« October 2006 | Main | December 2006 »

November 17, 2006

Subprime Originators

Posted by S. Germain at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)

First American Real Estate Solutions' New Study Investigates Residential Real Estate Foreclosures

First American Real Estate Solutions (RES®)today announced that it has released its 2006 nationwide foreclosure study that investigates the increasing prevalence of foreclosure sales and the depth of discounts in 705 counties in 43 states, including the District of Columbia.

Entitled "A Ripple, Not a Tidal Wave: Foreclosure Prevalence and Foreclosure Discount," the study by Christopher Cagan, Ph.D., director of research and analytics at First American Real Estate Solutions, investigates the trends in the number and prevalence of residential foreclosures and the discounts that are offered to sell properties that are repossessed by lenders. The study finds that foreclosure prevalence and discounts have been increasing, but this trend remains a ripple that has not become the tidal wave some expected would overwhelm the market.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)

First American LoanPerformance Mortgage Securities Database Surpasses $1.5 Trillion Milestone

First American LoanPerformance, a leader in residential mortgage data and analytics for the mortgage industry and Wall Street, today announced that its mortgage securities database now contains loan-level information on more than $1.5 trillion worth of active securitized mortgages.

First American LoanPerformance's mortgage securities database is the mortgage industry's largest repository of non-agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and asset-backed securities (ABS) data. It covers approximately 85 percent of outstanding loans with history dating back to 1992 for non-agency MBS, and back to 1997 for ABS (nonprime and Alt-A). The securities data features detailed loan-level information on the underlying collateral of more than 8,500 active loan pools from more than 130 issuers.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)

First American Provides Title Insurance Coverage and Settlement Services for a $6.6 Billion Commercial Real Estate Transaction

First American Title Insurance Company announced today that its National Commercial Services (NCS) division has successfully completed the closing of the sale of approximately 6.1 million acres of forestlands for aggregate proceeds of approximately $6.6 billion. The $6.6 billion in land sales represent one of the largest transactions in the history of the title insurance industry.

First American enabled the successful completion of two major transactions for International Paper, including the transfer of 900,000 acres of forestland in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas to TimberStar for approximately $1.13 billion on Oct. 30, 2006, and the transfer of 4.2 million acres of forestlands located across the southeastern United States and in Michigan and Texas to an investor group led by Resource Management Service, LLC for approximately $5 billion on Nov. 3, 2006. First American also assisted International Paper in three additional property sales this year.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)

First American Property & Casualty Insurance Company's CIO Jim Court Named One of Insurance & Technology Magazine's Elite 8

First American Property & Casualty Insurance Company, a member of The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF - News) family of companies, announced today that Jim Court, vice president and chief information officer of First American Property & Casualty Insurance Company, was named one of Insurance & Technology magazine's Elite 8. The official announcement was made in a special Oct. 5 issue dedicated to chief information officers and other senior technology executives, who, according to the magazine article, "have played key strategic roles in their companies' success."

Court, who joined First American in 1999, has more than 15 years of experience in managing information systems. In his current role, he is responsible for First American Property & Casualty Insurance Company's information technology strategy and implementation, which includes securing technology that bolsters the efficiency, convenience and growth of the company's services and products.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)

Tele Atlas Enhances Digital Maps with GlobeXplorer Aerial and Satellite Images

Tele Atlas and GlobeXplorer®, provider of the world's largest commercial library of aerial photos, satellite imagery and geographic maps, today announced a reseller agreement that enables Tele Atlas partners and customers to enhance the richness of their digital map-based applications by incorporating high- resolution aerial and satellite imagery into their solutions.

Under the agreement, Tele Atlas will provide a unique single-source global data solution through which its partners and customers can use GlobeXplorer's ImageBuilder(TM) and ImageConnect(TM) worldwide imagery products to seamlessly build custom aerial, satellite and map viewing features into applications. Combined with Tele Atlas' highly accurate digital map data and dynamic content, applications and devices using GlobeXplorer's online images will be able to generate visually rich and accurate maps.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)

Stewart Information Services Corporation Declares Annual Cash Dividend

The Board of Directors of Stewart Information Services Corp. (NYSE: STC - News) today declared a regular annual cash dividend of $.75 per share, payable December 21, 2006, to Common stockholders of record on December 6, 2006. This represents the same dividend paid last year.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)

TransUnion Teams Up with Filogix to Provide the Mortgage Industry Options In Predicting Risk

TransUnion has formed a distribution agreement with Filogix Limited Partnership to deliver credit reporting services to the mortgage origination industry, providing them with a valuable option in managing their credit risk portfolios. The announcement was made today at the annual CIMBL Canadian Mortgage Conference and Expo in Montreal.

