National Mortgage News articles from September 2008

National Mortgage News archives from September 2008

Nationalization 'Unlikely'.
September 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The share prices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rebounded strongly last week after Citigroup, in a new report, predicted that the federal government will not nationalize the two anytime soon. Citigroup analyst Bradley Ball,...

GSE Stock Writedown.
September 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. declared in a new regulatory filing that the value of its Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac perpetual preferred stock has fallen by half to $600 million. The bank/investment bank offered few other details about...

Carteret NB Closing.
September 1, 2008... CENTREVILLE, VA -- Carteret Mortgage Corp. here, a large net branch operator that caters to loan brokers, is closing its doors, sources told National Mortgage News. At press time, Carteret CEO Eric Weinstein could not be reached for...

Both Banks and Thrifts Hurting.
September 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Banks and thrifts set aside $50 billion in loan loss reserves during the second quarter as the downturn in the housing market shows few signs of bottoming and institutions face higher charge offs on single-family and residential...

Fannie Vols At New Low.
September 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae purchased $42.3 billion in home mortgages during July, its lowest acquisition volume in 41 months, according to new company figures. Compared to June, Fannie's acquisitions tumbled 33%. In July of last year - as...

FDIC To Solicit IndyMac Bids.
September 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is planning to solicit bids on IndyMac Bank as a whole unit and in pieces to see which will fetch the best price and recovery for the insurance fund. Marketing of the $32 billion failed bank...

Bleak Outlook For MBS Pools.
September 1, 2008... NEW YORK -- Weaker collateral, declining home values, higher mortgage rates and reduced credit availability to lenders have caused the performance of pools of loans backing U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities issued in 2006 and 2007 to...

EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT: Mark Oman.
September 1, 2008... Mark Oman, the senior executive vice president who manages Wells Fargo & Co.'s 47,000-employee home and consumer finance group in Des Moines, recently announced that he would retire by the end of next year. Mr. Oman, a 30-year Wells veteran,...

FHA Plans To Charge Homebuyers 1.75% Upfront MI Premium.
September 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Housing Administration said last week it will charge homebuyers a 1.75% upfront mortgage insurance premium starting Oct. 1 when the agency must end its brief experiment with risk-based pricing that began in July. ...

Originations Will Dip Further in 09.
September 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The Mortgage Bankers Association's new chief economist expects wider mortgage spreads are going to be around for a while, and he recently shaved $100 billion off his forecast for 2009 mortgage originations. The updated...

Despite Losses, Merrill Plans To Keep Subprime Servicing Unit.
September 1, 2008... NEW YORK -- Merrill Lynch, which has suffered billions of dollars in subprime-related losses, has decided to keep its Pittsburgh-based B&C servicing platform, Home Loan Services. A company spokesman told National Mortgage News that, "While...

EDITORIAL: Penny Stocks.(Editorial)
September 1, 2008... Seeing the stocks of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae trading almost in the penny stock range is quite a shock, considering Fannie's 52-week high is above $70 and Freddie's is above $65. OK, neither of the two big mortgage agencies has traded at...

OPEN FORUM: Making a Competitive FHA.
September 1, 2008... Excerpts of Mr. Montgomery's remarks at the FDIC's Forum on Mortgage Lending for Low- and Moderate-Income Households in Washington recently are presented as our Open Forum. History tells us that 55 years ago, Fed chair William Martin spoke...

Thornburg Earns a Profit, but Just Barely, Due to MBS Losses.
September 1, 2008... SANTA FE, NM -- Thornburg Mortgage Inc. said its earnings of $412.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30 were lowered dramatically to $22.7 million as a result of a $209.6 million loss on the company's MBS portfolio partially offset by...

Flagstar's E-Strategy Expands to Include Both GSEs.
September 1, 2008... TROY, MI -- Flagstar Bank here has expanded its electronic mortgage strategy to now sell full e-mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Flagstar made headlines late last year when it started actively selling e-mortgages to Fannie. Now the...

Zaio Developments Advance the Appraisal Process Farther.
September 1, 2008... SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- Given pending regulation barring originators from having interaction with appraisers in order to mitigate fraud, Zaio here has made several significant steps in furthering its position as a way to both comply with the...

E-Docs for Foreign Real Estate.
September 1, 2008... WESTLAKE, TX -- First American Loan Production Solutions here has begun offering electronic document packages that allow lenders to originate and close mortgages on U.S. purchases of investment properties and second homes in Costa Rica, the...

