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Mortgage Industry News Headlines
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Last Updated Friday, January 13, 2006 03:39 PM CST
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Nonprime Wholesaler Launched
HomeView Lending Inc. has started business as a mortgage wholesale lender. The Calif.-based company will serve the subprime, Alt-A and option ARM markets, the company's founder told MortgageDaily.com. "People are attracted to the energy of a startup," he said.
South Drives Foreclosure Spike
Foreclosure.com announced Wednesday that 24,124 U.S. residential properties joined the foreclosure list last month, more than in November. The South, which includes Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas, led the country with a 9 percent increase in inventory and a 17.4 upturn in new foreclosures, a Foreclosure.com spokeswoman told MortgageDaily.com in an e-mailed statement.
REIT to Acquire Mortgage Banker
American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. will acquire Waterfield Financial Corp. from Union Federal Bank of Indianapolis, according to a statement today. The deal, to be priced at the book value of Waterfield's net assets, is expected to be done this month.
Best Broker in Washington
The Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers recently honored one of its board members with the 2005 Broker of the Year award. The award was presented to Yakima, Wash. mortgage company owner Lee Spurgin "because he embodies the ideals and principles that WAMB sets forth for all its members," the announcement said.
Falling Rates Finally Stimulate Applications
Down for the fifth consecutive week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell during the latest week to 6.15%, Freddie Mac's latest survey of 125 mortgage-lending respondents showed. Overall mortgage application volume improved -- by 10% from the previous week -- for the first time in a month, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.
MortgageIT Cutting Subprime Jobs
Subprime fundings fell from the third quarter to about $972.4 million and are expected to continue decreasing this quarter, according to an announcement from MortgageIT Holdings Inc. MortgageIT said it consolidated the unit by reducing the number of subprime branches from six to three, which also resulted in related job reductions.
REIT Warns About Earnings
Previous fourth quarter earnings per share estimates of $4.60 to $4.80 won't be met, American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. warned today. The lender blamed changing secondary market conditions for the disappointing results.
Shareholders Sue Nonprime REIT
Wechsler Harwood has filed a class action suit on behalf of all investors who purchased securities of Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. from May 13, 2005, through Aug. 9, 2005, according to an announcement Tuesday. Impac's general counsel told MortgageDaily.com it was still to early to respond to the accusations because "we really haven't been served with the complaint."
Party for Agents Ends in HUD Settlement
Prudential Locations LLC threw a bash in 2003 for agents that referred at least $1 million in business to mortgage lender Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Hawaii LLC. But the largesse was, according to the federal government, illegal. And Prudential, one of Hawaii's largest real estate brokerages, paid $48,000 to settle claims brought by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Broker Convicted of Homicide
A Florida mortgage broker is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 13 for killing a man and seriously injuring his wife in a 2003 auto accident, according to the assistant state attorney in Pasco County, Fla. He was reportedly convicted of vehicular homicide and reckless driving that caused serious bodily injury.
HEL, Mfg Housing Delinquency Down
Home equity loan delinquencies were 2.33 percent in the third quarter, down from the prior three-month period and a year prior, according to the American Bankers Association. Mobile home loan delinquencies reportedly continued to fall.
Flagstar Floundering
Production during the fourth quarter was $5.6 billion, down from the prior period and a year prior, according to an announcement Tuesday from Flagstar Bancorp. Rate lock commitments at the end of December were just half the level at the end of the third quarter.
2005 Countrywide Fundings Nearly Half Trillion
For all of 2005, Countrywide said residential production was $490.9 billion, significantly higher than 2004 and "higher than any number previously reported by any residential lender in the U.S." Fourth quarter fundings were down $13 billion from the previous quarter.
Best Mortgage Employers
FORTUNE magazine's latest 100 Best Companies to Work For recognized several mortgage-industry companies, including those with the best pay and the best benefits in the nation. The best mortgage company to work for in 2006 is Quicken Loans, which at No. 13 on its third consecutive appearance on the list placed one spot below its rank a year ago.
Ocwen Hit With Biggest Judgment Ever
A jury has hit Ocwen Financial Corp. with a $11.5 million verdict for attempting to force a woman to leave her childhood home. That verdict is the largest loss so far for the servicer of about 350,000 home loans. However, Ocwen has vowed to fight the decision.
Cost of Credit Scores
A borrower with a top-tier FICO score -- one between 720 and 850, can expect to receive a 6.243% interest rate on a $250,000, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to myFico.com. But if a score falls into the range of 675 to 699, the borrower might receive a rate of 6.905%, resulting in $31,970 more interest paid than if the credit score was at least 700, the site of the Fair Isaac division indicates.
Rock'n Financial
Four employees of Quicken Loans and Rock Financial have put together a band. Their parallel careers in music and mortgages culminated in the four musicians finding themselves playing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum after only six months of practicing in the drummer's basement.
State Stops Fictitious Financier's Foreclosure
Massachusetts' attorney general said in a statement he filed a complaint in Massachusetts Superior Court against an alleged bogus mortgage lender who had been doing business under a "fictitious" business name. The lender allegedly provided a mortgage loan to a 71-year-old woman, "with the intention of foreclosing on it and taking possession of her home."
New Century Originations Off
For the fourth quarter, New Century Financial Corp. reported $15.7 billion production, off from the prior quarter. But the latest period was better than a year earlier.
Unrelentless Rising Rates
The 6-month LIBOR increased from the prior month to 4.6901% in December, according to Fannie Mae. Meanwhile, the MTA also climbed from the prior month to 3.6183% during December, according to a Federal Reserve Statistical Release.
How to Be Part of 20% Doing 80% of Sales
One sales book explains that the top four critical attributes for superior selling performance include sales drive, emotional toughness, reasoning ability, and service drive. These attributes, in varying degrees, coupled with the correct selling style could be the formula for sales success.
ECC Cutting Hundreds of Jobs
Seven wholesale loan processing centers will be consolidated into three, ECC Capital Corp. said Friday. The reorganization, which the real estate investment trust said is "designed to reduce costs and improve efficiency," will result in 440 people being laid off by March, the statement said.
Lender Plans 100 New MN Jobs
Charter West Mortgage Co. has proposed building a $2.1 million mortgage servicing center in Cohasset, Minn., that would employ up to nearly 100 people by 2007, according to city documents. Charter West's founder Cohasset city officials that the company wants to build a center where workers would handle financing for customers of factory built housing dealers, according to minutes of the Cohasset City Council.
Subprime Mortgage Company Robbed
Police say a man who was carrying either a rifle or shotgun and what he said was a pipe bomb robbed First Franklin Co.'s branch office of an undetermined amount of cash. He even took the money and cell phones of the employees working that day, Clemson's police chief and a captain told MortgageDaily.com.
Mortgage Employment Ends Record Streak
The number of people working in real estate finance jobs during November was 533,700, down from the previous month's revised figures, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The latest figures from the government mark the first month since 2004 that there was a decline in mortgage employment.
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