First American Client Relations Industry View: January 2006 Archives

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January 27, 2006

New Home Sales

Posted by S. Germain at 08:17 AM | Comments (0)

Sybase IQ Analytics Server Increases Reporting Capabilities for LoanPerformance (First American RES)

Sybase, Inc. today announced that by using Sybase® IQ, an analytics server which provides among the industry's fastest query performance and storage-retrieval functions for reporting on structured or unstructured data, at the core of its new high speed version of TrueStandings Securities, LoanPerformance, a subsidiary of First American Real Estate Solutions and a leader in residential mortgage data and analytics, can run analyses and reports up to one hundred times faster than previous generations.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)

Certegy Shareholders Approve Combination with Fidelity National Information Services

Certegy Inc. announced today that its shareholders have voted to approve all proposals relating to the proposed combination of Certegy with Fidelity National Information Services, Inc., pursuant to a stock-for-stock merger. Of the shares voted, approximately 99.2 percent were in favor of the issuance of Certegy stock in the transaction, 98.4 percent were in favor of amending the company's charter and 93.7 percent were in favor of amending and restating the company's Stock Incentive Plan. Consummation of the transaction, which is expected to occur effective 12:01 a.m., Eastern time, on February 1, 2006, is subject to various additional customary conditions that must be satisfied or waived prior to closing.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:08 AM | Comments (0)

LandAmerica Announces Dates for Release of Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2005 Results and Conference Call

LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. announced that it will release its fourth quarter and year-end 2005 financial results after the market closes on Thursday, February 23, 2006. Additionally, the company will sponsor a conference call on Friday, February 24, 2006, at 10:00 AM ET to discuss the financial results.

Those wishing to participate in the conference call should dial 1-888-577-8991 prior to the beginning of the call and provide the conference operator with the pass code "LandAmerica." The call will be simultaneously broadcast over the internet via LandAmerica's website, in the Calendar of Events area located within Investor/Financial Information. Additionally, an audio archive of the call can be accessed starting two hours after the completion of the live call through March 31, 2006.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:06 AM | Comments (0)

Fixed Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 6.10% to 6.12% over the seven-day period ended Jan. 26, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.67% to 5.70%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages remained at 5.75%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs climbed from 5.18% to 5.20%. Fees and points averaged 0.5 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.6 of a point for ARMs. "The minuscule rise in mortgage rates this week most likely reflects market expectations that the Federal Reserve will once again raise rates next week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "At the beginning of last week, financial markets priced in a 90% probability that the Fed would increase short-term rates. Today, the odds are statistically certain." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.66% and 5.14%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.18%, Freddie Mac said.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:04 AM | Comments (0)

Loan Protector Adds Policy Scheduling to EasyTrack(SM)

Loan Protector Insurance Services, an insurance tracking and verification outsourcer specializing in the mortgage industry, announced that it has enhanced EasyTrack to include a policy scheduling feature that enables servicers to store more detailed information for each client's insurance status.

The policy scheduling feature affects mainly commercial policies. EasyTrack can now store individual insurance limits, deductibles and policy characteristics at the collateral level for multiple property policies that contain scheduled coverages in relation to an individual property. For instance, detailed coverage information on a community center would be included with the information on the apartment buildings in one policy.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)

Homebuilders Financial Network Selects DataCore's Software to Make 'Going Paperless' Affordable (Fidelity)

Homebuilders Financial Network, a division of Fidelity National Financial, has selected DataCore Software as a low-cost option to add inexpensive storage to meet its growing capacity requirements brought on by continued growth and the company's need to go paperless. DataCore's SANmelody™ made it affordable for Homebuilders Financial Network to use low-cost disks for the storage needed to go paperless. Going paperless is a big advantage for a financial services company that competes for business based on efficiency, excellence in customer service and fast response.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:56 AM | Comments (0)

RealEC Releases MI Ordering System

RealEC Technologies, a Santa Ana, Calif.-based provider of supply chain technology to the mortgage industry, has announced the release of a new software system designed to manage mortgage insurance ordering. The software includes a set of Provider Qualification Tools that enable lenders to designate which mortgage insurance company provides the optimal coverage (for the specific loan program or loan criteria) and ensures them that they will have access to mortgage insurance products even if one MI company is unavailable. RealEC said the automated tools can automatically re-route orders to ensure maximum availability. In addition, the company's Opportunity Cost Allocation Models allow the lender to further designate the allocation of MI orders based on the opportunity to receive an order instead of the acceptance of an order. "RealEC's newest set of decision tools provides a higher degree of automation, efficiency, and accuracy in the mortgage insurance process than is possible with other solutions," said Jason Nadeau, president of RealEC Technologies.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:49 AM | Comments (0)

Visionet Opens Mortgage BPO Center in India

Visionet Systems, Cranbury, N.J., has announced the opening of a new business process outsourcing center in Bangalore, India. The new BPO center focuses on loan review, underwriting verifications, lien release, default management, and investor accounting to mortgage lending and servicing organizations. "With seven of the top 10 banks using our solutions to drive outsourcing, Visionet Systems is focused on delivering mortgage-specific technology products that bring visibility to the outsourcing process," said Arshad Masood, president of Visionet Systems. Visionet also owns and operates BPO centers in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:48 AM | Comments (0)

AmNet Exits Subprime

American Mortgage Network, the San Diego-based wholesaler better known as AmNet, has left the subprime business, according to a source that confirmed published reports. AmNet succumbed to increasing pressures in this line of business, including compressed margins, and felt it could no longer compete with the larger players, the source said. The company, which was started as a conforming wholesaler, entered the subprime business in the first quarter of 2004. Ironically, at the time it entered the business, company chief executive John Robbins said AmNet wanted to be a one-stop shop where its brokers could place all their products. AmNet will still be doing alternative-A mortgage originations as well as home equity loans. According to the company, alt-A loans made up 41% of its volume in November. Subprime, home equity, and second liens totaled 10%. In December, AmNet's parent, AmNet Mortgage Inc., was sold to Wachovia Corp., Charlotte, N.C., which has its own subprime unit, EquiBanc Mortgage Corp.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:47 AM | Comments (0)

