The America's Intelligence Wire articles from May 2007

The America's Intelligence Wire archives from May 2007

Inside Track.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) EDITORIAL MTC Stats 4 OPEN FORUM The Fed on the GSEs 4 STREET SMARTS Reg AB Implications 5 COMMERCIAL MORTGAGES CFC's Program 6 AFFORDABLE HOUSING Loans to Hispanics 7 SERVICING Hedge Costs PHH 8 EQUITIES...

Another Equity Funder Closes.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo Second-lien originator DeepGreen Financial, Cleveland, has closed its doors, according to mortgage officials close to the situation. Owned by Lightyear Capital, an investment fund...

Servicers at 12/31/2006 (Sample).
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo (Dollars in Millions) Servicing Volume % Rk Organization Name Location 12/31/06 12/31/05 Change 1 America First CU Riverdale, UT $957 $865 11% 2 American Home Mtg. Investment Melville,...

BoA Won't Buy Countrywide.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo Countrywide Financial Corp. here reported slightly lower fourth-quarter earnings compared to the same period last year, but also revealed a huge jump in accumulated negative amortization...

Online Firms Eye Retail.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Scott Kersnar At SourceMedia's Mortgage Technology Conference just concluded here, the biggest buzz came following keynote speaker Lori Collins' remark that LendingTree was "thinking" of opening...

WaMu Targets Middle Ground.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Bonnie Sinnock Washington Mutual appears to be reacting to the mortgage market's recent challenges by striking a middle ground that will allow it to focus on relatively high-margin products...

'GAO, Study Foreclosure'.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Lew Sichelman Three major trade groups are trying to convince at least one law maker to ask the Government Accountability Office to look into the causes of what is supposedly a marked increase in...

Citi May Make Ameriquest Bid.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo Officials from Citigroup have been inspecting the offices of Ameriquest Mortgage in California, and may be preparing to make a bid on the subprime giant, industry sources told National...

GAO Takes FHA Off Risk List.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brian Collins After 13 years, the General Accountability Office has finally removed the Federal Housing Administration single-family insurance program for its list of "high risk" government...

Congress Moves on Funding HECMs.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brian Collins House and Senate appropriators have included a provision in a continuing funding resolution that should keep the Federal Housing Administration reverse mortgage program running...

Tech Spending Hits All-Time High.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Anthony Garritano The lending community realizes the benefit of automating in a down market as technology spending is at record highs, according to research shared by Jordan Brown, chief executive...

GOP Senators Take Aim at Fannie CEO's Pay Package.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brian Collins Three Senate Banking Committee members have criticized Fannie Mae and its regulator for approving a 25% pay raise for the GSE's president and chief executive, Daniel Mudd, who...

MBA Sees Downside to 'Suitability' Rule.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brian Collins The Mortgage Bankers Association is warning Congress that a suitability standard might sound like a practical way to prevent abusive lending, but it would create great uncertainty in...

VantageScore Appears to Pass Muster with Federal Regulators.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brian Collins VantageScore, the alternative credit scoring algorithm developed by the three major credit repositories, has apparently passed federal regulatory antitrust inspection. A...

State Bancorp Settles Island Mortgage Suit.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brad Finkelstein State Bancorp Inc. here has settled outstanding litigation with a Texas-based firm regarding the failure of Island Mortgage Network. Island Mortgage Network had its licensed...

Editorial: What the Borrower Wants.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brad Finkelstein We heard some interesting things about homebuyer online usage at last week's Mortgage Technology Conference in Tempe, Ariz. According to Pete Bonnikson, senior vice president...

Open Forum: The GSEs: Where Do We Stand?
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Although the housing GSEs are less obscure than they used to be, they are not much discussed in recent months. A year ago I would have noted that it was not unusual to find stories about the GSEs on the front...

Securities Regulation Help May Be on the Way.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Bonnie Sinnock Help may arrive soon for mortgage market participants who have requested assistance in gearing up for Regulation AB's April 2 deadline, according to Tom Deutsch, associate director...

Countrywide Unit Leverages Residential Success @by#By Poonkulali Thangavelu.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Bonnie Sinnock Leveraging off the reputation of its gargantuan residential mortgage-lending counterpart, Countrywide Commercial Real Estate Finance is ramping up quickly. After starting off in...

Hispanic Association Teams Up with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Amilda Dymi The Hispanic National Mortgage Association, a for-profit organization dedicated to increasing homeownership among Latinos and other immigrant borrowers, has entered into a joint venture...

