National Mortgage News articles from May 2006

National Mortgage News archives from May 2006

Inside Track.
May 8, 2006... EDITORIAL Secondary Is Primary 4 OPEN FORUM Snow On Housing 4 STREET SMARTS Interest Rate Perspectives 5 HOUSING SCENE Immigrants And Construction 6 TECHNOLOGY ...

WaMu Ends Correspondent.
May 8, 2006... SEATTLE -- Washington Mutual here has shuttered its traditional correspondent purchase channel, shifting that business over to its capital markets group. Layoffs were involved in the restructuring, but at press time a company spokeswoman could...

Top Correspondent Lenders in 2005.
May 8, 2006... ($ in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA 2 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage San Francisco, CA ...

Ameriquest Shutters All Retail Branches.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Faced with declining production and a changing retail landscape, Ameriquest Mortgage - once the nation's largest subprime lender - has closed its entire retail branch network, slashing 3,800 jobs in the process. In total, 229...

FHLB Directors Stage a Revolt.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati staged an early attack on a proposed capital rule and it looks as if other FHLBanks will be joining and demanding that federal regulators withdraw the rule or make...

Homeownership Is Getting Hip-Hop.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- A gathering of hip-hop celebrities and over 2,000 urban youth at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan, sponsored by Chrysler Financial Inc. and Anheuser Busch, would resemble a big hip party to anyone. And even...

Katrina-Area Default Rates Being Helped by Federal Payouts.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Default rates in areas of Louisiana and Mississippi hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita appear to have crested in December, according to a Friedman Billings Ramsay report on the performance of non-agency mortgage loans. The...

Is Alt- A Funder Getting Offers?
May 8, 2006... NEWPORT BEACH, CA -- Impac Mortgage Holdings here, a top-ranked alt-A lender, has been talking to investors about a possible sale, investment banking sources confirmed to National Mortgage News. One industry source familiar with the matter...

Wilmington CEO Leaves Company.
May 8, 2006... PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA -- Jerry Schiano, president and CEO of Wilmington Finance here has left the company, industry sources confirmed to National Mortgage News. Mr. Schiano and Wilmington Finance could not be reached for comment at press...

Flagstar's Earnings Trimmed by HELOC Loss.
May 8, 2006... TROY, MI -- Flagstar Bancorp Inc. reported first-quarter earnings of $18.9 million, or $0.29 per share, down from $19.8 million, or $0.31 per share, in the first quarter of 2005. Flagstar said quarter results were affected "by a $3.6...

Fannie Revises High-Cost Policy.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae has revised its points and fees test on subprime loans to provide lenders with clearer guidance on high-cost loans the mortgage company will not purchase. The new guidance clarifies that lenders cannot charge points and...

Editorial: Primary Importance.(Editorial)
May 8, 2006... As secondary mortgage market participants gather this week in Chicago for the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual conference in this space, it is clearer to them now more than ever that their niche is not of secondary importance to the...

Open Forum: Housing Still Linchpin of Economy.
May 8, 2006... Secretary Snow's prepared remarks before the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Policy Conference are presented as our Open Forum. You are at the forefront of investing in America's communities, businesses and families. You're doing...

Putting Interest Rates' Effect on Originations Into Perspective.
May 8, 2006... As the long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury yield more firmly sustained its trading range above 5% and the Federal Reserve chairman indicated that he has been viewed as more prone to put the brakes on rising short-term rates than he...

Housing Construction Industry Depends on Immigrant Labor.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Whatever your opinion regarding immigrants who have entered the United States illegally, realize that if you are in the market for a new house, it's very likely to take longer to build - and cost more to buy - if they are forced...

Title Insurance Kickbacks an 'Endemic' Problem.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- A Colorado insurance regulator told Congress that a "black market" exists in which real estate agents, homebuilders, lenders and mortgage brokers are demanding and receiving illegal kickbacks from title insurance firms. ...

PMI Calculates Insurance Value.
May 8, 2006... WALNUT CREEK, CA -- With interest rates rising, there have been anecdotal reports of a diminishing interest in the 80-10-10 or piggyback mortgage product, where a second loan is used to avoid mortgage insurance. Some of the private...