Through integration with Filogix mortgage origination technologies, TransUnion will greatly expand its distribution channel for credit reporting services to the Canadian mortgage broker industry. Before this partnership was solidified, the industry had limited choices available to effectively manage risk and mortgage portfolios.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)

HomeSale Settlement Services to Achieve First Completely Electronic Closing in Pennsylvania

HomeSale Settlement Services, in collaboration with Simplifile, the Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds and the National Notary Association (NNA), announced today that it will conduct the first completely electronic home sale closing in Pennsylvania on November 13, revolutionizing the way residential and commercial real estate transactions are conducted and recorded in the Commonwealth.

The completely paperless transaction incorporates the fundamental and protective components of notarization using the NNA-developed Electronic Notary Seal (ENS™) and National eNotary Registry™, which provide real-time authentication of a Notary's identity and credentials, greatly reducing the potential for fraudulent mortgage transactions. Electronic notarization improves the security and efficiency of real property transactions from the point of origination to recording, while reducing costs associated with examining and storing traditional paper-based documents.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Through Its PCi Analytics Group Unveils New Compliance Services Addressing Consumer Protection Law Requirements

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services through its PCi analytics group today announced the availability of two new compliance services. The services, HMDA Data Review and Fair Lending File Review, enable financial organizations to outsource inefficient compliance processes to the Wolters Kluwer Financial Services|PCi Professional Services team of compliance experts.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)

iGATE Corporation's Offshore Subsidiary Signs a Strategic IT Partnership Agreement With Radian Group Inc.

iGATE Corporation , a global provider of IT and BPO services, today announced that the Company's offshore subsidiary, iGATE Global Solutions ("iGS") recently signed a key technology services agreement with Radian Group Inc., a provider of innovative credit solutions to the global financial and capital markets.

Under the agreement, iGS will be a strategic partner for managing Radian's application portfolio needs. iGS will initially provide Radian with core technology services across a range of key mortgage insurance platforms and infrastructure, backed by their significant domain expertise in the areas of mortgage and insurance operations.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)

Desert Docs Adopts Correspondent Incentives

Desert Document Services, Tempe, Ariz., has launched a promotion at the Western Regional Mortgage Brokers Conference in Las Vegas to make it easier for correspondents to draw documents and pass them on to their lenders and investors. Through the new plan, which expires Dec. 1, correspondents pay for documents as they do cell phone minutes in that they pay per use, but also have an extended contract. Desert Docs is also offering the correspondents three free months for signing a one-year contract. In this shrinking market, lenders are pushing more responsibilities to their correspondents to cut costs. Desert Docs said it has accommodated this market shift by migrating all its lenders and investors to a Web-based system that employs the principles of Delta Management. This strategy allows the vendor to pass on cost savings to the correspondent and, at the same time, better serve their lender and investor clients.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)

Market Kinetix Unveils Deal Maker

Market Kinetix LLC, Houston, has introduced Deal Maker, which the company calls "the only scientific analysis tool of its kind" that provides a customized action plan on how borrowers can achieve a target credit score. Previously, loan originators and borrowers had no tool for predicting how scores could change as a result of certain corrective actions, the company said. "Most originators have no idea how credit scores are derived and how the individual elements in a person’s credit history affect the final score," said Ron Litt, spokesman for Market Kinetix. ".... Deal Maker takes guesswork out of the equation and replaces it with clear, step-by-step instructions on how to correct any borrower's credit score, resulting in the desired increase." If a borrower is below the minimum score for a particular loan product, the broker can enter a target credit score and Deal Maker will produce a Mortgage Action Plan that spells out the steps needed to raise the borrower to that score. The recommendations include immediate, short-term, and long-term actions, along with a point value for each.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)

Ellie Mae Unveils Customizable LOS

Ellie Mae, a mortgage software and services provider based in Dublin, Calif., has announced the introduction of Encompass Custom Edition, a customizable version of the Encompass loan origination system. With features like a custom-input form builder, business process management, and seamless process-to-process integration, the LOS enables businesses to streamline processes and achieve greater control and flexibility, Ellie Mae said. "We can't expect larger companies to build their businesses around a loan origination solution, so we're enabling them to customize the loan origination system around their company," said Jonathan Corr, Ellie Mae's chief strategic officer. Because security can be an issue, Encompass Custom Edition allows users to be assigned to user groups, so the company has control over who has access to what.