Lone Star Gets 90% of German Co.
September 1, 2008... DALLAS -- Germany's KfW Bankengruppe said it has agreed to sell its shares in IKB Deutsche Industriebank, a German company that has been hard hit by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, to U.S. private equity firm Lone Star here. The...

Moody's Factors Risks for AVM Loans in UK RMBS Offerings.
September 1, 2008... NEW YORK -- The London office of Moody's Investors Service here has begun factoring in the risk associated with each United Kingdom automated valuation model's provider's data and modeling approach into its ratings for residential...

MBS Backed by SunTrust Loans Downgraded by Moody's.
September 1, 2008... NEW YORK -- Forty-three tranches from three alternative-A transactions backed by SunTrust-originated mortgage loans have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. Nine tranches were placed on review for possible further downgrade. ...

Farmer Mac Backs $475 Million Deal.
September 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., informally known as Farmer Mac, has guaranteed $475 million of three-year agricultural mortgage-backed notes issued by Marshall & Ilsley Bank. The transaction is part of Farmer Mac's...

Apollo Raises Capital for Fund.
September 1, 2008... NEW YORK -- International real estate investor and fund manager Apollo Real Estate Advisors has raised additional capital for its debt investment fund, Apollo Real Estate Finance Corp. Apollo increased overall capital for AREFIN's...

Firm Contributes To Joint Venture.
September 1, 2008... FARMINGTON HILLS, MI -- Real estate investment trust Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust here has contributed the Plaza at Delray shopping center in Delray Beach, Fla., to a joint venture with an investor advised by Heitman LLC. Permanent...

United Financial Secures $11.6 Million Loan.
September 1, 2008... ORLANDO, FL -- Michael J. Daspin, president of United Financial of America Inc., has secured $11.6 million in financing for the Homewood Suites situated at 4210 Airport Way in Denver. The loan was financed through a national lending...

Homebuilder Earnings Hit Hard.
September 1, 2008... NEWPORT BEACH, CA -- Slower than anticipated home sales and lower revenue due to continued depressed market conditions in the housing industry continue to wreak havoc on homebuilders' earnings. William Lyon Homes here reported a net loss of...

First Franklin 2Q Earnings Suffer.
September 1, 2008... JERSEY CITY, NJ -- Franklin Credit Management Corp. says it expects a second-quarter loss of $280 million to $285 million compared to a net loss of $3.6 million for the second quarter of 2007. The company says the loss is due to...

States Looking at Ability to Pay.
September 1, 2008... MINNEAPOLIS -- The American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators is close to adopting a standardized examination procedure for determining whether or not borrowers have a reasonable ability to repay a mortgage. A draft of the...

NAMB Blasts Mainstream Media.(Conference notes)
September 1, 2008... NEW ORLEANS -- The mainstream media came under fire at a panel consisting of National Association of Mortgage Brokers president Marc Savitt and several state leaders at the NAMB/Southeast conference here. Mr. Savitt said the industry needs...

People.
September 1, 2008... CALIFORNIA Huntington Beach-Foreclosure Trackers Inc. named Randy Green as its vice president of data acquisition. Mr. Green formerly held data acquisition roles with First American Real Estate, RealPro and SAFECO Title/American...

Understanding Reverse Clients.
September 1, 2008... NEW YORK -- Demographic data supporting unprecedented growth in the reverse mortgage marketplace has fueled new marketing campaigns targeting seniors. How successful lenders are in reaching out to these clients, some market insiders say,...

GMAC Shuts Wholesale and Cuts Retail.
September 8, 2008... NEW YORK -- GMAC Financial Services last week became the latest mortgage giant to throw its wholesale division onto the scrap heap, leaving thousands of loan brokers out in the cold. Over the past six months, five wholesalers with a...

Wachovia May Take More POA Hits.
September 8, 2008... CHARLOTTE, NC -- Wachovia Corp., the nation's largest payment-option ARM investor ($122 billion at last count), is treating its portfolio like a "distressed asset" and will be taking more hits on the loans, according to a new report issued by...

FHLBs Expanding?
September 8, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Passage of a landmark housing bill that revamps the supervision of the Federal Home Loan Banks also has laid the groundwork for the 12 banks to play a larger role in purchasing and possibly securitizing residential mortgages in...

