|
|
Mortgage Headlines
|
powered by
|
 |
|
|
Last Updated Friday, February 27, 2004 11:29 AM CST
|
|
Business at Freddie Falls
Freddie Mac's new business purchases of $36.9 billion fell well below December's $44.2 billion, according to the company's latest monthly summary. The total mortgage portfolio, including net PCs and retained portfolio, had an ending balance of $1.4 trillion. The single family 90-day delinquency rate rose to 0.86% in December from 0.76% the previous month.
Apps Edge Up
The Market Composite Index rose 2.1% from the previous week to 854.5, according to the latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage remained unchanged from last week's average of 5.58%, according to Freddie Mac's latest survey of 125 lending thrifts. Bankrate.com's panel of mortgage industry experts were split in their predictions -- 50% forecast an increase in rates while the other 50% said rates will remain unchanged.
ABN AMRO Monthly Production Down to $3.4 Billion
ABN AMRO Mortgage Group Inc. reported its January production totaled $3.4 billion, which is down from $5.5 billion in the previous month. Compared to January 2003, volume plummeted 70% from $11.4 billion.
Convicted Fraudster Does It Again
Police in Tampa and Clearwater, the FBI and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation are investigating how a former mortgage broker, who had already been convicted of federal and state charges for mortgage fraud, was able to pull off a whole new scam that involved at least 21 properties and $2.7 million in mortgage loans. The man was able to secure several loans on the same piece of property using fictional buyers and bogus information, a police detective said. "This is a very active, very complex investigation," the detective said in an interview. "We're looking at fraudulent identities, stolen identities ... and multiple people involved, and we're investigating how more than one method was utilized."
Option One Activity Off
Option One Mortgage Corp. originated $5.2 billion in nonprime loans during the third quarter ending Jan. 31, the parent company reported. The total is down from the previous quarter's $6.1 billion. The company said it serviced 308,305 loans, with the size of its servicing portfolio ending at $42.2 billion
Processor's Murder Linked to Affair, Suicide
A Philadelphia-area mortgage processor was found by her son murdered at her office -- stabbed at least ten times. The man suspected of killing her attended her funeral with his father, then quickly fled to Europe. On Jan. 20 he was arrested in Grenoble, France -- where he is being held awaiting extradition to America. After returning to the states, the suspect's father and his wife were found dead in their apartment of an apparent suicide. Police have testified in court that the suspect's parents left a suicide note saying they were ashamed of what their son had done. Several published and television news reports have indicated the processor and the suspect were having an affair.
Subprime Share of Mortgage Market to Rise
While refinance activity is slowing and total originations are expected to deflate by half this year, industry predictions point towards a higher demand for subprime loans. Subprime volume is expected to reach within the $355 billion to $371 billion range this year, surpassing 2003's level of $323 billion, said SMR Research Corp. in an e-mailed statement to MortgageDaily.com. The subprime sector should do reasonably well, but performance in 2004 depends on how the individual company executes, a Piper Jaffray analyst recently told MortgageDaily.com.
Greenspan Says: ARMs
"American homeowners clearly like the certainty of fixed mortgage payments," said the Federal Reserve Board Chairman at a conference Monday. He made his comments after pointing out that fixed-rate mortgages are popular because they offer borrowers protection against payment increases when interest rates rise, as well as the right to refinance when rates drop. However, these mortgages require that consumers pay a higher amount of money in exchange for these benefits, the chairman said.
Equity Skimming Fraud
A special agent for HUDs Inspector General said he has seen what he calls foreclosure counselors and credit repair entities that approach sellers who are in distress, and take over their properties. "They will have an assumption of the loan, promising that they will not be liable anymore for the payments," said the agent. He noted that the suspects will cause these people to file bankruptcy -- in some cases without the individual's even being aware that the bankruptcy is being filed. The targets of the investigations are sometimes rent house investors, collecting the rental income while not making mortgage payments during the bankruptcy stay.
WaMu to Add 250 Retail Stores, Including Some Originator Positions
Washington Mutual recently announced that it will aggregate 250 more financial center stores this year to its nationwide network of approximately 1,800. The planned new branches will create 1,500 new banking jobs of which some will be loan officer jobs, said a spokesman, but that number could not be confirmed.
12 Brokers Become One
Newly formed Q10 Capital LLC is keeping power at the local level so it can carry out the activities required to function efficiently in the commercial financing world, according to the company's chairman. After over 10 years of working together in various ventures, twelve founding companies built the national infrastructure to streamline operations, reduce operating costs, and invest in technology, said Q10. The company claims to rank among the top ten commercial loan producers in the nation.