AMCORE's Originated MSR Sale Aids in Positioning for Expansion.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Ted Cornwell AMCORE Financial here is in the process of selling its originated mortgage servicing rights in a move the company says will better position it to grow its mortgage origination business...

Hedge Costs PHH $20 Million.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Ted Cornwell PHH Corp., amidst a major accounting review, said that poor performance of its mortgage servicing hedge depressed its overall operating performance in the fourth quarter of 2006. It...

'Disappointed' IndyMac Still Growing Volume.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Ted Cornwell At a time when many lenders were reporting lower volumes, IndyMac produced record quarterly loan production of $26 billion, up 44% compared to one year earlier. For the full year,...

Asset Increase Boosts Thornburg.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Ted Cornwell Thornburg Mortgage increased its earnings by growing its asset base 24% last year while maintaining strong credit quality, the company said. Thornburg, a jumbo, adjustable-rate...

Downey's Net Income Declines.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Ted Cornwell Downey Financial Corp. saw its net income slide 5.6% in 2006 as lower gain-on-sale revenue from the sale of mortgages and mortgage-backed securities hurt the company's bottom line. ...

MSRs, Subprime Challenge Regions.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Ted Cornwell In what has generally been a quiet earnings season for mortgage servicing rights, Regions Financial recorded impairment to the value of its MSRs during the fourth quarter. During...

Delinquency Rise Fails to Hold Back American Home's Revenue.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Despite seeing delinquencies rise during the period, American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. saw its earnings soar during the fourth quarter of 2006. Fourth-quarter revenue was $257.7...

Servicing Impairment Affects Astoria.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Astoria Financial Corp. here earned net income of $37.1 million in the fourth quarter, down from $57.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2005, with impairment to the company's mortgage...

KeyCorp's Continuing Ops Income Rises in Wake of Champion Sale.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois After selling its subprime mortgage portfolio later in the year, KeyCorp revealed in its fourth-quarter and full-year 2006 earnings that its income from continuing operations rose to...

Acquisitions Help At Capital One.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Fourth-quarter earnings for Capital One Financial Corp., the parent company of GreenPoint Mortgage, were $390.7 million, up from the $280.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2005. ...

Mortgage Banking Hurts SGFC's 4Q.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Fourth-quarter earnings for the Southwest Georgia Financial Corp. were in decline from the year-earlier period, due in part to lower revenue from mortgage banking. DeWitt Drew,...

Radian Stands Out Among Reporting MI Firms.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brad Finkelstein Of the three publicly traded holding companies whose main business is private mortgage insurance and which have released earnings, only Radian has topped consensus estimates. ...

Bank in Virginia Pulls the Plug on Mortgages.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brad Finkelstein Millennium Bankshares Corp. here said that as of the end of last year it wound down its mortgage banking operations. In a statement, chief executive Carroll C. Markley said,...

MLN 'Savior' Backs Out?
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo Marathon Asset Management, New York, which had considered investing in the struggling Mortgage Lenders Network, has pulled out of talks with the company, according to one MLN source. ...

Fannie Expects Home Prices to Decline.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo Fannie Mae's CEO, Daniel Mudd, knows that housing has been on a roll in recent years, but he thinks the market may be sliding backward this year. Speaking at an investors conference...

Mortgage Industry Equity Composite.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo MIEC Index: 140.2 Change: 0.3 Company 2/1/2007 1/25/2007 Wkly. 52 52 % Chg. P/E % Chg. wk/lo wk/hi Ratio American Home (AHM) 34.91 32.32 8% 27.40 36.96 27.41% 7.04 Astoria Federal (AF)...

Publicly traded Subprime and Alt-A Related Firms.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo B&C Stock Price Index: 181.4 Change: 0.3 Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 2/1/2007 Wkly.% Chg. % Chg. P/E Ratio Delta Financial Corp (DFC) 7.89 11.22 10.89 -1% 38.02% 8.98 HSBC Holding (HBC)...

Impairment Charges Hurt, but Loan Growth Helps at FNB United.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois FNB United Corp., the holding company for First National Bank & Trust Co. and Dover Mortgage Co., said its full-year and quarterly earnings were partially affected by impairment...

Net Loss Seen At MDC Holdings.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois MDC Holdings Inc. took a net loss in 4Q06 of $6.4 million vs. net income of $197.5 million for 4Q05. Quarterly revenue was $1.34 billion vs. $1.74 billion for the same period in '05....

Internet Leaders Showcased at MTC.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Scott Kersnar Mortgage professionals attending SourceMedia's 10th Annual Mortgage Technology Conference got a review of state-of-the-art Internet-based lending, as keynoters Pete Bonnikson of...