Mid-Atlantic Automates Processing with Voice Conversion Technology.
May 8, 2006... ATLANTA -- Given the increased scrutiny being placed on the mortgage space and the need to ramp up as much volume as possible, creating an automated loan processor would be ideal, and Mid-Atlantic Financial Services here has taken steps to move...

Synergies Create Seamless Lead Generation Chain.
May 8, 2006... SEATTLE -- Three companies here can be integrated to form a seamless origination chain. Specifically, the three firms allow the broker to price the home, connect with the lender and get financing as well. For the borrower or broker that...

Irwin Home Equity Picks Portellus Loan Origination System.
May 8, 2006... SAN RAMON, CA -- Culminating an extensive LOS search process, Irwin Home Equity here has settled on Portellus Inc. to provide it with a Web-based system for its wholesale, retail and correspondent lending channels. What the company wanted,...

GreenPoint to Launch Commercial Lending.
May 8, 2006... NOVATO, CA -- Following its February launch of e-Point 3.2, GreenPoint Mortgage here is poised to launch a commercial lending version that will enable brokers to originate small commercial loans in the $500,000 to $5 million range. e-Point,...

Questions Remain about How to Meet Housing Needs after Katrina.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- There remains a great need for housing and construction in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. But the extent to which originators and lenders will find opportunities to meet that demand still depends on the outcome of a number of...

Commercial Banks Play Big Role in Agri-Finance.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The American Bankers Association says that demand for agricultural credit is on the rise. Total U.S. farm debt surpassed $210 billion in 2005, according to the ABA. In addition, the ABA said that commercial banks are a major...

Farm Credit System's Earnings Rise.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- The Farm Credit System earned $554 million system-wide in the first quarter, up from $498 million in the first quarter of 2005. Jamie Stewart, president and CEO of the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corp., said that the...

Farmer Mac Volume Exceeds $6 Billion.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., known informally as Farmer Mac, issued a long-term standby purchase commitment on a $479 million pool of agricultural real estate loans recently, bringing Farmer Mac's total portfolio of...

USDA to Study Impact of Co-ops.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Agriculture secretary Mike Johanns has made approximately $495,000 in competitive funds available to institutions of higher learning to conduct research on the economic impact of cooperatives. "Cooperatives play an important role...

Freddie Extends Hurricane Forbearance Again.
May 8, 2006... MCLEAN, VA -- Freddie Mac has extended many of its emergency hurricane relief policies through Aug. 31 in the Gulf Coast counties and parishes affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, according to a May 1 guide bulletin sent to the company's...

At a Glance: Freddie Mac Zone Designations by County/Parish.
May 8, 2006... ZONE ONE (minimal damage) Alabama: Choctaw, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Pickens, Sumter, Tuscaloosa Louisiana: Allen, Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberville, Lafayette, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, Sabine,...

Regions Servicer Rating Affirmed.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings has affirmed Regions Mortgage's "RPS2-minus" residential primary servicer rating for alt-A and subprime products. Fitch said the rating reflects Regions' "experienced management team, capable loan administration...

IndyMac Confirms Plan to Sell Partial Stake in Financial Freedom.
May 8, 2006... PASADENA, CA -- IndyMac Bancorp's board of directors has authorized management to evaluate and plan for a potential sale of a minority stake in its reverse mortgage subsidiary, Financial Freedom Senior Funding, through an initial public...

Fitch: No Problem With Fidelity Plan.
May 8, 2006... JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Fitch Ratings said the restructuring at Fidelity National Financial Inc. here would not have any credit implications. The restructuring is at the holding company level and involves a series of transactions that will...

Clayton's Revenue Rises in 1st Quarter.
May 8, 2006... SHELTON, CT -- Clayton Holdings here said that it earned a gross profit of $16.3 million in the first quarter on revenue of $55.2 million. Clayton said that first-quarter revenue was up 15.3% compared to the first quarter of 2005. The...

Real Estate Writers Schooled on Mortgage Basics.
May 8, 2006... CHARLOTTE, NC -- A top housing economist took a group of real estate reporters to school here late last month, explaining, among other things, why they shouldn't panic when delinquency and foreclosure rates move higher, as they inevitably will....

