Mortgage Broker News Archives April 10, 2009 from MortgageChronicle.com

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Last Updated Friday, April 10, 2009 05:29 PM CST

Cape Fear Bank Seized
Cape Fear Bank was shut down by the North Carolina Office of Commissioner of Banks, a media release said. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was named receiver. The failed institution had 94 employees.
Servicers Seek Systems
An executive for Aurora Financial Group Inc. suggested in a news release that Financial Industry Computer Systems Inc. helped his company achieve a prestigous ranking with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. McDonald Computer Corp. announced that it partnered with Marsh Associates Inc. to provide Web-based loan access to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. Fiserv Inc. recent said Real Estate Mortgage Network Inc. would convert its mortgage and real-estate owned portfolio to Fiserv's servicing platform.
Future of Servicing Ops at Accredited Uncertain
Moody's Investors Service reduced Accredited Home Lenders Inc.'s servicer quality rating for subprime loans. The downgrade was primarily attributed to a recent sale of mortgage servicing rights, a "rightsizing" of the servicing platform and a reduction of the servicing staff. An uncertain future for the platform was also cited.
Inside a Bank Failure
The second bank failure of 2009 was Bank of Clark County in Vancouver, Wash. A reporter for This American Life interviewed employees and executives from the failed institution and the bank that acquired most of the deposits. The FDIC had been planning the seizure long before the action. A total of 80 FDIC agents stormed the bank when it was shut down by state banking regulators.
BoA Wholesale Cleaning House
Even before Countrywide Financial Corp. was acquired by Bank of America Corp., Countrywide's wholesale lending unit had been scaling back on the number of approved mortgage brokers, a spokeswoman told MortgageDaily.com in a statement. The acquisition closed in July 2007. "We regularly review a wide range of quality and productivity metrics for brokers doing business with us and, as part of our normal course of business, cease working relationships with brokers who do not meet our standards," she said.
Quicken Adding Mortgage Bankers
Quicken Loans Inc. plans to add 150 mortgage bankers, a spokeswoman told MortgageDaily.com in a statement. The hirings will occur over the next couple of months, she said. Most of the hirings are for positions in the Detroit area.
Biggest Retail Reverse Lenders
Wells Fargo Bank NA closed more than 5,000 retail home-equity conversion mortgages during the first quarter, according to Reverse Market Insight Inc. The level of activity made Wells the biggest retail reverse lender. In addition to its retail reverse title, Wells was also the biggest residential lender during 2008.
FHA Apps Jump
The Mortgage Bankers Association Market Composite Index rose 5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week in its latest survey. Refinances were up just 3 percent as refinance share eased. But government mortgage applications, which are primarily for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, were 17 percent better.
Business Doubles at Wells
First-quarter mortgage fundings at Wells Fargo & Co. were up 100 percent from the fourth-quarter 2008, according to a preliminary earnings statement. Business was 50 percent highert than in the first-quarter 2008. In fact, the last time volume was this heavy was in the third-quarter 2006.
Investor Class Action Journal
A group of Citigroup Inc. employees filed a federal class action lawsuit against the financial holding company, according to a statement from the law firm representing the plaintiffs. Citigroup shareholders have also filed a class action suit against the New York-based company in federal court. Washington Mutual investors filed a federal class action suit in October that accuses the company of failing to disclose information that turned out to be harmful to shareholders. Pass-through certificates issued by Wells Fargo are the subject of a California class action suit filed on behalf of buyers of several series of pass-through certificates.
Loan Pricing Players
Loan originators who utilize Sollen Technologies's product and pricing Web portal now have integrated online access to investor guidelines as a result of an alliance with AllRegs, an announcement said. Mortgage Spirit recently announced that it nailed the Aspen Mortgage Group as a customer. LoanSifter is promoting its version 3.0, which it says enhances navigation. United Fidelity Funding Corp. has signed on as a customer of Loan-Score Decisioning Systems, a press release said.
Record Ginnie Issuance
Ginnie Mae issuance during March was up nearly one-quarter from February, a volume report indicated. Compared to March 2008, volume has nearly doubled. Ginnie said last month's activity was "the highest monthly issuance in history."
Best Mortgage Brokers
Goldline Research released a list of the 10 best U.S. mortgage brokers. Goldline based its findings on a February evaluation of U.S. mortgage brokers with "excellent client references." Smith Craine Real Estate Financing and Tammy Engel were two California mortgage brokers who made the list.
Flurry of Foreclosure Rescue Litigation
