|
|
|
|
|
Mortgage Industry News Headlines
|
Last Updated Friday, July 30, 2010 06:03 PM CST
|
|
New Century Execs Settle Accounting Fraud Allegations
Settlements were announced between the Securities and Exchange Commission and former executives of New Century Financial Corp.
None of the defendants admitted or denied allegations outlined in the SEC's complaint.
The settlements are subject court approval in a global settlement tied to another case.
MetLife Raises Quarterly Originations
Second-quarter residential originations at MetLife Home Loans increased around $300 million from the first quarter.
Reverse mortgage production also improved.
But overall business was down 55 percent compared to the second-quarter 2009.
Serious Late Payments Deteriorate
Total mortgage delinquency of at least 90 days as of June 30 surged 82 basis points from May 31, LPS reported.
The foreclosure rate shot up 47 BPS, according to the report.
The delinquency rate, excluding foreclosures, was up 35 BPS.
Mixed Performance at M.I. Firms
The Mortgage Insurance Companies of America reported that the number of policies issued in June were 9 percent higher than in May.
The number of new mortgage insurance applications has increased each month since January.
But primary insurance in force fell $10 billion from May.
In addition, primary insurance defaults increased 8 percent.
Fannie Volume Tumbles, Lates Continue Improvement
New business acquisitions at Fannie Mae declined 31 percent between May and June, according to monthly operational data.
Compared to a year earlier, volume was down 45 percent.
Residential delinquency of at least 90 days improved for the third consecutive month.
Multifamily delinquency of at least 60 days fell for the second consecutive month.
Rates Better, But Not New Activity
Again the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to a new record low, Freddie Mac reported.
The one-year adjustable-rate mortgage was down 6 basis points compared to a week ago.
But still, mortgage activity declined 7 percent this week based on the Mortgage Market Index.
Business Deteriorates at LendingTree
LendingTree Loans closed 43 percent fewer loans during the second quarter than it did a year earlier, according to earnings data from its parent company.
Matched requests at the exchanges segment tumbled 19 percent during the same period.
The company reported 38 fewer exchange segment closings.
Fifth Third Touts Refinance Ops
Refinance volume at Fifth Third Mortgage Co. totaled $4 billion between April 2009 and now, the company reported.
Many customers are taking advantage of the lowest rates since the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program began, the announcement indicated.
On numerous occasions, Freddie Mac has recognized Fifth Third for running "one of the most efficient relief refinance operations in the country," according to the statement.
WA Implements Licensing Requirements
Mortgage bankers and brokers in Washington now have to be licensed unless they work for a bank or credit union.
The Washington Department of Financial Institutions is charged with implementing the new rules.
New requirements for mortgage-loan originators who don't work for a bank or credit union include 20 hours of pre-license education.
BNY Wins NM Case; Borrowers Appeal
A state district judge has ruled that Equity One didn't use deceptive marketing to encourage a New Mexico couple to borrow more money than they had the ability to repay.
The Bank of New York acquired the mortgage and won the right to foreclose on the loan.
The case is now pending before the New Mexico Court of Appeals.
FBI Investigating Secondary Transactions
An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into Central States Mortgage Corp. focuses on the relationship among individuals involved with the mortgage banker, the credit unions that owned it and a firm that had been owned by several former Central States executives.
Central States shut its doors in March 2009.
Among other things, federal investigators are looking into allegations that the firm owned by the executives moved troubled subprime mortgage loans onto the books of Central States.
2nd Weekly Decline for Mortgage Activity
The Mortgage Market Index for the week ended Wednesday was 310.
A week earlier the index came in at 333.
The conventional 30-year mortgage was unchanged.
But the jumbo 30-year fell 5 basis points -- cutting the spread between the conventional and jumbo mortgage to 94 BPS from last week's 99 BPS.
NY Court Rules Against Lender in Foreclosure
Recent New York case law has confirmed that before a lender in the state files a complaint to judicially foreclose on a mortgage securing a defaulted loan, the foreclosing lender must have a legal or an equitable interest in the mortgage, the physical possession of the underlying promissory note, plus all necessary chain of title ownership assignments of the note.
The foreclosure action had a promissory note that was purportedly endorsed to the plaintiff lender by another bank prior to the plaintiff's commencement of the foreclosure action.
The court held up the foreclosure action.
Closer Look at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
The focus now shifts to the drafting of numerous regulations mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, and construction of the new bureau.
