First American Client Relations Industry View: July 2007 Archives

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July 30, 2007

Top Servicers Q1 07

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

The First American Corporation to Hold Second-Quarter Conference Call on August 2

The First American Corporation announced that it will host a conference call on Aug. 2, 2007, at 11 a.m. EDT. The call will follow the announcement of the company’s second-quarter operating results, which is scheduled for release on Aug. 2, 2007, at 8:32 a.m. EDT.
The conference call, which will also be broadcast over the Internet and is open to investors, members of the financial community, the media and other members of the public, can be accessed online at www.firstam.com/investor or by dialing toll free (888) 955-3516. Callers from outside the United States may dial (210) 234-5896. The pass code for the event is “First American.”

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

First American Launches Debt Recovery Software Company

The First American Corporation announced the launch of First American Intelligent Recovery Systems, a new company under First American Default Information Services division, which markets collaboration software used by the debt recovery industry.

Read the entire story here.

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

Stewart Reports Earnings for Second Quarter 2007

Stewart Information Services Corporation reported the results of its operations for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2007.

Read the entire story here.

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

Wachovia Bank Signs Multiyear Contract with FIS

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. announced that Wachovia Corporation has selected FIS' Mortgage Servicing Package (MSP) to process the bank's mortgage and home equity lines of credit. Wachovia has been servicing its first-mortgages on MSP for 10 years.

MSP will provide securitization, default, escrow management and regulatory oversight capabilities for Wachovia's home equity loans. In addition, FIS will provide transaction processing services for the credit cards tied to Wachovia's home equity lines of credit. FIS' real- time card access allows Wachovia to obtain a complete solution from a single provider.

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

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions and DocuSign, Inc. Integrate Their Leading Technologies in Transaction Management and Digital Signing

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions and DocuSign, Inc., the leading Web-based electronic signature service with over 3 million e-signature events, announced today the launch of DocuSign’s e-signature solution with FNRES’ TransactionPoint® platform, a leader in transaction management solutions.

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

Mortgage Builder Software Integrates With Interthinx(R) FraudGuard(R) Detection System

Interthinx®, Inc. has integrated its loan-level fraud detection system, FraudGUARD®, with Mortgage Builder Software. Mortgage Builder® is a robust end-to-end loan origination software (LOS) system providing solutions for mortgage bankers, community banks, credit unions and financial institutions for nearly 10 years. As a result of this integration, loans originated through Mortgage Builder can be submitted to FraudGUARD for validated risk assessment and mortgage fraud detection within seconds.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

Titan Lenders Corp. Deploys Mavent Compliance Console (MC2)

Mavent Inc. announced a partnership with Denver-based Titan Lenders Corp., a closing, post closing and mortgage fulfillment outsource services provider.

Enabled by its Cerberyx web-based technology platform, Titan Lenders Corp. can submit its client loan data for quality control and due diligence to the Mavent Compliance Console (MC2)

Posted by S. Germain at 08:58 AM | Comments (0)

'DocuSign It' Real-a-Save Uses eSignature Technology to Close Deals Faster

DocuDocuSign announced that Real-a-Save, a Colorado-based online real estate company, has been using eSignature technology from DocuSign to reduce the time it takes for an agent to close deals and sign up new clients from several days to in some cases less than one hour. Instead of the usual week or longer to have paper documents signed using traditional mail, high priced couriers, overnight delivery or unreliable fax machines, Real-a-Save can now close a deal or sign up a new client in under an hour. Not only is this a huge productively boost for both buyers and sellers, it assures Real-a-Save that it has won the business and locked out the competition.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:55 AM | Comments (0)

a la mode Now Providing Free Websites to Real Estate Agents

a la mode, inc., announced the release of free Standard level Agent XSites websites for real estate agents.

Free Standard level Agent XSites are not stripped down placeholder sites. They come with 24/7/365 support, a user's own domain name, robust listings presentations, integrated blogging and other powerful lead capture tools and a proven, effective integrated marketing arsenal.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:52 AM | Comments (0)

Indecomm Global Services Acquires US Recordings

Indecomm Global Services, a leading international business process outsourcing and services firm, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of US Recordings, Inc., headquartered in St Paul, Minnesota. US Recordings is a pioneer in electronic technology for the mortgage recording industry serving the residential mortgage market, including all of the top ten lenders, the title industry and the legal community. The company covers over 3,700 jurisdictions across all 50 states.

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

MRG Selected by Sydion Financial for Document Preparation and Delivery

MRG Document Technologies (MRG), a provider of document preparation services for the financial industry, announced that Sydion Financial, a wholesale mortgage banker, has selected MRG for its efficient document preparation, management and delivery services associated with the closing process.

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

VantageScore Gains Market Momentum Among Industry Leaders

Equifax Inc. announced that several banking, retail and technology customers are incorporating VantageScore(sm) into their decisioning processes.

VantageScore, a credit score jointly developed by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, is a direct result of market demand for a more consistent and predictive approach to credit-scoring methodology across all three national credit reporting companies. Introduced to the market in March 2006, VantageScore is recognized today as an alternative risk management scoring solution.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:45 AM | Comments (0)

Opteum Sub Sells Servicing Portfolio

Opteum Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Vero Beach, Fla., has announced a sale by its majority-owned subsidiary Orchid Island TRS LLC of substantially all its remaining mortgage servicing portfolio. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The aggregate unpaid principal balance of the loans underlying the mortgage servicing rights sold was approximately $2.97 billion as of June 30, Opteum said. The proceeds of the sale will be used to repay debt currently secured by Orchid Island's mortgage servicing portfolio and for other corporate purposes, Opteum said.

