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Mortgage Industry News Headlines
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Last Updated Monday, March 15, 2010 08:13 PM CST
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Impac Restarts Originations
In 2007, Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. closed its origination operations.
But in its earnings report today, Impac said it has begun originating mortgages again. "
The company has established mortgage lending operations as it seeks to re-enter the mortgage lending industry," the report stated.
Ginnie Issuances Tumble
Ginnie Mae reported that February issuances declined 23 percent from January.
Multifamily issuance was $0.7 billion, off from $0.8 billion a month earlier.
But the overall volume of mortgage-backed securities issuances was higher than in February 2009.
Nearly 1-in-4 FL Mortgages Delinquent
Lender Processing Services Inc. reported in its February 2010 Mortgage Monitor that Florida led the states with the highest delinquency rate.
As of Jan. 24, delinquency of at least 60 days was nearly 24 percent in the Sunshine State.
The rate included loans in foreclosure and real estate owned.
Mortgage Originations Jump in 2009; Wells is Biggest
Residential mortgage productionlast year increased 40 percent from 2008, according to MortgageDaily.com's Fourth Quarter 2009 Mortgage Lender Ranking.
The findings were based on data obtained from quarterly earnings reports, public filings and directly from the companies as well as from government data.
Last year's biggest residential lender was Wells Fargo, which saw business improve by 83 percent from a year earlier.
No More Approval Letters Without Properties
Under the new Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, rule, a lender cannot perform
income, asset and credit verifications until the prospective borrower has received a Good Faith Estimate,
Patton Boggs LLP Partner Rich Andreano told MortgageDaily.com in a telephone interview.
But if a
loan commitment is issued without a property and costs vary significantly on the poperty selected -- the lender
cannot revise the GFE.
In such a situation, the lender would be obligated to pay the difference in the
taxes and fees.
2 NY Banks Fail
New York's Banking Department closed LibertyPointe Bank last week.
In addition, the state seized The Park Avenue Bank.
Valley National Bank took over the deposits and assets of both failed institutions from the receiver, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
FHA Delinquency Down, Purchase Apps Up
During February, FHA delinquency of at least 90 days fell 20 basis points from January.
The housing agency began publishing monthly delinquency around September 2009, and this was the first time since then that delinquency declined.
Purchase applications jumped to 37 percent in February from a month earlier.
Huge RMBS Sale
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced the sale of notes backed by $3.8 billion in residential mortgage-backed securities.
More than 70 investors, including banks and insurance funds, participated across fixed and floating rate series.
Investment funds and pension funds were also among the institutional investors.
Completed HAMPs Grow
As of February, servicers had completed 168,708 modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program, the U.S. Department of the Treasury reported.
In January, 116,000 HAMP modifications had been completed.
As recently as October, Treasury data indicated that no permanent HAMP modifications had been completed.
Hotels Continue to Drag Down CMBS Performance
Delinquency on securitized commercial mortgages rose 31 basis points in February, Moody's Investors Service reported.
The increase was led by an 82 basis point surge in hotel delinquency.
Late payments on hotel loans rose faster than on any other loan type.
ResCap Sale?
Goldman Sachs has been hired by GMAC to help it sell ResCap, the New York Post reported.
When asked about engaging Goldman, a spokeswoman told MortgageDaily.com, "GMAC declines to comment."
Among rumored suitors for ResCap is Berkshire Hathaway.
Growing Firm Scores Venture Capital Investment
In a news release, Stonegate Mortgage Corp. said it received an equity investment from a private equity firm out of Indianapolis.
That firm is Second Curve Partners LLC, which says it works with small to moderate-sized companies to develop growth strategies.
During the last few years, Stonegate has acquired two other companies, expanded its retail branch program and pushed headcount past 100.
Small Cut in LTV Could Have Big Impact on FHA
The commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration gave testimony before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.
The commissioner highlighted suggestions by some to raise the minimum downpayment on all FHA loans to 5 percent.
"Such a policy change would reduce the volume of loans endorsed by FHA by more than 40 percent," he said.
FHA Testimony Addresses LTVs, Suspensions
In testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, the Mortgage Bankers Association's president and chief executive officer outlined his group's position on the Obama Administration's package of Federal Housing Administration reforms.