Goldman Adds MSRs.
September 8, 2008... NEW YORK -- Goldman Sachs has agreed to purchase $1.2 billion worth of nonconforming real estate, auto loans and servicing rights from Popular Inc., San Juan, and its subprime division, Equity One, for $760 million. A Goldman spokesman...

EDITORIAL: Providing Liquidity: Write deck write deck here.(Editorial)
September 8, 2008... The disaster in subprime lending that has occurred and the subsequent vaporization of the market that has occurred doesn't mean there won't be subprime lending in the future, albeit in a more rational fashion. One key to restructuring the area...

Mortgage REIT Stung by Loss.
September 8, 2008... IRVINE, CA -- ECC Capital Corp., a real estate investment trust headquartered here, reported a net loss of $68.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2008. The company said future quarterly results might not be posted. In a document...

Ranieri Steps Down as Interim CEO of FBTX.
September 8, 2008... HOUSTON -- Lewis Ranieri, co-inventor of the mortgage-backed security, has stepped down as interim chief executive of the struggling Franklin Bank Corp. of Texas but will remain as chairman as the depository searches for new capital. ...

Fremont Execs Leaving Posts.
September 8, 2008... BREA, CA -- The top two executives at Fremont General Corp. here have resigned their posts as chief executive and president now that the company has filed for bankruptcy. Stephen H. Gordon was Fremont's chief executive and David S. DePillo...

FHA Urges Industry to Extend New Foreclosure Relief in Gulf.
September 8, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Shortly after Hurricane Gustav slammed into the Louisiana coast last week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development declared a 90-day moratorium on Federal Housing Administration foreclosures and called on the mortgage...

OPEN FORUM: Fighting Foreclosures.
September 8, 2008... Excerpts of Mr. Paulson's remarks on the markets and economy at the Exchequer Club in Washington recently are presented as our Open Forum. It took years of excesses - lax underwriting standards, excessive home price appreciation and...

Seeing Both Challenges and Hope in Loan Production Area.
September 8, 2008... Even as deep staff cuts by yet another major mortgage origination player - GMAC - provided more evidence that challenges on the production side of the market are continuing, there also were some signs of possible hope in that end of the...

Shared Appreciation Financing Is Making a Comeback.
September 8, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Tom Dimaggio intended to spend "a shade more than $100,000" to redo the back yard of his Martinez, Calif., home last December. But he "didn't want to dip that heavily into his savings" and he wasn't crazy about taking on a...

Wipro Technologies Acquires Gallagher Financial.
September 8, 2008... BANGALORE, India -- Wipro Technologies here has bought loan origination software vendor mainstay Gallagher Financial Systems Inc. The sale price was not disclosed. The combined entity is now called Wipro Gallagher Solutions. "We've...

Bank Exposure to GSE Preferred Stock 'Not Material'.
September 8, 2008... NEW YORK -- Ratings agency DBRS says that despite the sinking market for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac equity securities, most U.S. banks have limited exposure to writedowns related to the preferred stock of the government-sponsored enterprises....

Fitch Lowers Key GSE Rating.
September 8, 2008... NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings has downgraded the preferred stock ratings for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to BBB-. Previously, Fannie Mae had an A+ preferred stock rating and Freddie Mac had an A rating. Moreover, Fitch said the preferred...

Servicers Redo 200,000 Loans.
September 8, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The Hope Now alliance said it modified or entered into new payment plans on 192,034 troubled residential loans during July. The group - which includes mortgage servicers, investors and credit counselors - claims it has...

BGS3 Lessens Damage to Borrowers through Short Sales.
September 8, 2008... LOUISVILLE, KY -- BGS3 is once again expanding its operations in response to recent developments in the world of short sales. The move comes in reaction to Fannie Mae's changes to its policies on bankruptcy and foreclosure, as well as a new...

REO Disposition: Making More Repairs.
September 8, 2008... REO asset managers face growing concerns over soaring foreclosure rates well over 50% higher than they were in 2007. Due to the abundance of foreclosures, lenders are focusing on volume management in REO. The rising foreclosure market is...

Aggressive Approaches to Rehab More REO.
September 8, 2008... As cities across the nation get creative in handling vacant properties, there are plenty of things that asset managers can do to improve the movement of their REO properties. While in the past, mortgage servicers had the option to be...

Managers Preserve Properties.
September 8, 2008... HOUSTON -- Mounting foreclosures mean servicers should focus intently on property preservation in order to maximize their portfolios, according to Cheryl Lang, president of Integrated Mortgage Solutions here. "Efficient management of the...