Bank of America Reports 2005 Profits

Bank of America Corp., Charlotte, N.C., has reported net income of $16.89 billion ($4.15 per share) for 2005, up 19% from $14.14 billion ($3.69 per share) in 2004. Home equity production volume rose 27% to a record $72 billion, BoA said. For the fourth quarter, the company reported net income of $3.77 billion ($0.93 per share), down from $3.85 billion ($0.94 per share) a year earlier.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:34 AM | Comments (0)

Irwin Puts Conventional Unit Up for Sale

Irwin Financial Corp., Columbus, Ind., is fielding offers for its conventional mortgage banking affiliate, which ranks 35th among residential funders. However, the bank holding company is keeping its home equity division. IFC chairman Will Miller cited declining profit margins in the conventional sector as a reason for the sale, adding that "our servicing activities have grown to a size where we believe they can be managed and grown more effectively within another organization." Among residential servicers, Irwin Mortgage Corp. ranks 31st nationwide, with a receivables portfolio of $23.7 billion. According to the Quarterly Data Report (a MortgageWire affiliate), 90% of IMC's production is sourced through loan brokers or correspondents. The mortgage division has 47 offices in 26 states. (See the Jan. 30 issue of National Mortgage News for more details.)

Posted by S. Germain at 07:34 AM | Comments (0)

IndyMac Reports Record 2005 Earnings

IndyMac Bancorp Inc., Pasadena, Calif., the holding company for IndyMac Bank, has reported record net earnings of $300.2 million ($4.54 per share) for 2005, up 42% from pro forma net earnings of $211.3 million ($3.40 per share) in 2004. Mortgage loan production totaled a record $60.8 billion, up 60% from the volume recorded the year before, IndyMac said. For the fourth quarter, the company reported net earnings of $72.3 million ($1.09 per share), compared with pro forma net earnings of $58.4 million ($0.91 per share) in the fourth quarter of 2004. Mortgage loan production totaled a record $18.0 billion during the quarter, up 60% from that of a year earlier. "The 2005 fourth-quarter results clearly demonstrated the power of our hybrid thrift/mortgage bank business model," said Michael W. Perry, IndyMac's chief executive officer. "Of our $1.5 billion of average capital during the fourth quarter, we allocated 34% to our mortgage production divisions, 20% to our MSR division, and 45% to our thrift segment, with each providing strong returns on equity in line with our established targets."

Posted by S. Germain at 07:32 AM | Comments (0)

General Motors Mortgage Operations Post Record Earnings

While auto giant General Motors continues to struggle, its mortgage division ripped the cover off the ball in 2005, posting record earnings. According to financial statements released Jan. 26, GM's mortgage operations earned $1.4 billion in 2005, a 27% increase from the prior year. (The figure includes earnings for both the residential and commercial mortgage units.) Despite the stellar results of its financial services operation, GM posted a $4.8 billion loss in the fourth quarter. GM, which is closing plants and laying off thousands in an effort to modernize and survive, still hopes to sell a controlling stake in both Residential Capital Corp. (where the residential divisions are housed) and GMAC Commercial Mortgage. Recently, banking giant Wachovia Corp. was mentioned as having an interest in ResCap, but both parties declined to discuss the matter.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:32 AM | Comments (0)

BB&T Nixes Certain Eminent Domain Lending

BB&T Corp., Winston-Salem, N.C., has announced that it will not lend to commercial developers that plan to build private projects on land taken from private property owners by eminent domain. The policy change was attributed to a controversial Supreme Court ruling last year in Kelo v. City of New London that governments can seize private property to make way for private development projects. "The idea that a citizen's property can be taken by the government solely for private use is extremely misguided -- in fact, it's just plain wrong," said John Allison BB&T's chairman and chief executive officer. In the Kelo case, the court held in a 5-4 ruling that 15 homes in a New London, Conn., neighborhood could be turned over to private developers as a way to generate tax revenue and jobs. Thirty-eight states have passed or are considering laws banning the use of eminent domain for private development, and a similar bill applying a federal ban has passed the House, according to BB&T.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:31 AM | Comments (0)

MBA Predicts 19.5% Production Decline

Citing a cooling housing market and higher interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association is forecasting that residential production will drop by almost 20% this year. The trade group says it expects residential funders of all stripes to originate $2.24 trillion in 2006, compared with $2.79 trillion last year. According to the Quarterly Data Report, a MortgageWire affiliate, mortgage bankers funded $3.02 trillion in 2005 (preliminary) and $2.87 trillion in 2004. Compared with the QDR figure for 2005, loan production could slip by 26% if the MBA's forecast proves true. MBA officials -- including MBA chairman Regina Lowrie -- acknowledged declining profit margins as a huge concern for the industry. "Investors are no longer paying premium prices for loans," Ms. Lowrie said at a press briefing. Despite the bad news for residential, the trade group says 2006 could be a good year for commercial mortgage bankers. "Capital continues to flow into the commercial and multifamily real estate markets on both the debt and equity sides," said MBA chief economist Doug Duncan.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:30 AM | Comments (0)

January 20, 2006

First American Acquires Maryland Management Systems, Inc.

First American MLS Solutions, Inc., a division of First American Residential Group, Inc., and the nation’s leading multiple listing service (MLS) software provider, today announced that it has acquired Maryland Management Systems, Inc. (MMSI), a premier provider of management software to Realtor® associations in North America. Terms of the transaction, which closed Jan. 3, 2006, were not disclosed.