Lead Incubation Pays Off for GM Mortgage.
May 2, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Scott Kersnar When nonprime lender Aegis Lending selected Intellidyn for mortgage lead incubation, it knew that GM Mortgage was already putting up some remarkable conversion numbers with leads that...

Big Subprime Woes at CFC.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo Countrywide Financial Corp. reported late last week that $22 billion, or 19%, of its subprime receivables are in some form of delinquency, according to a filing with the Securities and...

Fremont Delays Reporting Net.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo Subprime giant Fremont General Corp. here said it will delay the release of its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, sending its shares tumbling to a new 52-week low last week. ...

ABX Benchmark Adds to Worries.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Bonnie Sinnock There's been a lot of talk about the ABX, especially last week when it reportedly made millions for one trader but added to the woes of the already beleaguered credit-sensitive...

Old-Line Shop Closes Doors.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Bonnie Sinnock Central Pacific Mortgage here - a midsized non-depository headed by former Mortgage Bankers Association chairman John Courson - closed its doors last week after it could not meet...

Top Subprime Lenders in 4Q 2006.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Bonnie Sinnock ($ in Millions) Subprime Volume Percent Market Rk Organization Name Q4 06 Q4 05 Change Share 1 HSBC Finance $12,303 $15,773 -22% 8.57% 2 New Century Financial Corp. $12,200 $13,200...

Freddie CEO Fighting Back Over GSE Supervision.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brian Collins Freddie Mac chairman and chief executive Richard Syron has been warning legislators not to "hamstring" his mortgage company and now he is pushing for big changes to a compromise that...

Ellie Mae to Launch New Encompass Website.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Scott Kersnar Returning to its original roots as a mortgage website provider - a market it since largely ceded to companies like Myers, vlender and a la mode - Ellie Mae here is poised to release...

Temple-Inland Splits Into Three.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Scott Kersnar Bowing to pressure from corporate raider Carl Ichan, Temple-Inland Inc. here has made plans to split into three separately traded public companies, two of which are real estate...

Court Rules Against TILA Class Action Claim.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brian Collins A U.S. Appeals Court here has overturned a class certification in a mortgage rescission case, asserting that class-action remedies are not available under the Truth in Lending Act....

Washington Savings Sees Lower Earnings.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois In its results for both its second-quarter and the six-month period ending Jan. 31, Washington Savings Bank FSB reported a reduction in its construction loan portfolio by...

Roundup: Citi '03 Deal among Those Affected by Rating Changes.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Class MV-4 of CitiFinancial Mortgage Securities Inc. 2003-1 has been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. In addition, 18 tranches from four Citi...

Centex Deal Downgraded.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Class B-1 of Centex Home Equity Loan Trust series 2002-C has been downgraded from Baa2 to Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service. The downgrade was based on low credit enhancement...

C Notes Downgraded.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois The class C notes issued by Fulton Street CDO Ltd. and Fulton Street CDO Funding Corp. and Sunrise CDO I Inc. have been downgraded from B/DR1 to B-minus/DR1 by Fitch Ratings. The...

JPM CMBS Deal Downgraded.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Two classes of J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2002-CIBC4, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors...

Northlake CDO Downgraded.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Three classes of notes issued by Northlake CDO I, a collateralized debt obligation that includes mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. The downgrades...

Option One Deal on Review.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Eight tranches from five deals originated with collateral from Option One Mortgage Corp. in 2003 have been placed under review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. ...

RBC Opens Chicago CRE Office.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois RBC Capital Markets' real estate mortgage capital unit has opened an office here to originate and securitize commercial mortgage-backed securities. Sean O'Malley, regional...

RBC: Hotels Gain Momentum.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Equity analysts at RBC Capital Markets have started coverage on four new REITs, giving three of them "outperform" ratings. RBC analyst Mike Salinsky gave DiamondRock Hospitality...

Sale of HomeBanc Is Called Unlikely.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Analysts at Friedman Billings Ramsey have downgraded HomeBanc Corp.'s stock to "underperform," saying that the company continues to lose money and that a sale in today's environment...

Online Service Provides Construction Loan Quotes.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois AFP Solutions Inc. has introduced a free online service to assist customers in obtaining competitive construction loan quotes. AFP Funding Request is a new service that enables...

PA Home Prices Lag U.S. Trend.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: James Comtois Home prices in Pennsylvania have increased but not as much as in other parts of the country, according to a new report by the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors. "The PAR...

New Tools Help Lenders Serve Market Demand.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Amilda Dymi As reverse mortgage loans become more and more popular, higher loan origination volume has also stimulated the introduction of new products. "More consumers are continuing to...