REOMAC Members Work Together.
September 8, 2008... SACRAMENTO, CA -- The issue of rising foreclosures and REO has touched every member of REOMAC and in the mortgage market as a whole, including every lender no matter how cautious they were with their loans, says Shelley Kaye, president of...

Banks Combat Vacant Blight.
September 8, 2008... As values drop for vacant REO properties, mortgage companies are being hurt as much as the next-door neighbors. Awareness is growing to make sure these homes compare with the neighborhoods around them. Robert Klein, the founder and CEO of...

Fed Cautioned on Subprime.
September 8, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Industry groups want the Federal Reserve Board to adjust its benchmark for subprime loans so it does not "misclassify" jumbo loans and other mortgages as subprime, which could reduce the availably of mortgage credit. Without...

Construction Loans Sink Integrity.
September 8, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The nation's 10th bank failure this year, Integrity Bank, had $661.4 million in construction and development loans when Georgia regulators closed the $1.1 billion bank and 50% of those construction loans were seriously delinquent....

FHLBank Provisions in the Housing Bill.
September 8, 2008... The landmark housing bill signed by President Bush on July 30 created a new GSE regulatory agency called the Federal Housing Finance Agency to oversee Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHLBanks. The duties of the Federal Housing Finance Board...

AvalonBay Forms Investment Management Fund.
September 8, 2008... ALEXANDRIA, VA -- AvalonBay Communities has formed a private, discretionary investment vehicle with commitments from four institutional investors and AvalonBay Communities. The new investment management fund, called AvalonBay Value Added...

Brokers Get Advisory Role.
September 8, 2008... PALTO ALTO, CA -- Financial Crossing here has launched its Independent Advisor Program, a program that expands the professional capacity of financial advisors, mortgage originators and other industry professionals, enabling them to function as...

Investor Confidence Is Declining.
September 8, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Compared to 2007, despite eroding assurance in U.S. capital markets due to energy costs, a weak dollar and home foreclosures, a survey reveals the majority of investors still have confidence in the overall U.S. markets and U.S....

S&P: Insurers Face Challenges.
September 8, 2008... NEW YOR -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services reinstated the negative outlook and downgraded some of the country's largest insurers while anticipating U.S. mortgage insurers "have limited opportunities for long-term growth and diversification."...

Manatt Advises on Big Debt Sale for Central Pacific Bank.
September 8, 2008... LOS ANGELES -- Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, a national law and consulting firm here, advised Central Pacific Bank on a significant debt sale in California. This is the first of what is expected to be many portfolio dispositions for the...

People.
September 8, 2008... ARIZONA Scottsdale-Zaio Corp. appointed Mari Beth Pietropaoli as national account representative. Previously, Ms. Pietropaoli served as a national sales executive for General American Corp. (acquired by Fiserv Lending Solutions). ...

Roundup: Covered Bonds Fall.
September 8, 2008... NEW YORK -- Three series of bonds issued by the WM Covered Bond Program have been downgraded from AAA to AA by Fitch Ratings. Series 1, 2 and 3 were downgraded as a result of the current BBB/F2 rating of Washington Mutual Bank and "the risk...

BGS3 Lessens Damage to Borrowers Through Short Sales.
September 8, 2008... Byline: Jennifer Harmon LOUISVILLE, KY-BGS3 is once again expanding its operations in response to recent developments in the world of short sales. The move comes in reaction to Fannie Mae's changes to its policies on bankruptcy and...

First-Time Homebuyers Changing as Affordability Improves.(Affordable Housing)
September 15, 2008... Byline: Amilda Dymi PARSIPPANY, NJ-As a rule housing affordability requires one's ability to pay the mortgage. Or so we thought a decade ago. While housing affordability appears to improve, in part due to increasing numbers of...

Study Finds that Minorities Remain Financially Underserved.(Affordable Housing)(Report)
September 15, 2008... Byline: Amilda Dymi CHICAGO-A recent study suggests Hispanics, the country's largest and most targeted minority group because of its untapped financial power, remain the least present in the financial services market including housing. ...

Not Fannie's 1st Time.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Lew Sichelman WASHINGTON-Few remember it now, but Fannie Mae almost went belly-up once before. It was in the late 1970s when Fannie, then known by its original name, the Federal National Mortgage Association, was hemorrhaging...

From Blue Chips To Penny Stocks.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Ted Cornwell NEW YORK-A few years ago, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not only stars in the circles of Washington political influence, they were stars on Wall Street as well. Analysts loved the firms, often treating their...