First American will integrate MMSI’s The Director association management software with its MLXchange™ and TEMPO™ MLS products that currently serve nearly half of all real estate professionals throughout the United States and Canada, and will offer The Director to non-client real estate associations in addition to those currently using MLXchange and TEMPO. The Director streamlines the operations of real estate associations with comprehensive management tools that include automated billing, accounts receivable, full accounting functionality, and detailed information on committee meetings and class schedules. MMSI has approximately 100 installed sites throughout North America.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Title Group, Inc. Announces 4th Quarter Earnings Release and Conference Call

Fidelity National Title Group, Inc., will release 4th quarter 2005 earnings after the close of regular market trading on Wednesday, February 8, 2006. The discussion of FNT's 4th quarter results will take place during the FNF earnings conference call at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on February 9, 2006. Those wishing to participate via the webcast should access the call through FNF's Investor Relations website.

Those wishing to participate via the telephone may dial- in at 800-230-1085 (USA) or 612-288-0318 (International). The conference call replay will be available via webcast through FNF's Investor Relations website.

The telephone replay will be available from 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time on February 9, 2006 through February 16, 2006 by dialing 800-475-6701 (USA) or 320-365-3844 (International). The access code will be 815471.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Announces 4th Quarter Earnings Release and Conference Call

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. will release 4th quarter 2005 earnings after the close of regular market trading on Wednesday, February 8, 2006. A conference call will follow on Thursday, February 9, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Those wishing to participate via the webcast should access the call through FNF's Investor Relations website.

Those wishing to participate via the telephone may dial-in at 800-230-1085 (USA) or 612-288-0318 (International). The conference call replay will be available via webcast through FNF's Investor Relations website.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)

LandAmerica to Relocate Corporate Headquarters in Richmond, Va.

LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. announced it plans to relocate and consolidate its national headquarters and shared resources operations into a larger Richmond campus. The new LandAmerica corporate campus will initially house over 890 employees and contractors in 297,000 square feet at the Highwoods III, located in the Innsbrook Corporate Center at 5600 Cox Road, Glen Allen, VA. LandAmerica's existing headquarters building consists of approximately 128,000 square feet of office space.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:16 AM | Comments (0)

Document Processing Systems Improves DIRECT-DOCS(R) Online Doc Prep Platform

Document Processing Systems, Inc. announces the availability of the next generation of the DIRECT-DOCS® on the Web online closing document preparation service.

These enhancements to the DIRECT-DOCS® service are aimed at improving lender/consumer communication, general ease of use, and for providing the lender greater visibility into the lifecycle of closing documents. These improvements include:

* Deeper Integration with the DPS eMortgage Studio(TM)

* Lifecycle Compliance Traceability of Loan Documents

* Secure 2-way Text Communications

* Secure Document Addition

* Improved Usability

Posted by S. Germain at 09:14 AM | Comments (0)

Red Vision Introduces New Product, TitleVision/Accelerate - a Lien Protection Alternative for the Home Equity Industry

Red Vision, an innovative supplier of real estate information to users of title evidence, is launching a new lien protection alternative, TitleVision/Accelerate.

TitleVision/Accelerate is a premium title search service that is designed to facilitate same day closing of home equity products. This new service delivers fully examined title information in less than three business hours and includes: validating the lender's lien position, clearing issues that impact the expected lien position, and providing a typed legal description and mortgage signature requirement through an XML interface.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)

National Real Estate Information Services (NREIS) Expands Commercial Real Estate and Mortgage Services

In response to the growing interest in the company's commercial real estate and mortgage services, National Real Estate Information Services (NREIS) has expanded its commercial services team to make title, collateral valuation, and settlement services available to all clients.

As one of the largest and most experienced providers of real estate information products in the United States, National Real Estate has begun marketing commercial services, including environmental lien search services, to commercial lenders, environmental firms and investors throughout the country.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)

Wells Fargo Reports Record Annual EPS, Revenue

Wells Fargo & Company reported record diluted earnings per common share of $4.50 for 2005, compared with $4.09 in 2004, up 10 percent. Net income was a record $7.7 billion, up 9 percent from $7.0 billion in 2004. For fourth quarter 2005, net income was $1.9 billion, or $1.14 per share, compared with $1.8 billion, or $1.04 per share, for fourth quarter 2004, an increase in earnings per share of 10 percent.

$366 billion of mortgage originations in 2005, second highest ever
Record $989 billion owned mortgage servicing portfolio, up 23 percent from 2004
Ranked #1 nationally in home equity loan market share for the fourth consecutive year

The owned servicing portfolio, including commercial mortgages, grew to a record $989 billion at December 31, 2005, up $184 billion, or 23 percent, from December 31, 2004. The carrying value of mortgage servicing rights at year end was $12.5 billion, 1.44 percent of loans serviced for others, compared with $7.9 billion, 1.15 percent, at year-end 2004. The weighted-average note rate of 5.72 percent was 3 basis points lower than at year-end 2004.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:08 AM | Comments (0)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Obtains Agencywide Access to GlobeXplorer's Online Earth Imagery Services (Stewart)

GlobeXplorer® announced that it has reached an agreement with the U.S. EPA to make its earth imagery and map data available to all of EPA's staff nationwide. High resolution aerial, satellite, and map data will be available through GlobeXplorer's ImageConnect™ extensions for GIS software and imbedded in several EPA Web applications.