Alesco to Merge with Sunset Financial.
May 8, 2006... PHILADELPHIA -- Alesco Financial Trust here has signed a definitive agreement to merge with Sunset Financial Resources Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., in a deal that will create a combination with a total equity market capitalization of $220 million....

BoA Considering No-Fee Products.
May 8, 2006... CHARLOTTE, NC -- At least one major lender has a totally no-cost loan on its drawing board. "We talk about it quite a bit," Bank of America's Floyd Robinson told a gathering of the country's real estate writers meeting here in the banking...

Rule on 'Junk Faxes' Makes Room for Brokers.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission has adopted rules to implement the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005. The rules, the agency said, codify the exemption that allow businesses to send faxes to parties which it has an...

Promotion Spotlight: Scott Kline.
May 8, 2006... Mr. Kline, vice president of the National Housing Trust, is the new president of the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers, Arlington, Va. Mr. Kline is taking over from John D. Spencer, HAND's immediate past president of 14 years....

Commercial Real Estate Debt Hits Peak Level.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- The share of commercial mortgage debt in U.S. gross domestic product reached 15.8% in the fourth quarter of 2005, the highest level since the record of 15% set in 1988 at the peak of the last real estate cycle, Moody's Investors...

Real Estate Risk Rising at Banks.
May 8, 2006... OLDWICK, NJ -- The banking industry's appetite for commercial real estate and construction loans continued to grow last year, but some industry observers warn that the popularity of real estate could come back to haunt bankers. CRE loan...

Moody's Puts Focus on REIT CDOs.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- Moody's Investors Service has published a report explaining its approach to assessing the risks of U.S. collateralized debt obligations backed by the debt of real estate investment trusts. CDOs backed by REIT trust securities or...

Ocwen Residential Deal Downgraded.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- Four classes of Ocwen Residential MBS Corp. Home Equity Loan Trust securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. The downgrades were as follows: series 1998-R1, class B-3, from BBB-minus to BB; series 1998-R3, class B-1, from A...

Mobile Home Deal Weakens.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings has downgraded 21 classes in Conseco Finance/Green Tree Finance manufactured housing transactions. Fitch also affirmed its ratings on 223 classes in 56 Conseco/Green Tree deals. The rating agency said the...

Law Firm Opens Frankfurt Office.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- International law firm Sidley Austin LLP has opened a new office in Frankfurt, Germany, that offers legal advice on commercial mortgage-backed securities transactions among its services. The firm recently completed advisory work...

HongKong Land Is Downgraded.
May 8, 2006... HONG KONG -- Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the issuer and debt ratings of Hongkong Land Co. Ltd to A3 from A2 and downgraded the issuer rating of HongKong Land Holdings Ltd. to Baa1 from A3, concluding a ratings review initiated on...

CMSA Europe Offering Forum.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- CMSA Europe, an affiliate of the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association here, has created an investors forum for commercial mortgage-backed securities investors in Europe. John Deacon, head of debt principal finance at UBS,...

Fund Has Partner In German Market.
May 8, 2006... DALLAS -- Behringer Harvard Strategic Opportunity Fund II LP here has completed its first acquisition by partnering in the investment with a German real estate developer/manager. The acquired real estate is a renovated mid-1900s-era...

Firm Eyes China's Housing Market.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- Pacific Northwest Productions Inc. here has entered into and closed a share purchase agreement with China's Xi'an Tsining Housing Development Co. Ltd. and its shareholders in which it issued to those shareholders two million...

Snail Mail Still Has its Uses in Retaining Loyalty of Customers.
May 8, 2006... Sherriebroker: Do you believe if you give good service, people will remember you? Do you believe if you've had a smooth closing in the past, the client will call you the next time they need a mortgage? Do you believe people are loyal and will...

Roundup: GreenPoint Targets Brokers with Commercial Lending.
May 8, 2006... Following its February release of e-Point 3.2, GreenPoint Mortgage, Novato, Calif., is poised to launch a commercial lending version that will enable brokers to originate small commercial loans in the $500,000 to $5 million range. Originally...

Group Calls for Background Checks on Field Service Contractors.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- The voting members of SIRs - the Society of Independent Representatives - approved changes to membership requirements to include the requirement that all members be pre-screened with a criminal background check and have no felony...