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

Countrywide Plans Thrift Conversion

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., has announced that it intends to convert its national bank charter to a federal savings bank (or thrift) charter. The company said it has notified the Federal Reserve Board of San Francisco, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the decision, which came after "several months of strategic analysis." Upon the approval of the application, Countrywide Bank NA would be converted to a thrift and Countrywide Financial Corp. would become a savings-and-loan holding company, with the OTS as the regulator of both entities. "In our continuous efforts to maximize efficiencies, the company has determined that Countrywide is better positioned for future growth as a savings institution with a single primary regulator, as opposed to the current dual-regulator structure," said Angelo R. Mozilo, Countrywide's chairman and chief executive officer. "Based on our analysis, we believe that the OTS's focus on the housing market and its unitary supervisory approach aligns more closely with Countrywide's existing business activities and future diversification efforts."

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

ECC/Encore Takes Huge Loss

Subprime lender ECC Capital Corp., Irvine, Calif., posted a stunning $54 million loss in the third quarter, citing loan buybacks and early payment defaults. Through the first nine months of the year, the publicly traded nondepository lost almost $80 million. In October, investment banker Bear Stearns & Co. agreed to purchase the money-losing subprime production arm of ECC Capital. In an interview with MortgageWire, a Bear Stearns spokeswoman denied that there were any buyback issues between the Wall Street firm and Encore Credit Corp., the mortgage unit of ECC. (Bear had been warehousing and purchasing loans from Encore.) In its earnings statement, ECC said it is continuing to "experience higher levels of repurchase claims generally relating to early payment defaults." Almost 6% of Encore's loans are in foreclosure. The company also has a 30-plus day delinquency rate of 3.3%.

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

HUD 'Police' Targeting Abuses at Settlement

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) enforcement staff at HUD is focusing more on nonpublic intervention with home builders that have been the target of complaints of settlement abuses. The intervention in consumer grievances--such as a builder requiring a buyer to take out a mortgage with its home loan affiliate--involves no public fanfare, unlike the public settlement agreements that often are associated with RESPA investigations into lenders, title insurers and property brokers. Consumers often charge that builders are trying to force them into costlier mortgages by seizing their good-faith deposits or raising the price of properties when they do not accept a home loan from the mortgage affiliate.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:15 AM | Comments (0)

Shock & ARMs

Interest rates on about $494 billion in adjustable-rate mortgage loans (ARMs) taken out several years ago when mortgage rates were at historically low levels have or will re-adjust this year, with another $500 billion to $800 billion worth of ARMs set to re-adjust next year. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, ARMs constitute more than a quarter of all mortgages, versus 17.8 percent of the total three years ago. The association predicts that up to $700 billion of these loans will be refinanced prior to their interest readjustment next year, prompted by an expected end to rate hikes by the Fed. "We think they're going to hold rates steady at least for the next year and if they do change rates, they're likely to lower them instead of raise them," says Mike Fratantoni, senior economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)

Lender Woes Seen Worsening as Delinquency Losses Mount

Mortgage lenders reported weak third-quarter results, as many saw new loans go into default and increased reserves to cover related losses. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. found that 13 of the 20 mortgage lenders that issued earnings reports for the third quarter failed to meet Wall Street expectations. Keefe, Bruyette analyst Fred Cannon notes that "credit trends were somewhat worse than expected, and on the subprime side, the deterioration was faster than I would have thought." A new report from UBS Securities reveals a jump in the number of subprime mortgages with late payments within six months of origination to 2.4 percent this year from 1.6 percent in 2005 and 0.9 percent in 2004.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:11 AM | Comments (0)

Realtors Lament Prices: Costs Are Deterring First-Time Buyers

A recent study by the National Association of Realtors reveals that high home prices pushed down the percentage of first-time buyers to 36 percent of all buyers this year from 40 percent in 2005. NAR notes that first time buyers--27 percent of whom are minorities--will benefit from price declines in overheated markets. The national home-price appreciation rate will fall to 1.6 percent this year and 1.5 percent in 2007, predicts NAR. Additionally, the study shows a jump in the number of mortgages given to first-time buyers without down payments to 45 percent this year from 25 percent in 2003.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:11 AM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2006

Subprime Servicers

Posted by S. Germain at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)

Gary L. Kermott Transitions to Vice Chairman of First American Title Insurance Company

The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF - News), America's largest provider of business information, announced today that Gary L. Kermott will transition from his current role as president of First American Title Insurance Company to the position of vice chairman of First American Title Insurance Company. Kermott will assist in overseeing First American's title insurance segment until a new president of the title company is appointed.