Although GlobeXplorer imagery will be available across the agency, several departments look to especially benefit. EPA GIS departments will be using ImageConnect mapping extensions to bring high-resolution photos directly into their projects.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:07 AM | Comments (0)

MortgageBrokers.com Acquires a Projected $500 Million Mortgage Broker Company and Creates a Major Presence in Eastern Canada

MortgageBrokers.com Financial Group of Companies Inc., a subsidiary of MortgageBrokers.com Holdings Inc., announced today that Elite Mortgage Team, located in Ottawa has joined the company. Michael Hapke and Frank Napolitano, co-founders of the Elite Mortgage Team and veterans of the mortgage financing and banking industries, will be integrating their two storefront locations into the expanding national retail network of MortgageBrokers.com. The Elite Mortgage Team consists of 20 Mortgage Consultants serving the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario regions.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:06 AM | Comments (0)

Mortgage Document Network Expansion Fuels Advectis Growth

Advectis®, Inc., provider of the most widely-used network for electronic mortgage document collaboration, announced that the company has experienced a rapid growth in participation within its electronic document network, even while industry loan volume has decreased. Advectis is one of the first companies to develop a complete solution that is accessible to all parties within the mortgage industry. With the BlitzDocs® Collaboration Suite, Advectis enables a collaborative electronic document network for all participants in the mortgage loan industry to capture, submit, organize, underwrite, audit, share and deliver loan documents electronically.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:04 AM | Comments (0)

RHWC Announces Special Mortgage Application Reliable Technology—SMART—Auto Adjidication Mortgage System

Reliant Home Warranty Corporation (OTC BB:RHWC.OB - News) today announced its exclusive North American license of cutting edge mortgage servicing software developed by the Special Mortgage Application Reliable Technology (SMART(tm)) Group. The SMART(tm) Group is a provider of a suite of technologies and services to the mortgage industry that address the unique needs related to the origination, underwriting and servicing of residential mortgages and new home warranty products.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)

eLynx Completes Strong Year of Company Growth

2005 marked a significant year for eLynx Ltd., a leading provider of secure document delivery and business process management Web services for the financial services industry, with the company realizing a continued double digit increase in revenues and message processing volumes, fueled primarily by the addition of 15 new clients and expansion within its existing customer base.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)

Banner Bank Introduces Online Mortgage Lending Service

On January 13th, Banner Bank unveiled a new mortgage origination service that is available via the home page of the company's Web site. The service, a result of a partnership with Mortgagebot LLC, is designed to help potential borrowers research and apply for loans with ease 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)

Banner Bank Introduces Online Mortgage Lending Service

Posted by S. Germain at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)

Mortgage Cadence Unveils 'Symphony'

Mortgage Cadence, a Denver-based mortgage technology company, has launched Mortgage Cadence Symphony, a new ASP (application software provider) model for small and midsize lenders. The application consists of a preconfigured end-to-end platform for origination, underwriting, and processing that is supported by "a powerful workflow engine," a product and pricing decisioning engine, validations, full-document imaging, and reporting, the company said. Mike Detwiler, chief executive officer of Mortgage Cadence, said the company concluded from discussions with small and midsize lenders that they could benefit from technology similar to that used by larger lenders. "So we came up with a simplified offering that gave them advanced lending functionality without the high cost," he said, adding that the system's transactional basis enables them to better match revenue and expenses.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:31 AM | Comments (0)

AHM Buying Most of Waterfield

A day after disclosing that its fourth-quarter earnings would be smaller than expected, American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., Melville, N.Y., has announced an agreement to purchase Waterfield Financial, a top-50-ranked residential lender based in Fort Wayne, Ind. No purchase price was disclosed. A spokeswoman for AHM said the publicly traded mortgage real estate investment trust is not acquiring the $19 billion residential servicing portfolio of WF's Waterfield Mortgage unit. "They have other plans for that portfolio," the spokeswoman said. (Waterfield said in a statement that it has reached a tentative agreement to sell the portfolio to an undisclosed buyer.) However, AHM will take control of Waterfield's 46 retail, wholesale, and correspondent branches, which are spread out among 16 states. Officials at the bank-owned mortgage firm could not be reached for comment by deadline time. AHM ranks 16th among all residential funders, according to the Quarterly Data Report, a MortgageWire affiliate. Michael Strauss, AHM's chief executive officer, apologized for the timing of the acquisition announcement, saying purchase talks had been under way "for some time."

Posted by S. Germain at 07:30 AM | Comments (0)

Fieldstone to Sell Certain Assets to Wausau

Fieldstone Investment Corp., Columbia, Md., has announced an agreement under which Fieldstone Mortgage Co. will sell certain assets related to its conforming lending division to Wausau Mortgage Corp., Pleasanton, Calif. The assets consist of personal property and contract rights pertaining to certain offices operated by Broad Street Mortgage Co., including the division headquarters in San Antonio, all wholesale offices, and certain retail offices, Fieldstone said. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Fieldstone said it expects to record a one-time after-tax charge of approximately $700,000 in the first quarter related to the transaction. "This transaction allows Fieldstone to focus on our core nonconforming loan origination and investment portfolio businesses," said Michael J. Sonnenfeld, president and chief executive officer of Fieldstone. "We will continue to offer conforming products through our nonconforming retail division and will continue to build our retail and wholesale mortgage lending franchise."

Posted by S. Germain at 07:29 AM | Comments (0)

Appraisal Advocacy Coalition Launched

Oklahoma City-based a la mode has announced the formation of the Appraisal Advocacy Coalition, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting and supporting residential appraisers. The announcement came at a la mode's Winter Convention in Las Vegas, and the company's founder and chairman, Dave Biggers, is donating "significant money and manpower to jump-start the new effort," the company said. However, the Washington, D.C.-based coalition will be separate from a la mode, a developer of software and online services for the real estate and mortgage industries. Ben Harris, a la mode's director of public affairs, said the coalition has been formed "to ensure that the single most important facet of the American economy doesn't fall prey to predatory lenders and shady 'appraisal alternatives'."