Cash-Out Rate Jumps to 88%.
May 8, 2006... MCLEAN, VA -- In the first quarter, 88% of the homeowners who refinanced their homes got a mortgage at least 5% larger than the original loan, the highest such percentage since the third quarter of 1990, according to Freddie Mac. The...

Annaly Posts Quarterly Loss amid Rebalancing.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- Annaly Mortgage Management Inc. saw a net loss for the quarter ended March 31 of $10.9 million, compared to net income of $59.3 million for the same quarter a year ago and compared to a net loss of $136.8 million for the quarter...

Clayton Hires WaMu Vet as COO.
May 8, 2006... SHELTON, CT -- Clayton Holdings, an information and analytics firm servicing debt market participants, has named D. Keith Johnson as president and chief operating officer. Mr. Johnson was previously president and CEO of Washington Mutual's...

Accredited Home Loans Lowers Cost of Origination.
May 8, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- Accredited Home Loans reported first-quarter 2006 net income of $35.8 million, or $1.61 per share, up 14.5% from the $31.3 million, or $1.43 per share, for the same period one year ago. The subprime mortgage lender was able to...

KW Fund Targets Southeast, West.
May 8, 2006... BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- Kennedy Wilson's fund management group has formed a second real estate investment fund to invest in office and industrial properties in the Southeast and Western United States. The fund is targeting $200 million in...

Equity Office Sees Lower EPS.
May 8, 2006... CHICAGO -- Equity Office Properties reported net income of $45.6 million (earnings per share of $0.12) for the first quarter, down from net income in the first quarter of 2005 of $100.9 million (EPS of $0.25). The largest office real...

Top Residential Lenders in the Milwaukee and Chicago Metro Areas.
May 8, 2006... Top Mortgage Lenders in the Milwaukee MSA (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Minneapolis, MN 2 Wauwatosa Savings Bank Wauwatosa, WI 3...

Top Residential Lenders in the Milwaukee and Chicago Metro Areas.
May 8, 2006... Top Mortgage Lenders in the Chicago MSA (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Home Loans Calabasas, CA 2 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Minneapolis, MN 3...

ARM Funds Lead Lipper Rankings.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- Mutual funds invested primarily in adjustable-rate mortgages topped the rankings among mortgage mutual funds in a poor first quarter that, like the first quarter of 2005, saw the other two classes of mortgage funds record losses...

U.S. Mortgage Funds.
May 8, 2006... (part 1 of 2) 1 Quarter 12/31/2005 3/31/2006 Total Net Fund ...

Adjustable-Rate Mortgage Funds.
May 8, 2006... (part 1 of 2) 1 Quarter 12/31/2005 3/31/2006 Total Net Fund ...

Ginnie Mae Funds.
May 8, 2006... (part 1 of 2) 1 Quarter 12/31/2005 3/31/2006 Total Net Fund Assets...

Fiserv Certified as Compliant with Lending Industry Standards.
May 8, 2006... LAKE MARY, FL -- Fiserv has embraced the work of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization by holding a place on its governance board and receiving MX certification for both of its loan origination systems, easyLENDER and UniFi...

Health Care REIT Buys CNL.
May 8, 2006... LONG BEACH, CA -- Health Care Property Investors, a real estate investment trust that invests in health care properties, is acquiring CNL Retirement Properties, an Orlando, Fla.-based health care REIT, for a purchase price of about $5.2...

NetBank Seeks Servicing Buyer.
May 8, 2006... ATLANTA -- NetBank plans to sell its mortgage servicing platform along with most of its mortgage servicing rights on a $13 billion portfolio of home loans, the company said last week. NetBank said the proposed sale, which it estimates will...

Delta, New Century See Gains.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- A pair of the nation's largest subprime mortgage wholesalers both reported first-quarter earnings that were an improvement over the same period the year before. Woodbury, N.Y.-based Delta Financial Corp. had net income of $6.6...

CA Home Construction Jumps.
May 8, 2006... SACRAMENTO, CA -- Despite heavy rains in Northern California, single-family housing starts statewide climbed 15.3% in March compared to February's totals, according to data released from the California Building Industry Association. ...

Globalization Extends to Nonperforming Market.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- The nonperforming loan market has literally come a long way since it began as a U.S.-only phenomenon in the 1980s as the concept has spread to several other countries and has moved toward an unprecedented level of global...