Regulators must now decide how to best implement the law, with the aid of a follow-on technical bill to be released later by Congress.
This 16-page summary looks at various provisions of the new law that will affect how the residential mortgage industry operates for the foreseeable future.
Financial Regulatory Reform Update
On July 21 President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
The House of Representatives and the Senate had approved the Conference Report of this legislation on June 30 and July 15, respectively.
This 20-page report summarizes the new law.
Commercial Originations Show Signs of Strength
The origination of commercial real estate loans jumped 35 percent from the first quarter in the Mortgage Bankers Association's second-quarter commercial mortgage survey.
Compared to the first quarter, conduit production more than doubled.
By property type -- hotel loan production was nearly five times higher than in the first quarter.
Flagstar Performance Better, Warehouse Assets Up
Flagstar Bancorp Inc. reported that second-quarter residential originations increase 28 percent from the first quarter.
Delinquency on all loan types also improved, falling 220 basis points from March 31.
Warehouse lending assets finished June $126 million higher than at the end of March.
Compared to June 30, 2009, warehouse assets have nearly doubled.
GSEs Then, Now and Tomorrow
Fannie Mae was created in 1938 to boost home ownership after the Great Depression.
Freddie Mac was created in 1970 to provide more competition to Fannie Mae.
Together, the two government-controlled enterprises guarantee about 31 million U.S. mortgages for around $5 trillion.
"I think we're not going to preserve Fannie and Freddie in anything like their current form," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on NBC.
Hawaii Mulls Non-Judicial Foreclosures
Hawaii is among 30 states that allow mortgage holders to bypass courts to foreclose on homes and in a short time put them up for auction.
An 1874 Hawaii law allows such a move without protection for the borrower except to file suit after the foreclosure.
A task force consisting of representatives of a broad range of interest groups, including associations of homeowners and mortgage lenders, was created by the state legislature.
It has begun meeting to discuss changes, especially to the rules for lenders foreclosing outside of court.
Administration to Hold Conference on GSE's Future
A series of events is planned by the Obama administration on the future of the housing market, according to a news release.
"The Obama administration announced expanded opportunities for public engagement on the future of our nation's housing finance system, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," the statement said.
The administration will host a conference at the Treasury in August.
Uptick in Fannie's Multifamily Commitments
Fannie Mae is beginning to see an uptick in commitment activity for multifamily loans, a company executive said in a report.
Fannie claims to provide more liquidity to the multifamily market than any other financial institution in the country.
About 90 percent of Fannie's activity this year was for low- and moderate-income families.
Over $50 Billion in Subprime Downgrades
Fitch Ratings reported on July 19 that it downgraded 45 subprime bonds to D because of principal write-downs.
Moody's Investors Service reported downgrades on nearly $52 billion in subprime RMBS issued between 2005 and 2007.
The downgrades were based on the ratings agency's loss projection from February.
Servicer Rating Cut at MetLife
MetLife Home Loan's primary servicer quality rating for prime loans was cut by Moody's Investors Service.
Compared to its peers, MetLife's collections and loss mitigation metrics have deteriorated, the ratings agency said.
Moody's also noted that fewer loss mitigation workouts were offered to imminent-default and early-stage delinquent borrowers compared to its peers.
Brisk Pace of MBS Litigation
Allegations that Goldman, Sachs & Co. misled investors about subprime RMBS led the New York-based firm to settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $550 million, an SEC news release said.
An amended consolidated class-action complaint was filed against Countrywide Financial Corp., former Countrywide executives, Bank of America and 16 MBS underwriters on more than $350 billion in deals.
Capital Loan Specialists Inc. lost an appeal to overturn a judgment in favor of U.S. Bank, National Association, as trustee of a structured asset investment loan mortgage pass-through certificate.
New Credit Chief at Freddie's Multifamily Unit
Deborah Jenkins was appointed to vice president and national head of multifamily underwriting and credit at Freddie Mac.
Her new responsibilities include managing multifamily underwriting and credit approvals.
She will also manage the underwriting and credit staff at offices across the country.
$700k Citi Settlement Among Hundreds of HUD Actions
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported recent administrative actions by its Mortgagee Review Board against HUD-approved mortgagees.
The report reflected actions against more than a thousand mortgagees between July 10, 2008, and March 18, 2010.