Lenders See G-Fee Cut.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Paul Muolo and Brian Collins WASHINGTON-If there was any "silver lining" in the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last week, it was the strong possibility that guarantee and delivery fees charged to seller/servicers...

Industry Awaits New GSE Direction.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Brian Collins and Paul Muolo WASHINGTON-The future of the secondary market lay in the balance last week as the mortgage industry collectively wondered what will follow the government's historic takeover of congressionally chartered...

Online GSE Discussion: Miracle Cure or the Kiss of Death?(Mortgagegrapvine.com)
September 15, 2008... The following is a compilation of excerpts from several threads on Mortgage Grapevine.com that discuss the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The voice of reason: The giant Fannie-Freddie bailout, is it the miracle cure or kiss of...

Where's the Downpayment for Cash-Strapped Consumers?
September 15, 2008... Byline: Lew Sichelman AUSTIN, TX-If debt-challenged consumers can no longer obtain 100% financing, what are they going to use for a downpayment? That's the question posed by former federal banking surpervsior David Gibbons at the...

Home Equity Lending Has a Future.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Lew Sichelman AUSTIN, TX-With only an estimated 10% securitization level, home-equity lending was not directly affected by the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But if it helps to instill confidence in the housing...

Housing Pros Are Giving Back with Discount for Military Vets.(Housing Scene)
September 15, 2008... Byline: Lew Sichelman WASHINGTON-Republican candidate Bob Straniere's pledge to hire at least one-third of his congressional staff from the ranks of America's wounded veterans if the good folks in New York's 13th District should send him...

GSE Spreads Get Tighter.(Street Smarts)
September 15, 2008... Byline: Bonnie Sinnock Treasury's placement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into respective conservatorships immediately prompted an extreme tightening in their mortgage-backed securities spreads to Treasuries, lowering mortgage rates for...

REIT Refinances $400MM of Debt.
September 15, 2008... Byline: James Comtois PHILADELPHIA-Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust here has closed $420 million in secured and unsecured financings and has repaid its $400 million, 15 property real estate mortgage investment conduit. ...

Roundup: Health Care REIT Raises $336 Million of Equity.(Equities)
September 15, 2008... Byline: Ted Cornwell TOLEDO, OH-Health Care REIT has priced an offering of seven million shares of common stock at $48 per share. The company said it increased the size of its previously announced six million share offering due to strong...

Lehman May PutAurora on Block.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Paul Muolo AURORA, CO-Aurora Loan Services here, a Lehman Brothers-owned alt-A and specialty servicer, could be headed to the auction block, according to investment banking sources. Late last week, Lehman's stock was collapsing...

Federal Reserve Implements Rules to Fight Appraisal Fraud.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Amilda Dymi NEW YORK-The credit crisis has brought about a more regulated mortgage industry that is still striving to find a balance between fair lending restrictions designed to curb predatory lending practices, including...

Roundup: FNM to Pay Dividend.
September 15, 2008... Fannie Mae has received the consent of its conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Treasury Department to pay the previously declared but unpaid dividends on all its outstanding preferred stock on Sept. 30, as scheduled. The...

Fannie and Freddie Are Rapidly Losing Share to the FHA.(The GSE Takeover)
September 15, 2008... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-For most of the year Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been the only game in town when it comes to the secondary market but lost in all the news of their federal takeover is the fact that their ability to...

Genworth No. 1 in New MI Policies Written.
September 15, 2008... WASHINGTON-Genworth Financial, arguably the nation's most conservative mortgage insurance company, ranked first in terms of new policies written in the second quarter ($14.03 billion), according to exclusive survey figures compiled by National...

Subprime, Piggyback Volume Dives.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Brian Collins WASHINGTON-Originations of subprime loans declined by nearly 35% in 2007 and the use of piggyback loans to buy homes fell by 63%, according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data released last week. The annual HMDA...

First Bids Due For IndyMac.
September 15, 2008... WASHINGTON-The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has set Sept. 15 as the deadline for the first round of bids on IndyMac Bancorp. Investment banking sources said investors have been told by the agency they can bid on the entire franchise or...

Critics Not Mollified after WaMu Dumps CEO.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Brad Finkelstein SEATTLE-For one critic of Washington Mutual Inc. here, the forced retirement of Kerry Killinger should be met "by shareholders, taxpayers and consumers with both a cheer and some pointed questions." Andy...