PDF Isn't Always 'Intelligent'.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- There is a debate within MISMO today reminiscent of a debate that happened within MISMO five years ago surrounding how the industry will deliver SMART Docs to the investor and adopt e-mortgages. Countrywide and others are touting...

Servicers - Average Coupon Yields at Q4 2005.
May 8, 2006... (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Impac Funding Corporation Newport Beach, CA 2 Golden West Financial Corp./World Oakland, CA 3 Security Savings Mtg. Corp. Canton,...

Advantage Credit Helps FHA Reach Hispanic Audience.
May 8, 2006... PENSACOLA, FL -- Advantage Credit International, one of the country's largest credit reporting agencies, has joined forces with the Department of Housing and Urban Development in raising industry awareness about the launch of HUD's first-ever...

People.
May 8, 2006... COLORADO Denver-AmeriVest Properties Inc. said that Sheri Henry, the company's controller, will assume the additional responsibilities of chief financial officer on June 1. Kathryn Hale, the current CFO, will retire from the company on...

Mortgages Help UBS Income.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- The corporate parent of Wall Street firm UBS said it just experienced its best quarter on record in part due to some relatively strong performances in some mortgage-related business lines. Net profit for the quarter for UBS was...

Home-Equity Lender Details E-Mortgage Successes and Hurdles.
May 8, 2006... COSTA MESA, CA -- Secured Funding has embarked on an electronic mortgage strategy that has literally cut four days out of the process for them as they have automated their closing documents using electronic signatures. In detailing their...

CMBS Overdues at 7-Year Low.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- Delinquency rates on U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities fell to a seven-year low of 0.58% in the first quarter, its lowest level since 1999, Standard & Poor's reports. The delinquency rate also dropped from 0.84% at the...

MF REIT Earnings Are Way Up.
May 8, 2006... CHICAGO -- Equity Residential reported net income of $367.7 million ($1.25 earnings per share) for the first quarter, up from $214 million ($0.74 EPS) for the first quarter of 2005. The largest multifamily real estate investment trust by...

Publicly Traded Subprime and Alt-A Related Firms.
May 8, 2006... B&C Stock Price Index: 227.6 Change: 00 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 5/4/2006 Aames (AIC) 4.97 10.35 5.30 Delta Financial Corp (DFC) ...

Lockhart Named Acting Director.
May 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- President George Bush has appointed James B. Lockhart III to be the acting director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which supervises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and he started working at the agency last...

Mortgage Industry Equity Composite.
May 8, 2006... MIEC Index: 162.2 Change: 5.0 (part 1 of 2) Company 4/27/2006 5/4/2006 Wkly. % Chg. Astoria Federal (AF) 30.42 30.67 1%...

Hovnanian Expects Volume Drop.
May 8, 2006... RED BANK, NJ -- While Homebuilder Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. experienced a 22% increase in the dollar value of net contracts in the first quarter of 2006, the company said it expects to report a decline of approximately 20% in net contracts for...

Credit Suisse Sees Income Rise.
May 8, 2006... NEW YORK -- Net income at Credit Suisse Group, the corporate parent of the Wall Street firm here, rose to 2.6 billion Swiss francs ($2.1 billion) during the first quarter from 1.9 billion Swiss francs ($1.5 billion) during the same period the...

REO Gain Lifts Bar Harbor Bank.
May 8, 2006... BAR HARBOR, ME -- Bar Harbor Bankshares here, parent of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, earned net income of $1.6 million in the first quarter, up from $1.2 million a year earlier. Bar Harbor president and CEO Joseph Murphy said a gain on the sale of...

Inside Track.
May 15, 2006... EDITORIAL Golden House, Golden Door 4 OPEN FORUM Eyeing Today's Lending Risks 4 STREET SMARTS Focusing On The Fed's Latest Move 5 COMMERCIAL MORTGAGES Rates Seen...

Creating a Top 10 Residential Firm.
May 15, 2006... CHARLOTTE, NC -- Wachovia Corp., here has agreed to purchase mega-thrift Golden West Financial Corp., Oakland, for $26 billion in cash and stock, a deal that solidifies the bank's position as a top player in residential finance. Once the...