Kermott was appointed president of First American Title Insurance Company in January 1999. During his tenure, he has overseen the title company's growth through several strategic initiatives, including the rollout of its FAST Transaction System -- First American's industry leading title production platform -- across all First American title offices, the implementation of the company's multiple brand title marketing strategy, and the streamlining and consolidation of processing operations into centralized locations both domestically and abroad. Under Kermott's leadership, First American reclaimed its position as the largest provider of title insurance and related settlement services in the nation in 2006. The company saw revenues increase 174 percent from $2.18 billion in 1999 to $5.98 billion in 2005, and profits climb 364 percent from $178.7 million to $596.9 million during that timeframe.

In his new position as vice chairman of First American Title Insurance Company, Kermott will assist with a number of strategic activities, including sales efforts aimed at major agents and customers, and the strengthening of First American's regulatory relationships.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

First American's Anthem Lender Directory Offers a Clear Path to Brokers and Lenders Now Using Alternative Credit Solutions

The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF - News), America's largest provider of business information, today announced the availability of the Anthem Lender Directory, a growing index of screened and certified mortgage lenders who have incorporated nontraditional credit scoring solutions into their underwriting processes. More than 200 loan officers from across the nation are currently listed in the growing directory, which assists real estate agents, community-based organizations, home counseling service providers and consumers in identifying lenders who are using the latest credit evaluation techniques to deliver the best possible loans at the best possible prices.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

FNRES Launches Cyberhomes Home and Community Evaluation Web Site

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions (FNRES), a division of Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. has announced the launch of its Cyberhomes home and community evaluation Web site at www.cyberhomes.com. Cyberhomes provides consumers with access to FIS' leading property information and evaluation content directly from the Web sites of participating real estate companies, as well as from cyberhomes.com.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Title Group, Inc. Changes Name to Fidelity National Financial, Inc.

Fidelity National Title Group, Inc. (NYSE: FNT - News) today announced that it has legally changed its name to Fidelity National Financial, Inc. and its common stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol 'FNF' beginning on November 10, 2006.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Financial and Fidelity National Information Services Announce Final Exchange Ratio for Merger of FNF With and Into FIS

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF - News) and Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE: FIS - News) today announced the final exchange ratio for the merger of FNF with and into FIS.

Under the terms of the merger, FNF shareholders will receive 0.537410 shares of FIS common stock for each share of FNF common stock, based on FNF's ownership of 96,521,877 shares of FIS common stock and 179,605,521 shares of outstanding FNF common stock. The merger is expected to close on November 9, 2006.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

Top Producer and Stewart Transaction Solutions Team up to Streamline Real Estate Transactions

Streamlined closings and greater transparency into real estate transactions are some of the benefits targeted by two large software suppliers in the real estate industry.

Top Producer® Systems and Stewart Transaction Solutions announced today their plan to integrate Top Producer® 7i, the real estate industry's leading sales and marketing system, with SureClose®, the industry's most widely used online transaction management platform. The integration will enable the one-click transfer of property data - including buyer, seller and other transaction information - from an agent's Top Producer 7i closing files directly into SureClose's secure transaction management platform. Agents will also be able to view the real-time status of their transactions, including open tasks and key documents, from a dashboard within Top Producer 7i. The integration, slated for commercial release in early 2007, will be demonstrated at the REALTORS® Conference and Expo, being held in New Orleans from November 10-13, 2006.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)

Stewart Re-Source and Xceligent Team to Provide Integrated Map-Based Market Intelligence

PropertyInfo Corp. announced that Xceligent, Inc., a nationwide provider of commercial real estate property and listings services, and Stewart Re-Source, a commercial real estate information firm with leading-edge Internet-based solutions, are working to integrate Stewart's aerial images and geographic maps with Xceligent's proprietary real estate information and listing data.

Stewart Re-Source is a wholly owned subsidiary of PropertyInfo Corp.

The application program interface (API) integration of Stewart Re-Source's One-Source into Xceligent's Web-based CDX will significantly enhance CDX mapping functionality to include map-based searches, interactive map display and map search results.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)

Aegis Mortgage Corp. Selects BasePoint FraudMark(TM) to Curb Mortgage Fraud

BasePoint Analytics(TM), a leading provider of scientific fraud analytics and consulting services, today announced Aegis Mortgage Corporation has selected BasePoint FraudMark(TM) for Origination as a key component of its fraud and risk management program. During the first two months of production at Aegis, FraudMark has identified suspicious loans, enabling the lender to quickly and effectively confirm fraudulent applications and stop them before funding.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)

Fremont Investment & Loan Deploys Gallagher NetOxygen Nationwide

Gallagher Financial Systems (GFS), a leading provider of enterprise loan origination system technology, announced that Fremont Investment & Loan has successfully deployed Gallagher NetOxygen to its nationwide network of residential real estate loan production centers. Gallagher NetOxygen is a comprehensive, Web-based point-of-sale and loan origination system providing end-to-end loan processing via an Internet browser.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)

MRG Chosen to Provide Wholesale Lending Documents for Irwin Home Equity

MRG Document Technologies (MRG), a provider of document preparation services for the financial industry, announced Irwin Home Equity's Wholesale Lending Division has selected MRG to provide wholesale lending disclosures and document packages.