Traditional Advertising Not Always Best Way to Reach Many Groups
A survey of 1000 borrowers showed that "Hispanics were more than twice as likely as any other racial or ethnic subgroup to get their primary information from family," the Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist said. The 1998 study indicated that African Americans were not using the newspaper to find mortgage information, but were likely to get it from housing fairs and television. The economist said the study will be repeated soon.
Mortgage Market Strengthens
The 30 year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.58% this week -- falling 8 basis points from last week and standing at the lowest level since July 11, 2003, according to Freddie Mac's latest survey of 125 lending thrifts. Seventy-three percent of the panelists surveyed by Bankrate.com predicted that rates will remain unchanged over the next month, while the rest predicted a downturn. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Market Composite Index increased 4.9% from the previous week to 837.1. Last year at this time, the index stood at 1082.8.
Commercial Originator Talks About Secrets to Success
While eloquent dialogue helps in the many instances when prospective borrowers are asked to discuss aspects of their loan application, it is also true that "choppy or poor verbal dialogue can be detrimental to the process," according to Jeffrey Davis of Cambridge Realty Capital Companies -- a commerical mortgage broker based in Chicago. He noted that lenders and bankers like to hear positive things and get the sense that the borrower understands every element of the transaction, Davis said in a written statement. However, "talk doesn't make deals. Successful applications are all about quality paperwork and data."
Wells to Add 100 L.A. Loan Consultants
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage will open six new centers in low-to-moderate income and multicultural areas of Los Angeles, and plans to hire more than 100 home loan consultants this year. The mortgage banking behemoth reported that it is influenced by the potential of the large Hispanic population. Wells noted that since it started accepting the Mexican matricula card as valid identification two years ago, the majority of new accounts stemmed from the Los Angeles area.
National City, GreenPoint in Acquisition Deals
National City Corp. announced Tuesday it will acquire Provident Financial Group Inc. for an approximate $2.1 billion. National City, which reported mortgage originations of $17.2 billion during the fourth quarter, said completion of the transaction is expected in the second quarter of 2004. Meanwhile, New York-based North Fork Bancoporation Inc. announced that it reached a $6.3 billion all-stock agreement to acquire GreenPoint Financial Corp. -- a New York retail bank with 90 branches and a national mortgage business that reportedly originated $8.7 billion in loans during the fourth quarter.
70 Cendant Employees Treated for Food Poisoning
During a recent Cendant Mortgage conference at the Lowes Hotel in downtown Philadelphia, employees were stricken by illness. As many as 70 employees at the Mount Laurel, N.J.-based company were treated at area emergency rooms for apparent food poisoning. But none on of the cases were severe. A company spokeswoman did confirm that Philadelphia public health inspectors are investigating and that all of the employees who were stricken are better now and did not require lengthy hospital stays.
Trouble, Alaskan Style
The former owner of a bankrupt Anchorage mortgage company has settled for $35,000 with the Alaska consumer protection office over allegations of unfair business practices and fraud claims. The settlement will be used to help nine consumers who were cheated of about $40,000 that they had deposited into escrow accounts -- the consumers never received the money as they should have, said the Alaska assistant attorney general who handled the case. City Mortgage -- reportedly once a top source of home loans in Anchorage -- was closed down in 2001 after the company was forced into bankruptcy court by some of its creditors.
NY Vs First Horizon
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer recently filed a lawsuit against First Horizon Home Loan Corp. for illegally threatening to foreclose on a property that had already been paid off, according to the filing. Despite that the borrower made the last of 300 timely payments required to fulfill the loan in October 1999, First Horizon continued to debit the monthly amount from his account, said the AG. "Horizon knew, or had reason to know, that it had no right to take the actions set forth," Spitzer said in the lawsuit -- which seeks civil penalties against the bank for illegal and deceptive practices, among other things.
Rates Are Still Low, So Where Are the Loans?
The Market Composite Index -- a measure of total mortgage applications -- declined 6.8% from the previous week to 797.8, according to the latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA). The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.66% -- a decrease of 6 basis points from last week -- Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed. Freddie's chief economist Frank Nothaft said mortgage rates will remain tame for some months to come due to Alan Greenspan's semiannual testimony about the state of the economy to House members Wednesday.
|
|
This mortgage news summary reprinted with permission of
|
|
|
For the entire text of any of these stories please visit
|
|
|
|
