2 NY Banks Fail
Among four bank failures last week were two institutions in New York City. Both were scooped up by a big New Jersey-based bank.

On Thursday, New York's Banking Department closed LibertyPointe Bank and -- as is done when any federally insured bank or thrift fails -- appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver. The failure of the New York City bank was the result of its inability to meet the requirements of a July 2009 cease-and-desist order by the state and the FDIC. It also faced an FDIC prompt corrective action in October.

Valley National Bank won its bid to assume the four-year-old bank's $210 million in deposits as of Dec. 31, 2009, at an 0.15 percent premium. Valley National also acquired the 37-employee firm's $210 million in assets -- which included $8 million in home loans, $128 million in commercial mortgages and $26 million in construction-and-land-development loans. With the FDIC sharing in losses on $182 million of the assets, the expected cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund is $25 million.
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Huge RMBS Sale
A group of investors has acquired notes -- which are backed by more than $3 billion in residential mortgage-backed securities and guaranteed by the government -- for a purchase price of less than $2 billion. The assets were accumulated from failed banks.

ResCap Sale?
GMAC Inc. has reportedly hired an investment banker to help it unload Residential Capital LLC. But the majority of GMAC's residential originations would not be impacted from a sale of the struggling mortgage unit.

Growing Firm Scores Venture Capital Investment
A growing mortgage lender and servicer announced an equity investment by a venture capital firm. During the last few years, the Indiana-based mortgage company has acquired two other companies, expanded its retail branch program and pushed headcount past 100.

Banks Continue to Acquire Mortgage Firms
Two more mortgage firms have been swallowed up by banks. But bank merger activity was still dominated by the acquisition of other banks. Three mortgage service providers, meantime, announced acquisition deals.

No Buyers for 2 of 4 Failed Banks
Buyers couldn't be found for two of last week's four bank failures -- pushing projected losses to more than $300 million.

BoA Closes on Sale of Servicing Unit
Bank of America Corp. has closed on the sale of a nonprime servicing unit it acquired at the end of 2008.

FDIC Orders More Than Double
Monthly regulatory orders and other matters handled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have more than doubled from last year. The Federal Reserve has also been busy with its own orders.

2 Banks and 1 CU Fail, Net Branch Implodes
A bank that had nearly $300 million more in assets than in deposits was seized by state regulators last week as a result of heavy losses in collateralized-debt obligations. Also last week, a national net branch company that recently ranked as a top "non-imploded" lender ended operations.

All About Reverse Mortgage Lending
A bank that gave up on reverse mortgage lending at the beginning of the credit crisis has launched a new wholesale reverse lending channel, while another third-party lender hopes to help brokers focus more on the loan prospect's product education and less on sales. An originator and an issuer of reverse mortgages reported big growth, and a service provider is promoting a list of reverse mortgage prospects who are delinquent but have loan-to-values less than 60 percent.