Sun West's New Jumbo Product.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Amilda Dymi Sun West Mortgage here is the latest reverse mortgage originator to come out with its own proprietary jumbo product. This new program is called Cash Keeper. The product is already...

LLS Opens Wholesale Channel.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brad Finkelstein Lender Lead Solutions here has formed a wholesale reverse mortgage lending division, LLS Financial. To the public, the company's Senior Lending Network is known for its...

Promotion Spotlight.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Brad Finkelstein Michelle Minier Ms. Minier has assumed full chief executive officer duties at Irvine, Calif.-based Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp. as part of a management succession plan...

Family Members Can Make Reverse Mortgages.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Jennifer Harmon Home equity can now be tapped to supplement life's financial needs in a smarter and more flexible way. CircleLending Inc., a company that formalizes and services mortgage loans...

Seattle Starts Check Program.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Jennifer Harmon Seattle Mortgage and its affiliate, Reverse Mortgage of America, have been very active in recent weeks as it has introduced a new product, opened new offices and joined the industry...

HUD Gives Up on Zero-Down.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Jennifer Harmon The Department of Housing and Urban Development will not seek a zero-downpayment option as part of an FHA reform bill in an effort to appease critics and increase the bill's chances...

Nonprime Loans Hurt Two REITs.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Jennifer Harmon A pair of mortgage real estate investment trusts reported losses for the fourth quarter, continuing the trend of a number of firms which have adopted this structure, especially...

People.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Jennifer Harmon CALIFORNIA Morgan Hill-Pinnacle Bank said that Steve Wotherspoon has joined the bank as senior vice president, real estate, Stuart Thomas has joined the bank as senior vice...

IndyMac Plots New Strategy.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Jennifer Harmon The chairman and chief executive of IndyMac Bancorp Inc. here, Michael W. Perry, sent a letter to stockholders which says the company will de-emphasize growth in its whole loan and...

Inside Track.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) EDITORIAL The Tab for Fraud 4 STREET SMARTS Shorts Target Subprime 1,5 TECHNOLOGY Improved Data Management 7 EQUITIES Earnings and Stock Reports 10 People 26 HOT STAT New-Home Sales Plummet New-home sales...

Citi Gets Option on Argent.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Paul Muolo Citigroup last week signed a deal that gives it an "option" to buy subprime wholesale giant Argent Mortgage, Orange, Calif., and the $65 billion servicing platform of its sister...

Fannie Hints B&C Expansion.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Ted Cornwell While rival Freddie Mac was swearing off certain subprime products last week, Fannie Mae executives said in a conference call with investors and analysts that they anticipate...

After Bad B&C News, Heads Roll at HSBC.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Ted Cornwell HSBC Holdings said Bobby Mehta, CEO of HSBC Finance Corp., Charlotte, N.C., has resigned from the troubled subprime lender. Additionally, the bank said Sandy Derickson, president...

Illinois Congressman's Bill Clamps Down on Predatory Lenders.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Ted Cornwell Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., is working on a bill to clamp down on unscrupulous mortgage brokers and to hold them accountable for putting borrowers into high-risk loans they cannot...

Editorial: Just How Bad Will It Get?
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Ted Cornwell The problem of mortgage fraud has been one of the most vigorously voiced topics in the industry over the past year. Even so, the concern may be understated. Special agent Bill...

Open Forum: New Loans Pose Higher Risk.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) On the consumer protection front, we saw the Home Equity Theft Prevention Act passed which regulates the sale of property in foreclosure or default. By requiring financial institutions to give additional...

Seattle FHLBank CEO Will Retire.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) The Federal Home Loan Bank here said James Gilleran is stepping down on April 30 and his right-hand man, Richard Riccobono, will become the new president and chief executive of the Seattle FHLBank. A...

NMA Recognized for 'Upfront' Service.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) National Mortgage Alliance has been awarded the Upfront Mortgage Lender designation by Jack Guttentag, professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Guttentag,...

CA Bill Makes Regulators Talk.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) The California Legislature introduced a bill that, if passed, would require interagency communication between the Department of Real Estate and the Department of Corporations regarding investigations of real...

Lenders Urged to Improve Data Management.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Anthony Garritano Industry participants have stressed the importance of data control in the current lending environment. As lenders look to move toward adoption of the electronic mortgage to cut...

ABSC Home Equity Deal.
May 3, 2007... (From National Mortgage News) Byline: Anthony Garritano Class M5 of Asset Backed Securities Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2003-HE3, has been downgraded from BBB-minus to BB by Fitch Ratings. In addition, Fitch...