Posted by S. Germain at 07:28 AM | Comments (0)

FNB Links Credit Charge to Appraisals

Citing "questionable appraisals" and other factors, FNB Financial Services Corp., Greensboro, N.C., has announced that its banking subsidiary, FNB Southeast, recorded a $13.6 million special provision for credit losses in the fourth quarter. "Through an internal investigation and reviews by independent consultants, the bank has identified a significant number of loans in its Harrisonburg, Va., region which are believed to have questionable appraisals and/or collateral value or which were incorrectly graded for credit risk based on the financial strength of the borrower and other factors," FNB Financial said. The company said the bank has also reclassified certain loans outside the Harrisonburg region because of the borrowers' deteriorating financial condition and the bank's discovery of "a significant reduction in the collateral base" of the loans. FNB Financial said it expects the provision for credit losses to reduce its annual earnings by approximately $8.5 million.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:27 AM | Comments (0)

Wells Touts E-Mortgage Advance

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Des Moines, Iowa, has announced the sale of an electronic mortgage to Freddie Mac that represents the first time a third-party custodian has been involved in an e-mortgage transaction on the MERS eRegistry. Wells Fargo said it was the first of several e-mortgages that it will process over the next several months with the aid of Greenlight Financial Services, Irvine, Calif., and a group of technology companies. The process began Dec. 14 with Greenlight's electronic origination of a single-family mortgage using Freddie's Loan Prospector.com, Wells Fargo said. Veri-docs.com, the settlement agent, used Fiserv Lending Solutions' e-lending platform to close the mortgage using the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization's SMART Doc category 1 electronic note (developed by VMP Mortgage Solutions). Fiserv Lending Solutions, the electronic vault vendor, provided the connection to the MERS eRegistry, and Wells Fargo Document Custody is the custodian of record, Wells Fargo reported.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:27 AM | Comments (0)

Housing Markets Reported Cooling

Nearly two-thirds of the 12 Federal Reserve banks reported in early January that home sales and construction activity in their districts are cooling. The Fed's Beige Book reported "some cooling" of housing markets in the Boston, New York, Cleveland, Richmond (Va.), Atlanta, Chicago, and Minneapolis Federal Reserve bank districts. In addition, the hottest real estate markets in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay area "have cooled," the Beige Book says. However, Federal Reserve banks in Kansas City and Dallas continued to see "strong housing markets." And construction and repair work in the hurricane-stricken areas of Louisiana and Mississippi "remained brisk." Meanwhile, commercial real estate markets continued to improve, and reports of new construction activity are increasing, according to the Beige Book.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:26 AM | Comments (0)

Home Lending Profits Plummet at Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual, Seattle, has reported that it earned just $47 million off its residential lending business in the fourth quarter, a 71% decline from the level of a year earlier. Compared with those of the third quarter, home lending profits fell by 75%. WaMu chairman and chief executive Kerry Killinger attributed the earnings dropoff to a "challenging environment" in residential finance, including increased hedging costs and a flat yield curve. The thrift reports its subprime profits separately from home lending through its "commercial group." That division, which includes nonconforming lender Long Beach Mortgage, earned $164 million in the fourth quarter, a 21% gain from that of a year earlier, but a 24% decline from earnings in the third quarter. Even though its mortgage business suffered, overall earnings at the nation's largest thrift -- and third-largest mortgage lender -- rose 12% to $865 million. WaMu funded $50.4 billion in home mortgages during the quarter, including $11.7 billion in payment-option adjustable-rate mortgages. Its production volume was just about flat compared with that of the same quarter a year ago. In an analyst note, Sandler O'Neill—which has a "hold" rating on the company—described the mortgage business as "increasingly competitive in both the prime and subprime segments."

Posted by S. Germain at 07:26 AM | Comments (0)

Fed Targeting Housing Prices?

The Federal Reserve Board will continue to raise interest rates until it sees a slowdown in housing prices, according to economist Kathleen Camilli. The economic forecaster told a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seminar that the Fed may be willing to push up short-term rates, regardless of an inverted yield curve, in order to stop the acceleration in home prices. The Fed seems to believe "they can invert the yield curve and it doesn't mean a recession is coming," said the chief economist and director of Camilli Economics. She said she would prefer that the Fed pause from raising rates at its Jan. 31 meeting so that it can assess the impact of past rate hikes. She told the FDIC seminar that home price increases have declined and that the real estate market will probably correct on its own.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:25 AM | Comments (0)

Housing Starts Clipped in December

In yet another sign that the residential market could be cooling, single-family housing starts fell 12% in December to their lowest level since March. According to government figures, single-family starts totaled 1.577 million units during the month, compared with 1.798 million units in November. Compared with the level of a year earlier, starts fell 8%. National Association of Home Builders president David Pressly said "housing markets across the country have cooled, as predicted, and builders are aware that some slowing in demand is inevitable following the record-breaking sales for the past three years." Overall housing starts (which include multifamily) fell by 9% during the month. Greenwich Capital analyst Steve Stanley said "it is a little early to eulogize the housing sector," blaming some of the falloff in activity on bad weather conditions in the Northeast and the Midwest.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:23 AM | Comments (0)

January 13, 2006

LoanPerformance Announces 2006 Symposium Series (RES)

LoanPerformance, a subsidiary of First American Real Estate Solutions (RES®) and a leader in residential mortgage data and analytics, today announced the dates and locations for its 5th annual complimentary symposium series on new innovations in best-practice mortgage risk management strategies and solutions.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)

CITIC Ka Wah Bank Extends Software Agreement With Fidelity Information Services

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF - News), a Fortune 500 provider of products and outsourced services and solutions to financial institutions and the real estate industry, and its Fidelity Information Services (Fidelity) division today announced the signing of a renewal agreement with CITIC Ka Wah Bank in Hong Kong for lending, deposits, savings and customer information software and services. Under the six-year agreement that will run until end-2011, CITIC Ka Wah Bank will continue to utilize the technology of Fidelity's retail core banking suite, Systematics, which has been installed at the bank since 2000.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:43 AM | Comments (0)

IXIS Corporate and Investment Bank Selects Fidelity National Financial's Entire ACBS Commercial Lending Suite

Fidelity Information Services (Fidelity), a division of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF - News), today announced that IXIS-CIB, the Corporate and Investment Banking arm of Groupe Caisse d'Epargne has selected ACBS for front, middle and back office corporate lending operations.