Irwin Home Equity's Wholesale Lending Division significantly contributes to Irwin Home Equity's total loan servicing portfolio of more than $2.9 billion in current mortgages. Irwin Home Equity selected MRG to provide loan closing documents due to the company's customization capabilities and legal expertise.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

MCAP Selects SS&C for Loan Origination and Mortgage Servicing Technology

SS&C Technologies, Inc. today announced the MCAP Financial Corporation, a Canadian mortgage company, has chosen SS&C's commercial loan management system, LMS Loan Suite(TM), for roll out to seven offices across Canada.

According to MCAP, Canada's largest independent mortgage and equipment financing company with more than $30 billion of assets under administration, their decision to select SS&C's technology was based upon its proven ability to deliver a single, "end-to-end" solution, allowing a seamless process from the origination of a loan completely through servicing.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

Lenders Find FICO Expansion Credit Score Delivers Strong Risk Assessment for Millions of Credit-Underserved

Fair Isaac Corporation today announced that the company's FICO® Expansion(TM) credit risk score has proven in a major lending-industry study to be the first strong and reliable credit score for assessing the risk of millions of Americans who have little or no credit information on file at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The study also demonstrated that FICO Expansion score aligns with the company's industry-standard Classic FICO score for quicker adoption by lenders and combined coverage of as many as 50 million more American consumers than can be addressed by any competing credit risk model.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)

a la mode Introduces Advanced Lead Routing Features for Broker XSites

a la mode announced that it has added advanced lead management and lead routing features to its Broker XSites' product line.

Broker XSites are the industry's most cost-effective solution for real estate brokerages of any size, but are specifically targeted to the needs of small-to-mid-size brokers.

Grouped lead routing with Broker XSites allows brokers to automatically route Web leads to the agents most qualified to close them, based on property type, geographic area, or other pre-defined criteria. But it doesn't stop there.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)

Seasoned Veterans Restore Sanity to Home Valuation Tools

Visient, a premier business-to-business (B2B) supplier of data services and information technology products for brokers and multiple listing services (MLSs), has announced that Your Home Valuation™ is now available in major metropolitan markets such as Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Sarasota, and Tampa. Your Home Valuation arms Brokers with a premier home pricing tool designed to accelerate lead generation while offering consumers an accurate web-based home value.

Visient is partnering with IntelliReal, a real estate intelligence and valuation solutions company (www.intellireal.com), to deliver a product that differs significantly from the plethora of existing valuation tools in several key ways; Your Home Valuation takes advantage of both public record data and MLS data to provide more accurate values and Your Home Valuation specifically benefits the broker by providing a broker branded product which captures interested consumer leads.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

NetBank Takes Huge Loss, Signs OTS Pact

NetBank -- which is restructuring its entire mortgage operation -- posted a $73 million loss in the third quarter, while revealing that it has signed a supervisory agreement with its regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision. In its earnings release, the company said it has been hurt by loan buybacks, noting that "Although repurchase demands improved from last quarter, they remained at an elevated level." The Atlanta-based NetBank recently pulled the plug on its subprime affiliate, Meritage Mortgage, Beaverton, Ore. In mid-October, it sold 70% of its residential servicing portfolio ($8.5 billion in receivables), booking a $19.3 million loss on the sale.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

H&R Block May Sell Irvine's Option One Mortgage

H&R Block is considering selling Option One Mortgage, a California-based firm that ranks as one of the country's biggest lenders to borrowers with spotty credit histories. H&R Block CEO Mark Ernst remarks, "A potential separation of Option One would enable H&R Block to further focus management resources on its core businesses and create long-term shareholder value." The company recently announced that it would be closing a dozen Option One branch offices between now and early next year, which represents about 33 percent of its total operations. When the residential property sector was enjoying its boom period, H&R Block's mortgage operations actually were more profitable than its tax-return preparation business; the unit's fortunes have shifted with the current housing slump, however.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

