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| The number of buyers and sellers in the secondary market for distressed mortgages is growing, with four players announcing new activity. A recent acquisition of a residential servicing portfolio has created the country’s fifth biggest servicer of government mortgages.
Fasthold Capital Inc., which is normally in the business of arranging sales of mortgage portfolios, announced today it has raised $300 million to make acquisitions itself. The Orange, Calif.-based company noted it is currently bidding on distressed mortgage portfolios ranging from $1 million to $150 million. Around $34 million in sub-performing and non-performing first lien residential mortgages were acquired by National Asset Direct from an “undisclosed top-tier bank,” a recent press release said. The latest acquisition brings to $250 million the principal amount of whole loans that the firm has acquired since launching in October 2006. National Asset’s servicing subsidiary, iServe, will service around 65 percent of the latest acquisition. The San Diego-based company also said it launched a proprietary deal management system last month to manage deal bidding through acquisition and servicing transfer. The system enables National Asset to evaluate, analyze and judge the risk profile of prospective portfolios. A whole loan unit has been established at Guggenheim Capital Markets LLC, a statement Monday said. The New York-based company said the new operation will research, source and price residential loan products. Targeted assets include first and second liens; performing, re-performing, sub-performing and non-performing loans; fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages; and agency loans. Oxford Funding Corp. said last week it negotiated the sale of up to 60 percent of its performing loan portfolio. Upon the closing of the deal, for which due diligence is underway, the Houston-based firm said its return will be in the range of 18 to 20 percent. A subsequent statement from Oxford pitched discounted performing loans ranging from $26,000 to $400,000 to accredited investors. Capital Source Inc., which has established a subsidiary to acquire most of the assets and all of the deposits of Fremont Investment & Loan, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday that it unloaded $0.6 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities during the first quarter and sold another $1.5 billion since then. Around $57 million in charges were taken in connection with the sales. “We expect that the credit performance of our portfolio will decline in light of the current difficult economic conditions that are likely to adversely affect our clients’ ability to fulfill their obligations to us,” Capital Source explained. “We do not anticipate further sales of agency MBS in 2008.” MidFirst Bank acquired 64,000 FHA and VA mortgage loans totaling $7.8 billion, a press release last week said. The acquisition brings its FHA-insured portfolio to $8.4 billion, making it “the fifth largest servicer of FHA/VA loans in the United States.” |
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Sam Garcia worked in mortgage lending for twenty years prior to becoming publisher of MortgageDaily.com. e-mail:Â mtgsam@aol.com |