IXIS-CIB will implement the entire ACBS product suite including ACBS Origination, ACBS Servicing, ACBS DataMart, ACBS SyndTrak, ACBS SyndTrak Online and ACBS LoanTrak. As ACBS continues to integrate the components of its product family, IXIS-CIB will be well positioned to leverage the seamless flow of information in its commercial lending business from origination through syndication, closing, servicing and trading on a global scale.

Initial roll-out will focus on the IXIS-CIB Paris Headquarters with plans to roll out to further European offices including London and Frankfurt.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)

Stewart Title Combines Landata Systems Inc. and Stewart Realty Solutions - Company to Be Known as Stewart Transaction Solutions

Landata Systems Inc. and Stewart Realty Solutions, wholly owned subsidiaries of Stewart Title Co., will merge to form Stewart Transaction Solutions.

The new company combines Landata Systems, a 27-year veteran in providing technology solutions for the title industry, with Stewart Realty Solutions, a company formed two years ago to take online transaction management to the real estate, closing and mortgage industries.

Key Stewart technologies being handled by the new company include the SureClose® online transaction management system, the eClosingRoom(TM) electronic closing platform (developed by Stewart Title and Silanis Technology), the AIM® for Windows® title production system, and the TitleSearch® title plant, document imaging and search analysis systems.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)

Affinity Bank Launches Residential Mortgage Loan Program With Outsourced Mortgage Services From MoneyLine Lending Services

MoneyLine Lending Services -- a specialized provider of mortgage and business process outsourcing solutions -- is pleased to announce that Affinity Bank (www.affinitybank.com) -- a Ventura, California-based bank with over $1 billion in assets -- has launched a new full-service residential mortgage lending program utilizing MoneyLine's private-label, outsourced mortgage services.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:37 AM | Comments (0)

Mavent Expert System Selected by LendingTree Loans for Direct Mortgage Lending

Mavent Inc., a leading provider of automated compliance solutions for the financial services industry, has begun reviewing direct mortgage loans for LendingTree Loans and HomeLoanCenter.com, the direct-lending units of Charlotte, N.C.-based LendingTree, LLC.

LendingTree Loans and HomeLoanCenter.com are submitting data for compliance review to Mavent's core automated compliance solution, the Mavent Expert System. The Mavent system reviews the loans for compliance with aspects of the Truth In Lending Act; local, state and federal high cost thresholds, state licensing and consumer credit laws, HMDA and Fannie Mae's points and fees thresholds.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:36 AM | Comments (0)

Empire Equity Selects Ellie Mae's Encompass Anywhere

National mortgage broker Empire Equity Group, Inc. and Ellie Mae, an award-winning provider of innovative software and services for the mortgage industry, have announced that Empire is in the process of implementing Ellie Mae's Encompass Anywhere hosted mortgage automation system. When the deployment is complete by the first quarter of 2006, all Empire branches will have switched to Encompass Anywhere from their current loan origination systems.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:35 AM | Comments (0)

GTCR Announces H-Cube and Zenta's Acquisition of Global Realty Outsourcing

GTCR Golder Rauner LLC (GTCR) announced today that H-Cube LLC (H-Cube), in conjunction with its Zenta subsidiary, has acquired Global Realty Outsourcing ("GRO"), a leading business process outsourcing (BPO) company specializing in the real estate and mortgage industries. H-Cube was formed in January 2005 by GTCR in partnership with Henry Hortenstine, a former executive vice president of Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), a Fortune 500 global BPO company. In May 2005, H-Cube acquired Zenta, a rapidly growing BPO firm which provides a wide range of outsourcing services to the financial services industry and has operations in Wayne, Pennsylvania and Mumbai, India.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:32 AM | Comments (0)

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Bank of the Southwest

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (Nasdaq:HTLF - News) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bank of the Southwest, a financial institution providing retail and commercial banking services with offices in Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona. Heartland expects to combine the acquired assets and deposit accounts into its Arizona Bank & Trust (AB&T) subsidiary bank. The total purchase price is $18 million cash. Subject to approvals by bank regulatory authorities and shareholders, the transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2006. Bank of the Southwest had assets of $70 million at December 31, 2005 and $817,000 in net income for the twelve month period ending December 31, 2005.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:31 AM | Comments (0)

DocuSign Seeing Significant Growth of Electronic Signatures in Mortgage Industry

DocuSign, the leading On-demand electronic signature service, today announced that it is seeing broad adoption and expanded usage of online signatures in the mortgage industry. Across the country, residential lenders and brokers are turning to DocuSign to quickly, easily and safely obtain electronic signatures on documents leading to better customer service, faster loan completion and lower costs.

"We do about 98 percent of our loans using DocuSign," said Jeremy Thacker, owner of Texas-based Dallas Lending. "Customers adapt to electronic signatures almost immediately, since it is so much more convenient than fax or mail. These days, a lot more people have e-mail and Internet than fax machines. It's only a matter of time until DocuSign is the preferred way to get signatures in the mortgage industry."