He told lawmakers that the administration seeks to give FHA the authority to nationally suspend a lender based of the performance of one of its regional branches.
But he said FHA needs to think twice before making such a move.
He also warned about an across-the-board decrease in FHA loan-to-values.
2006 & 2007 Vintage Drive Jumbo Deterioration
The 60-day delinquency rate on securitized prime jumbo mortgages increased 30 basis points between January and February, Fitch Ratings reported.
Fitch said delinquency on jumbo loans securitized during 2006 and 2007 was three times as bad as the rate on pre-2005 issuances.
Moody's Investors Service said last month that it downgraded 32 tranches from 2005, 2006 and 2007 residential mortgage-backed securities because of "rapidly deteriorating performance of jumbo pools in conjunction with macroeconomic conditions."
Rates Better But Activity Worse
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 2 basis points from the prior week in Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
Freddie said the average one-year adjustable-rate mortgage improved 5 BPS from a week earlier.
New loan activity was down 3% from last week, with the latest Mortech-MortgageDaily.com Mortgage Market Index declining to 34.00 inquiries-per-user from 35.21 a week earlier.
CA REOs Tumble
Last month, real-estate-owned filings were made on 10 percent fewer U.S. properties than during January, RealtyTrac reported. Repossessions were highest in California. But REOs in the state tumbled by more than a quarter from January. California's decline represented half of the U.S. improvement in February.
Mortgage Lending Goes on the Road
Georgia Assistant Attorney General Greg Lohmeier will speak at the Georgia Real Estate Fraud and Prevention and Awareness Coalition's Quarterly Educational Meeting. From March 21 to March 23, the American Bankers Association is hosting its Real Estate Lending Conference in Weston, Fla., a statement said. Mortgage Pricing Systems announced today that it will host booth number 228 at the 27th Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers.
Former Quicken Executive Launches New Firm
Hall Financial announced that it launched this month. David Hall is the founder and managing partner of the Michigan-based company. Hall spent eight years as senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Quicken Inc.-subsidiary Rock Financial.
Risk of Default Drops
A report announced by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business indicated that the risk of mortgage defaults declined between the fourth-quarter 2009 and the first-quarter of this year. It was the lowest point for the index since 2005. The index reportedly measures the risk of default on newly originated mortgages by tracking local and national economic conditions.
Berkshire Unit Settles With NC
A settlement with Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance Inc. was announced by the North Carolina Office of Commissioner of Banks. The state alleged numerous violations of North Carolina law. Vanderbilt was included in the 2006 acquisition of Clayton Homes Inc. by Berkshire Hathaway.
Wells Adds 6,000 Servicing Jobs in 6 Months
In August 2009, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage reported that its U.S.-based servicing staff stood at 11,500. At the time, the company noted that it was staffing up to handle a backlog of pending loan modifications. As of February, Well Fargo's servicing staff climbed to more than 14,500 employees, according to data reported by Moody's Investors Service.
AMCs, BPOs and Appraisal Compliance
Coester Appraisal Group reported that its survey of more than 1,500 licensed and certified appraisers found that average turnaround on appraisals was two to three days regardless of whether the appraisal was ordered through a third party or not. An alternative to broker price opinions was released last month by Valligent. Global DMS announced its appraisal process management software is up-to-speed with the new Federal Housing Administration appraisal requirements and guidelines.
Fifth Third Expanding in Tennessee
Fifth Third announced plans to expand in Tennessee. The company said Geoff Hill was tapped to oversee the expansion as head of a new Tennessee mortgage division. A spokeswoman told MortgageDaily.com in an interview that the bank entered the market with its 2004 acquisition of another bank.
Quicken Maintains Healthy Pace of Hirings
Quicken Loans Inc. hopes to fill 75 positions through a job fair in its home town, a spokesman told MortgageDaily.com in a statement. He noted that the company has been hiring around 70 employees a month during each of the past few months. As of January, Quicken had 3,000 employees.
Appraisers Oppose Short-Sale Plan
A coalition of appraisal groups led by the Appraisal Institute announced a letter addressed to U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The groups are concerned about short sales being promoted under the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives. The appraisers claim that the use of broker price opinions in short sales, as allowed by the Obama administration, "will not adequately protect the public interest" or interests of lenders and servicers.
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