04: 172 Mort. fraud indictments in '04: 241 Mort. fraud fines in '04: $110 mil. Mort. fraud fines in...

'Suitability' of IOs Questioned by Many.
May 9, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO -- The secondary market is beginning to question the unbridled growth of interest-only mortgages, 40-year loans, pay-option adjustables and other products designed to capitalize on the rapid run-up in housing prices. ...

Going North for Funds.
May 9, 2005... SOUTHFIELD, MI -- Lots of mortgage companies have gone public to raise capital, but now one American lender has decided to go to Canada with its initial public offering. FMF Capital Group, a wholesale, nonprime mortgage lender formerly...

Subprime Servicers at 3/31/05 (A Sample).
May 9, 2005... ($ in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Organization Name Location Aurora Loan Services Inc. Aurora, CO Cimarron Mortgage Jackson, MS CIT Group Consumer Finance Livingston, NJ ...

GMAC Ratings Cut to 'Junk'.
May 9, 2005... NEW YORK -- Standard & Poor's here last Thursday cut the credit ratings of home loan and auto lender GMAC to "junk/speculative grade" status due to financial woes at its automotive corporate parent, raising questions about the lender's efforts...

Fitch: Investigation Should Not Lead to Big Loan Repurchases.
May 9, 2005... NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings does not think the investigation into the lending practices of large national banks by New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer will lead to a significant amount of loan repurchases in the asset-backed securities...

Consumer Group Urges AG Action.
May 9, 2005... NEW YORK -- Following a move by New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer, Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch is calling on all 50 state attorneys general to investigate some of the nation's largest lenders, which it says are to varying degrees...