Thacker estimates that in addition to saving him time, DocuSign saves him on average $2,500 per month in administrative expense, overnight mail, courier services and postage expenses, while also dramatically reducing other costs such as printer ink, paper and long-distance charges.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:29 AM | Comments (0)

Xceed Mortgage earns $20.3-million in fiscal 2005

Mortgage financings in fiscal 2005 were $924.9-million -- the highest annual financing level achieved by the company -- an increase of 43.6 per cent from $643.9-million last year. Fourth quarter financings were $267.9-million, a gain of 103.4 per cent from $131.7-million in the same period in 2004.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)

Banks Object to Plan for Fannie Mae Home Loans

A plan by Fannie Mae to make $10 billion worth of home construction loans over the next 10 years has renewed calls among banks and lenders for legislation that would tighten regulation of the housing finance giant and its sibling, Freddie Mac.

Although the company first announced the plan as part of an affordable-housing initiative two years ago, remarks made yesterday by Fannie Mae chief executive Daniel H. Mudd at a gathering of the National Association of Home Builders in Orlando stirred concerns in the banking industry about a move by the giant company into construction finance, a $350 billion industry.

Even though the District-based company is struggling to overhaul its books after a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal, its critics contend that the government-chartered firm has a competitive advantage because it can borrow money more cheaply.

"Once they are in a line of business, because of their marketplace advantages, they are able to do very well," said Paul Leonard, a vice president of the Financial Services Roundtable, a group representing large financial institutions.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:24 AM | Comments (0)

FBR IDs MSAs With High B&C Overdues

Friedman Billings Ramsey has identified 56 metropolitan statistical areas that have persistently high default rates on subprime and alternative-A loans. According to FBR research, subprime loans in these MSAs (which cover 16 states) have a default rate of 13.82%, more than double the national subprime delinquency rate of 6.16% (for 331 MSAs). Alt-A loans in the 16 states carry a 2.54% delinquency rate, compared with 0.77% nationally. The MSAs include Buffalo, N.Y.; Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati; and Cleveland. FBR analyst Michael Youngblood told MortgageWire that the problem MSAs have "rust belt, cotton belt, and farm belt economies that are stuck in the 19th century." He said delinquencies are rising in these areas in part because of layoffs in the automotive and auto parts industries. Mr. Youngblood said it's appropriate for lenders to "price each loan based on its individual risk."

Posted by S. Germain at 08:23 AM | Comments (0)

Foreclosure.com: Nat'l Inventory Spikes

The nationwide inventory of foreclosed U.S. residential properties jumped 12.7% in December, the biggest surge since March 2005, according to Foreclosure.com, an online foreclosure listing service based in Boca Raton, Fla. The inventory totaled 91,905 properties. Meanwhile, there were 24,124 new foreclosed residential properties listed in December, an increase of 7.7%, the company reported. "The relative stability of U.S. foreclosure inventory ended in December," said Brad Geisen, president and chief executive officer of Foreclosure.com. "With lending institutions closing their books at the end of the year, it is somewhat common for the foreclosure inventory to rise. It is premature to predict that December's inventory indicates a foreclosure crisis in the U.S. However, this rise in inventory, which is higher than in recent years, should be closely monitored as 2006 begins."

Posted by S. Germain at 08:20 AM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2006

Thomas A. Klemens, Chief Financial Officer of The First American Corporation, Has Passed Away

It is with a profound sense of loss and regret that The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF) reports that Thomas A. Klemens, 55, passed away Jan. 3, 2006. Klemens served as senior executive vice president and chief financial officer of The First American Corporation.

“I am very sad to report that Tom Klemens, our wonderful friend and chief financial officer, passed away this morning,” said Parker S. Kennedy, chairman and chief executive officer of The First American Corporation. “He fought a long and hard battle against multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, for two years. He simply didn’t respond to the treatments, but was positive and unselfish to the end, just as those who knew him would expect. He had hundreds of friends at First American and we all will miss him very much.”

Klemens joined First American in 1985 as vice president and controller. He was appointed principal accounting officer of The First American Corporation and First American Title Insurance Company in 1992, and vice president and chief financial officer in 1993. Klemens was named executive vice president of The First American Corporation in 1996 and senior executive vice president in 2002.

“Thanks in large part to Tom’s efforts, First American grew to become a global, FORTUNE 500® company,” said Kennedy. “During his 20-year tenure, the company’s revenues grew from $268 million to nearly $7 billion in 2004. There was no better CFO at any company.”

Prior to his work with First American, Klemens was senior vice president and chief financial officer of R.P. Warmington Company, a major building and development company; vice president and chief financial officer of Century 21 Real Estate Corporation; and manager of financial reporting for Amcord, Inc., a national provider of consumer products.

Klemens served several years in public accounting with Price Waterhouse after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting/Business from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, in 1972. He was a member of the California Society and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, as well as the National Association of Accountants.

In 2003, Klemens was named the first-ever CFO of the Year by the Orange County, Calif., chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and the University of California, Irvine, Extension. Klemens was recognized for his ability to effectively guide First American’s strategic direction and, through direct communication and financial acumen, positively position the company on Wall Street.

Klemens is survived by his wife, Pat, and two children, Jeff and Kelly.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)

J. Gregory Harrington named President of First American International Services Group

The First American Corporation, the nation’s largest data provider, today announced that J. Gregory Harrington has been named president of First American International Services Group.

First American International Services Group is a new division comprised of offshore corporate resources dedicated to providing a wide selection of high-quality, cost-effective offshore services to the mortgage industry.

Harrington joined The First American Corporation in August 2004 as senior vice president of strategic product development. He brings more than 20 years of management experience in all facets of mortgage banking to his new position, including 13 years with JP Morgan/Chase where he most recently served as senior vice president of mortgage operations. He was also actively involved in the company’s offshore ventures for the past five years.