One of the actions was a $700,000 settlement with CitiMortgage Inc. earlier this year.
2010 Bank Failures Jump Past 100
State and federal regulators in seven states seized seven financial institutions last week.
Collectively, the failed banks had more than $2 billion in assets.
So far during 2010, there have been 103 federally insured institutions that have failed.
Mortgage Fraud Helps Topple MN Bank
Community Security Bank of New Prague became the seventh Minnesota bank to fail this year after it was shut down by state regulators Friday.
A large mortgage fraud conspiracy by a luxury home builder played a factor in the bank's failure.
Investigators claimed the scheme led to an estimated $50 million in losses on nearly 200 homes.
$1 Billion Bank in GA Fails
Regulators on Friday shut down Jasper-based Crescent Bank & Trust.
It had $1 billion in assets and $965 million in deposits.
Renasant Bank, of Tupelo, Miss., acquired Crescent in a loss-share transaction with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
FHFA's PACE Position Criticized by County
The Federal Housing Finance Agency this month asked state and local governments to reconsider and temporarily halt Property Assessed Clean Energy programs.
In New Mexico, the agency's stance has stalled the launch of Santa Fe County's version of a PACE. Two state lawmakers say FHFA's argument doesn't make sense.
"All other special assessments are first liens and all take precedence over mortgages," one said.
|
|
This mortgage news summary reprinted with permission of
|
 |
|
For the entire text of any of these stories please visit
|
|
Copyright © 2009 MortgageDaily.com
|
|
|
|
|
Brokers Warn of Job Losses
Mortgage brokers warn that they will be laying off employees as a result of new requirements under financial regulatory reform legislation passed by Congress this week. At issue is dual compensation -- where the borrower pays some of the loan fees and the wholesale lender pays some of the fees. But brokers and lenders will have another chance to impact the regulation through the rulemaking process.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed by the Senate this week and is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama.
The bill is considered to be the most sweeping financial regulatory legislation since the Great Depression.
MortgageDaily.com subscribers read full story
|
Brokering, Lending Legislated
As lawmakers in two states have rejected bills that would have imposed stiffer requirements on mortgage brokers, Wisconsin's government passed a new broker law. Two broker groups have voiced their support for different federal bills, and legislation introduced in South Carolina could force borrowers into shorter term loans.
Senate Amendment 3962, the Merkley-Klobuchar Amendment, was passed by the U.S. Senate, a move supported by the Upfront Mortgage Brokers Association. The group announced that the amendment was adopted as part of S. 3217, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act, which was passed by the Senate on May 20 and still faced reconciliation with the House passed version.
"Currently, loan originators can increase their commissions by directing borrowers to higher interest rate loans and loans with less favorable terms," the Lakewood, Colo.-based association stated.
MortgageDaily.com subscribers read full story
|
Mortgage Jobs Contract Despite Broker Increase
An increase in the number of people working for mortgage brokers was not enough to offset a decline in the rest of the mortgage industry.
Mortgage-related jobs totaled 246,900 during May based on data released today by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Positions in real estate finance declined from a revised 247,600 during April.
MortgageDaily.com subscribers read full story
|
The Mortgage Branch Pulse
A newly launched branch program promises mortgage brokers the opportunity to operate as mortgage bankers and keep 100 percent of loan profits without any net worth requirements. Another company claims its program will still let originators earn overages despite potential new legislation prohibiting such fees for mortgage brokers. Meanwhile, a host of other firms announced new branches.
GSF Funding recently reported that its branch business model will enable originators to continue to be paid through a rate upsell despite the passage of the Restoring American Financial Stability Act on May 20 by the U.S. Senate. The bill still needs to be reconciled with the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009.
According to Brookfield, Wis.-based GSF, overage pricing requires that there is no up-front payment of discount points, origination points or similar fees except for third-party settlement charges.
MortgageDaily.com subscribers read full story
|
Ky Broker Didn't Fund Closings
A Kentucky mortgage broker has been banned from doing business in the state over allegedly offering unrealistically low interest rates then closing -- but not funding -- the loans. Other allegations include unlicensed origination activity and illegal fees.
A cease-and-desist order was issued by the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions yesterday against Home Ownership Possibilities for Everyone LLC, or "HOPE," a news release said.
The state claims that the Louisville-based mortgage broker was unlicensed, operated fraudulently and concealed facts.
MortgageDaily.com subscribers read full story
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