Greenspan Unconcerned About Housing

At a recent conference held by Schwab International, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the housing market will not bottom out for awhile, predicting further declines in home sales and prices. "It's hard for me to believe that they can stabilize at the level they are now because we had too much of a speculative surge," remarked Greenspan about home prices. However, he is confident that the housing slowdown will not have much more impact on the economy--which should rebound in the coming months. While Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher attributes the recent housing boom to the central bank's decision to hold the federal funds rate at record lows too long, Greenspan credited global! ization, worldwide declines in mortgage rates and a subsequent wave of speculation.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)

The U.S. Home Equity Sector

Moody's reports a jump of 16.9 percent in charged-off home-equity loans to 0.97 percent in the second quarter from 0.83 percent during the corresponding period in 2005. Over the same time span, home-equity delinquencies surged to 6.66 percent from 5.80 percent.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

Mortgage Fraud Up

Suspicious activity reports of mortgage fraud rose 35 percent during the first three months of 2006 compared to a year earlier, according to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen). California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Texas had the highest number of filed suspicious activity reports of mortgage fraud a year ago. The illegal activity may be on the rise because of "increased awareness of the potential for fraud in a dynamic real estate market," the FinCen study suggested, adding that the housing market may be slowing down but "opportunities for fraud are still present." Mortgage fraud often involves altered bank statements, fake documentation of earnings such as income tax returns, fraudulent letters of credit, misrepresentation of employment, altered consumer credit scores, invalid Social Security numbers and inaccurate ! disclosure of borrower debt load, the study reported.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2006

Wholesale Lenders

Posted by S. Germain at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)

The First American Corporation Reports Preliminary Financial Results For The Third Quarter 2006

Read the entire story here.

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

Fidelity Natl Info Added to S&P 500

Standard & Poor's said Thursday that Fidelity National Information Services Inc. will replace Louisiana-Pacific Corp. on the S&P 500, after the close of trading on Nov. 9.

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

Fidelity National Information Services Announces Plans To Refinance Credit Facilities

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE: FIS - News) announced today that it has engaged J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Banc of America Securities LLC and Wachovia Securities LLC to act as lead arrangers and joint bookrunners in connection with the refinancing of its existing senior secured credit facilities, under which there is currently $2.7 billion outstanding. The new $3.1 billion of facilities will consist of a $1.0 billion 5-year unsecured revolving credit facility and a $2.1 billion 5-year unsecured amortizing term loan facility.

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

Fidelity National Information Services Acquires Watterson Prime

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE: FIS - News) announced today it has acquired Watterson Prime, LLC, a leading provider of due diligence services to financial institutions worldwide.

As a result of this acquisition, Watterson Prime's due diligence services will be integrated with other FIS service offerings, such as the FIS Hansen Quality HQ Score, and will allow investors and other participants in the mortgage capital markets to obtain fully integrated service delivery for their contract finance needs. The FIS HQ Score, available in PRO and PREVIEW, was the first collateral risk score adopted by Wall Street investors and protects clients against property valuation fraud and overvaluation risk.

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

Real Estate Professionals Can Now Search and Map Property Information with New Property Profiles Capability Developed by PropertyInfo and Stewart Re-Source

PropertyInfo and Stewart Re-Source have teamed up to enhance PropertyInfo's existing Property Profiles product, incorporating a "click-and-drag" mapping component.

Users such as residential real estate agents and commercial brokers will still be able to search properties by ZIP code, addresses, transaction dates and more, and produce Property Profiles for marketing purposes. The new capability, called "Paint Your Farm," for residential professionals and "LandMap," for commercial professionals, allows use of selection tools such as a rectangle, line, polygon or cursor to do such actions as:

Select all properties within a certain radius that touch a subject property
Send selected property addresses to mailing labels or download in another format
Click and measure land area or any other point-to-point distance
Add text to a created map, convert it to a PDF, and send or save it

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

ILOG and Tavant Technologies Team Up on Solutions for the Mortgage-Lending Industry

ILOG(R) and Tavant Technologies today announced an agreement to partner on mortgage lending solutions. Tavant will leverage ILOG JRules(TM), a key offering in ILOG's business rule management system (BRMS) product line -- which is already used widely in the mortgage lending space -- as a key component of Tavant Mortgage Solutions, a service that combines deep mortgage domain expertise, pre-built functionality components and global delivery to help lenders rapidly build and enhance existing origination, servicing and capital market systems. The two companies also announced the successful deployment of a sales automation solution at Ameriquest Mortgage Company.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)

FICS Enhances Security Measures for its Web Applications with the Addition of Multifactor Authentication