Under Harrington’s leadership, First American International Services Group will continue to grow its international presence through the addition of resources and locations and will foster First American’s ability to meet the growing desire among mortgage industry customers for offshore services.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)

National Penn Bancshares, Inc. Receives Regulatory Approvals to Acquire Nittany Financial Corp.

National Penn Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of National Penn Bank, and Nittany Financial Corp., the parent company of Nittany Bank, announced today that both the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Department of Banking have approved the pending merger of Nittany Financial into National Penn. Nittany Financial shareholders will consider the merger at a special shareholders' meeting to be held on January 17, 2006. Subject to receipt of Nittany Financial shareholder approval and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, closing is expected to occur on or before January 31, 2006.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)

ET Financial Introduces First Fully Automated Origination of HELOCs for Community Banks and Mortgage Bankers

ET Financial Services announced today the expansion of OSCAR, its powerful loan origination, funding and servicing outsource tool, into the second mortgage and home equity lines of credit (HELOC) markets.

OSCAR can accept electronic or manual applications in a banker's office or through the Internet. Typically in less than one minute, OSCAR will pull a tri-merge credit report, an AVM property valuation and a lien position report; integrate the hundreds of data points; and decision and price the loan or line in accordance with the banker's standards, whether for portfolio or secondary sale. In less than ten minutes OSCAR can document the loan, fund it, and report on the quantity and quality of the loans it produces. If ET services the resulting portfolio, all the actual loan performance data is integrated with the origination information, creating a powerful feedback loop for loan quality and pricing purposes, as well as for follow on marketing.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)

Data-Vision Plans Expansion in 2006

Data-Vision Inc., Mishawaka, Ind., says it plans to expand its products and staff in 2006 to meet increased mortgage industry demand. The mortgage technology provider said it is planning many enhancements to its RemoteDocs system, including the continued streamlining of the sending and receiving process. Further enhancements are also in the works for the LoanQuoter system, Data-Vision said. John Dempsey, Data-Vision's vice president of sales, said the company will also continue various innovations adopted in 2005, such as so-called webinars and user groups to test company software and services.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)

MDA Acquires MindBox

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd, Richmond, Va., has acquired privately held MindBox LLC, a provider of decisioning mortgage applications, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition dictates that MindBox become part of MDA's Financial Services business in the United States and continue its operations as a separate business unit under the leadership of Richard Barfus, MindBox's president and chief executive officer. MDA said it will bring, concurrent with the transaction, all of its U.S. financial services business—Marshall & Swift/Boeckh (MSB), DataQuick, and MindBox—under a unified leadership team.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)

Radian Reports 'Smart Home' Deal

Radian Guaranty, a Philadelphia-based mortgage insurer, has announced the completion of a Smart Home transaction, its third and largest, to help manage the company's exposure to nonprime mortgage risk. To mitigate the risk of unexpected losses related to a $6.27 billion pool of nonprime mortgages, Radian ceded a portion of the pool to an unaffiliated reinsurance company that sold to investors $172.9 million of credit-linked notes backed by the nonprime mortgage pool. Radian said it developed Smart Home transactions in 2004 to enable it to distribute mortgage risk to the capital markets, thereby improving its risk profile and facilitating its insurance of nonprime loans.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:43 AM | Comments (0)

Grubb & Ellis: Prospects Good for Commercial Real Estate in 2006

The commercial real estate industry should have another healthy year in 2006, according to an annual real estate forecast by Grubb & Ellis Co., a real estate services firm based in Northbrook, Ill. Job growth will benefit the office and retail markets this year, and "an abundance of capital" will boost investment sales, the company said. Projected new supply of 25 million square feet in the office sector will fall "far short" of expected net absorption of 80 million square feet, reducing the vacancy rate from 14.5% to 12.8% by the end of the year, Grubb & Ellis forecast. "Conditions will be similar to 2005, as the nation's economy continues to expand," said Robert Bach, national director of market analysis at Grubb & Ellis. However, he cautioned that "there are imbalances in the economy that could slow growth as early as the second half of 2006 or even bring the expansion cycle to an early conclusion."

Posted by S. Germain at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)

Survey: ARM Discounts Up, Hybrids Popular

Greater lender discounts for introductory ARM rates and the rising popularity of hybrid ARMs were among the findings of Freddie Mac's 22nd Annual Adjustable-Rate Mortgage Survey. The survey also found smaller savings in interest payments for ARMs relative to fixed-rate loans, largely as a result of the flattening of the yield curve, Freddie Mac said. (A flattening of the yield curve occurs when the spread between short- and long-term rates narrows or disappears, reducing initial interest savings on ARMs versus fixed-rate mortgages.) "When the interest rate difference between a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and the fully-indexed ARM rate decreases, lenders generally offer a larger initial rate discount on the ARM," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "The larger initial discounts increase the initial rate benefit of an ARM compared with fixed-rate loans, helping lenders to maintain ARM originations." The survey found that average discounted introductory rates grew from 1.4 percentage points for conventional one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs at the end of 2004 to 1.9 percentage points at the end of 2005.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)

NAR Pending Sales Index Falls

A leading indicator of existing-home sales declined in November for the third consecutive month, providing further evidence that the housing market is slowing. The National Association of Realtors reported that its index of pending home sales slipped by 2.5% in November, from 123.7 to 120.6. The seasonally adjusted annual index peaked at 129.2 in August. The index reflects sales contracts signed in November, but the actual closings will not occur until December or January. "We are clearly experiencing a market transition, moving from a prolonged boom to a more balanced period of sustainable sales," NAR chief economist David Lereah said. While 2005 is slated to be the fifth consecutive record year for existing-home sales, the NAR economist is forecasting only a 4% decline in sales in 2006.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)