In testimony before Congress, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission said that the agency brought eight cases targeting mortgage fraud rescue scams during the past year. Missouri's attorney general filed a lawsuit against U.S. Foreclosure Relief over allegations the company charged upfront fees in violation of Missouri law. Colin Connelly, who has been sentenced to prison, was accussed by the U.S. Department of Justice of illegally taking title to properties then skimming the equity. Florida's attorney general has been busy taking actions against foreclosure rescue companies, with legal actions recently announced against three companies.
The Secondary Scoop
G8 Capital LLC reported that it closed on 13 portfolio acquisitions from financial institutions of varying size during the past 18 months. Credit unions participating in an alliance with Fannie Mae saw total delivery volume during January surge 169 percent above a year earlier, an announcement said. LoanMarket.NET has been launched as an online marketplace for buying and selling real estate-secured note investments, a statement said. A new service from NIR Credit Partners LLC utilizes loan-level data combined with forecasted home price scenarios and in-depth analytics to provide portfolio valuations on residential mortgage-related assets.
Dark Side of Modification Business
The Federal Trade Commission filed a federal lawsuit against Federal Loan Modification Law center, LLP, according to a copy of the complaint. The company allegedly charged between $1,000 and $3,000 in upfront fees but often failed to obtain the promised modifications. National Foreclosure Counseling Services Corp. was sued in a Florida court by the state's attorney aeneral over allegations that it lured prospects with mailings that appeared to be from the government and allegedly charged $2,000 in upfront modification fees in violation of state law. US Mortgage Mod LLC issued a statement calling its competitors "corrupt," "dishonest" and "inexperienced."
40,000 Mortgage Jobs Open
Lenders are currently looking to fill nearly 40,000 mortgage positions, according to data reported by online job search engine Indeed. The average estimated salary for mortgage positions was $42,000. The busiest city was New York, where nearly 700 mortgage jobs were available.
Over 2,500 Subprime Downgrades
Moody's Investors Service downgraded more than 2,500 tranches from subprime residential mortgage-backed securities. A combination of factors including increased delinquency, higher loss severities, slower prepayments and mounting losses in the underlying collateral prompted the ratings actions. Impacted vintages were primarily 2005 through 2007 -- though downgrades also hit subprime vintages as far back as 2001.
MTA Lower Again
Data released by the Federal Reserve indicate that the monthly Treasury average was 1.44 percent during March. The MTA has fallen each of the past 23 months. The last time it was this low was in June 2004.
Fed Finds Minorities Saw Better Subprime Terms
Black and Hispanic borrowers saw subprime rates that were about 2.5 basis points better than for other borrowers, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. More than 75,000 first-lien adjustable-rate subprime mortgages were analyzed using HMDA demographic information and loan data from LoanPerformance. "We find no evidence of adverse pricing by race, ethnicity, or gender in either the initial rate or the reset margin," the authors wrote.
Record Pace of Mortgage Failures
From Jan. 1 through March 31, MortgageDaily.com reported 50 mortgage-related company closings. The annualized rate of first-quarter failures works out to 200. This year is on pace to surpass the 120 closings reported during 2008. In addition, at the current rate of failures, 2009 activity is set to surpass 2007's 160 -- the most of any year since tracking began in 1998.
M.I. Firm Ordered to Pay Claims
A corrective order has been issued by the Illinois Director of Insurance against two Triad Guaranty Insurance Corp. subsidiaries. The order is effective on June 1. The regulator is forcing the mortgage insurer to make cash payments now and deferred payments later because of concerns over Triad's ability to keep paying claims.
Chase Closing Construction Unit, Adding Servicing Jobs
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is adding 130 jobs in Ohio, a spokesman said in a statement to MortgageDaily.com. The positions are in mortgage servicing. He noted that Chase expects to "hire hundreds more for loss mitigation and loan modifications in the next few months."
Over 100 Laid Off at Thornburg
The president and chief executive officer of Thornburg Mortgage Inc. issued a somber news release following the disclosure that the company would liquidate. "The sad fact is that the credit crisis has turned out to be far bigger than Thornburg Mortgage, and we could not overcome its challenges," he said in the release. A Thornburg spokeswoman issued a statement to MortgageDaily.com indicating that approximately 130 employees were laid off Friday.
Fannie Refis Skyrocket
Fannie Mae reported that its refinance volume in March was up 88 percent from February. Last month, the secondary lender said refinances were nearly three times higher in February than in January. The Home Affordable Refinance program is expected to push activity even higher.

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