Financial Industry Computer Systems, Inc. (FICS), a mortgage technology specialist that provides in-house residential origination and servicing technology and commercial servicing technology to the mortgage industry, announced that it has implemented enhanced security measures for its Web applications to meet the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) guidelines for increased security for Internet-based financial services. The security enhancements are included in FICS' LoanStat®, iNetAp® and eStatus(TM) Web applications.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)

City Bancorp, Parent Company of The Signature Bank, to Merge With BancorpSouth

Officials of Tupelo, Mississippi based BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE: BXS - News) and City Bancorp, parent company of The Signature Bank headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, announced today the signing of a definitive agreement pursuant to which City Bancorp will merge with and into BancorpSouth, Inc. The Signature Bank currently operates six full-service banking locations in Springfield, Missouri and one loan production office in Clayton (St. Louis), Missouri. The Signature Bank had approximately $847 million in assets and $600 million in deposits as of September 30, 2006.

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

Family Lending Services Selects Mortgage Cadence ELS to Support e-Mortgage Transition

Mortgage Cadence, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise lending solutions (ELS) for the mortgage industry, has been selected by Irvine, Calif.-based Family Lending Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Standard Pacific Corp., the eleventh largest publicly traded homebuilder. Family Lending Services averages 5,000 loans per year and offers a myriad of products for homebuyers - jumbo, conventional, government and piggyback second loans, to name a few. As a retail mortgage banking operation in multiple states, Family Lending Services selected the Mortgage Cadence ELS to support its e-Mortgage transition. In 2005, Family Lending Services processed $1.3 billion in retail mortgage loans and projects a closing of $1.5 billion in loans for 2006.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:48 AM | Comments (0)

The Mortgage Warehouse Speeds Loan Processing With Electronic Document Delivery From Captaris and IKON Office Solutions

Captaris, Inc. , a leading provider of software products that automate document-centric business processes, and IKON Office Solutions , the world's largest independent channel for document management systems and services, today announced that The Mortgage Warehouse (TMW) has selected IKON to integrate Captaris(R) RightFax(R) Enterprise Server with its internal software applications and multifunction products (MFPs) to help streamline and secure the electronic delivery of critical and confidential business documents. TMW reported that the solution has allowed it to process more loans in a shorter period of time, enhance the security around lending documents and save close to 50 percent on costs.

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

Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp Establishes a Nationwide Correspondent Lending Group

Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp (TB&W), one of the nation's top wholesale mortgage lenders, has established a nationwide Correspondent Lending Group, it was announced today by Lee B. Farkas, chairman. Headquartered in Florence, South Carolina, the new division will have 50 employees in all territories of the United States.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:46 AM | Comments (0)

Group says Zillow's estimates are way off

Have you ever checked out the satellite photos and market value estimates of homes in your neighborhood on Zillow.com -- the Internet real estate site that offers ``free, instant valuations and data for 67 million-plus homes''?

Zillow was launched with major media fanfare in February, backed with a reported $57 million in venture capital. It is one of the most popular real estate sites on the Web -- visited millions of times a month by sellers, buyers, agents, lenders and homeowners. It also has begun distributing its free ``Zestimates'' through Yahoo.com and real estate brokerage sites.

But now Zillow is coming under harsh scrutiny. In a complaint filed Oct. 25 with the Federal Trade Commission, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition charged that Zillow knowingly deceives the public by presenting its property estimates as accurate, whereas in fact they are frequently far off the mark.

The non-profit coalition, which consists of housing and economic justice organizations around the country, says its own audit of Zillow's accuracy documented that its valuations are within 10 percent of actual market value ``less than one-third of the time.''

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

Platinumdata Offers AVM Performance Testing

Platinumdata Solutions, a provider of collateral risk solutions based in Mission Viejo, Calif., has announced the launching of OptiVal, a patent-pending performance testing system for automated valuation models. OptiVal is an automated tool employing user-defined parameters to conduct rigorous AVM data analysis that will allow mortgage originators and investors to determine performance by each AVM, the company said. OptiVal serves as an objective AVM performance testing system and provides a framework for conducting those performance tests based on a lender's custom metrics. The announcement was made at the 93rd Annual Mortgage Banking Association Convention & Expo in Chicago.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:40 AM | Comments (0)

TurboHomeBuy Automates RE Purchasing

TurboHomeBuy, Phoenix, has announced what it calls the first-ever Web-based application that legally automates the home purchase process from offer through closing. TurboHomeBuy said it generates all the paperwork needed to buy a home in all 50 states. According to the company, the website streamlines the process for the following: escrow/title/closing company services; mortgage prequalification and final loan approval; property insurance quotes; home inspection scheduling; handyman service quotes; moving service estimates; and starting and stopping utility services at the purchased property. Kent Lewiss, founder and chief executive officer of TurboHomeBuy, said the technology is the first to enable the user to make an offer to buy any property "no matter where it is listed for sale" and in which high commissions associated with real estate transactions "are practically eliminated."

Posted by S. Germain at 08:40 AM | Comments (0)

New Tool Centralizes Default Management

DepotPoint, an independent technology and services provider for the foreclosure market headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., has launched TrackPoint, a Web-based application that centralizes all actions required in managing the default process. The solution's centralized workflow engine and tracking technology is designed to improve efficiency, increase transparency, and streamline the foreclosure process. TrackPoint is an end-to-end technology platform that combines a compliance knowledge base with centralized processing and communication management, exception handling, document management, and external vendor monitoring, the company said. DepotPoint's TrackPoint application suite provides lenders, title companies, trustees, and loan servicing entities with a centralized workflow engine and tracking technology. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.depotpoint.com.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)

FBR Reports Loss Related to Subprime Lending Venture

Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. remains optimistic about its foray into subprime mortgage banking, although its subprime lending arm continued to lose money during the third quarter. The Arlington, Va.-based financial services company reports that losses at First NLC reached $7.4 million after it took a $23 million provision to cover loan losses to high-risk borrowers. Although this year has been a difficult one for FBR, chief executive Eric Billings maintains that Florida-based First NLC is "poised to generate meaningful returns for the company." FBR also reports $170.6 million in investment losses on its portfolio of mortgage securities and its merchant banking portfolio of company investments, as well as an overall loss of $67.4 million and a decline in revenue to $82.4 million from $339.9 mil! lion a year ago.

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

GE Predicts Cross-Border Mortgage Boom

GE Consumer Finance predicts massive growth over the next four years in mortgages given to Americans to purchase homes in Mexico. Michael Dodge of WMC Mortgage Corp., a unit of GE Money, expects cross-border originations to surge to $400 million in 2007 from $100 million this year. An estimated $150 million or more in such mortgages will be written by GE next year.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:33 AM | Comments (0)

LaSalle to Offer Electronic Vault for Loan Documents

LaSalle Bank in Chicago is the latest secondary market player to say it will begin accepting mortgage loan documents in electronic form, in a move that will allow Wall Street clients to sell mortgage-backed securities about 24 hours after assembling the loans. Shipping loan documents takes about three to five days, and the need to verify them manually prolongs the cycle time to as long as 15 days; but an electronic vault allows documents to be created, uploaded and transmitted instantly in an encrypted format. More Wall Street firms will need to embrace electronic notes if the electronic vault for mortgage loan documents is to be a success, says Harry Cichetti, senior vice president of collateral services fo! r LaSalle. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have already adopted e-notes; and Encomia, LaSalle's technology vendor, believes acceptance will pick up next year.

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

Pain From U.S. Housing Slump Is Likely to Linger, But Some Say Worst May Be Past

While some economists, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, believe the housing market is stabilizing, others anticipate further weakness in the coming months. Most do not expect the nation's economy to fall into recession, but they do anticipate another six months of declining home prices in highly speculative markets. Homeowners are finding it more difficult to tap into their equity; but economists are unsure if consumer spending will take a hit, as higher wages, a recent stock-market rally and a drop in gas prices might make it easier for them to open their wallets. In the mortgage arena, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports a leveling off in purchase-loan applications, following declines during t! he latter half of 2005 and the first half of 2006.

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

As Home Owners Face Strains, Market Bets on Loan Defaults

A boom in subprime mortgage lending in recent years sparked by the emergence of Internet lending, electronic databases to gauge risk and high demand from foreign and domestic investors helped push up the nation's homeownership rate. First American Loan Performance reports that interest-only and low-or no-documentation mortgages accounted for 18 percent and 16 percent, respectively, of subprime loans in 2005, leading to concerns about loan performance. Observers note that subprime borrowers will increasingly encounter difficulty making their monthly payments as their interest rates adjust, and slower home-price gains mean those who owe more than their homes are worth could be forced into foreclosure. Kenneth Rosen of the University of! California, Berkeley's Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics expects 20 percent of subprime mortgages to be in foreclosure in 2008, resulting in a percentage-point decline in the nation's homeownership rate. Some investors are capitalizing on the weaknesses of the subprime market by purchasing derivatives tied to bonds with no-documentation loans or mortgages given to borrowers with low credit scores, enabling them to make money when these borrowers default.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)