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

Chase Simplifies Disclosures, Tightens Standards

As part of a plan to help borrowers better understand their mortgage options, JPMorgan Chase has unveiled simplified disclosures, tightened credit standards, and a requirement of an initial fixed rate of at least five years on adjustable-rate mortgages for nonprime borrowers. The company said it will also use underwriting guidelines that require borrowers to demonstrate their ability to handle increases in interest rates on nontraditional mortgages.

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

Panel OKs Flood Coverage Bill

A flood coverage bill has cleared the House Financial Services Committee on a 38-to-29 vote. The legislation seeks to overhaul the National Flood Insurance Program by increasing its borrowing authority, phasing out subsidies for secondary and vacation homes, bringing flood maps up to date and offering wind coverage as an option.

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

Open House: Licensing Laws for Title Insurance Sales Agents

California is among the states considering legislation to license title insurance sales agents, a move supported by the California Land Title Association because it would clarify marketing rules and help to prevent kickback violations. If passed, registration with the California Department of Insurance would be mandatory for all title insurance agents.

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

Multi-family Housing Starts Up 40 Percent in June

McGraw-Hill Construction Research & Analytics reports that new multifamily construction soared 40 percent from May to June, which helped residential building activity increase 4 percent overall for the month. For the first half of the year, though, multifamily and single-family construction combined is still down 26 percent to an annual rate of $283.2 billion.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)

Radian Profit Plummets 86 Percent

Philadelphia-based mortgage insurer Radian Group Inc. cited increasing defaults as a key reason for its 86 percent decline in profit during the second quarter. "Our second-quarter results clearly illustrate the credit challenges in today's mortgage market," especially in California and Florida, explained Radian Chief Executive S.A. Ibrahim. Net income fell to $21.1 million from $148.1 million in the second quarter of 2006, and revenue declined to $243.2 million from $304.6 million. The quarterly results included a $173.96 million provision for loan losses because of the mortgage problems, nearly doubling the $84.86 million set aside a year ago; and income from partly owned Credit-Based Asset Servicing & Securitization LLC--which issues, services and invests in risky mortgage assets--fell to $23.21 million from $61.4 million.

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

New Mexico Pushing 6.3 Percent Cut in Title Insurance Rates

In response to a new study on competition in New Mexico's title insurance industry and consumer litigation over allegedly inflated premiums, authorities in the state are lobbying for lower costs. According to reports in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, the New Mexico Land Title Association has indicated its support for a rate cut of no more than 1.4 percent and the Insurance Division staff of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission has recommended a rate reduction of 1.7 percent. State superintendent of insurance Morris Chavez, however, is lobbying for a 6.3-percent rollback, effective Sept. 1.

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

Mortgage Firm Is Being Sold

Senior Financial of Virginia has inked a $50 million deal to acquire Liberty Reverse Mortgage, a California-based firm that ranks as the country's biggest non-bank provider of reverse mortgages for seniors.

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

Wells Fargo Ends Sub-Prime Loan

Wells Fargo & Co. has joined Countrywide Financial Corp., Washington Mutual Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. subsidiary First Franklin and H&R Block Inc. subsidiary Option One Mortgage in ceasing originations of 2/28 adjustable-rate loans. These subprime products boast fixed borrowing costs during the first two years, after which the rate adjusts two times annually over the remainder of the loan term. Last year, 65 percent of all subprime mortgages were 2/28s. Lenders have backed away from such loans in response to calls by regulators to underwrite mortgages at their fully indexed rates.

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

July 20, 2007

Q4 06 Commercial Originators

Posted by S. Germain at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

First American Default Information Services Launches New Consulting Group

First American Default Information Services announced the formation of its new Default Consulting group to assist mortgage servicers in assessing and enhancing their default businesses.

First American’s Default Consulting group will share best practices with customers along with any noted risk assessments and specific recommendations for operational improvement. Available services include process improvement, due diligence reviews, policy and procedure design, backlog resolution and Six Sigma project management.

“Our consulting group is a natural, value-added service that builds upon our industry leadership and expertise in the default arena,” said Chris Leavell, chief operating officer of First American Default Information Services.

Posted by S. Germain at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

Joshua Dougan Named VP for First American Information Services' New Consulting Group

First American Default Information Services announced that Joshua B. Dougan has been named vice president of its new consulting group.

In this new role, Dougan will be responsible for assisting with client service and support, implementing strategic plans for continued growth and overseeing the consulting group’s internal operations. The newly formed consulting group provides Six Sigma project management, process improvement, policy and procedure design and training.

Posted by S. Germain at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)

GE sheds subprime mortgages

General Electric Co. is getting out of the subprime mortgage business, the latest company to distance itself from an industry that seems to grow messier by the week.

The industrial, finance and media conglomerate, announcing second-quarter profits on Friday of $5.42 billion, said it took a $160 million hit on the sale, but that it has dumped $3.7 billion of its subprime mortgage portfolio, easing the company out of a worsening environment.

GE's WMC Mortgage has $1.1 billion in mortgage loans remaining.

Posted by S. Germain at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)

Visre Unveils New AVM Photo Library

Visre Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has announced that it will provide appraisal software firms, automated valuation model providers, and mortgage lenders immediate accessibility to millions of auditable residential photos through its Residential Appraisal Image Library. Geo-coded to property addresses, Visre can deliver singular 2-megapixel parcel photos as well as larger panoramas blended from multiple photos to showcase subject properties, comparable properties, and neighboring parcels.

Posted by S. Germain at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

Fannie to Give Lenders Appraisal Alerts

Starting July 22, Fannie Mae's automated underwriting system will alert lenders if the collateral for a mortgage is located in an area where house prices are declining. In such cases, Fannie's Desktop Underwriter will send a message to lenders that they need to carefully review the appraisal to ensure its accuracy and require additional information from the appraiser, if necessary. Appraisers should describe market trends and the effects it will have on the value of the property, Fannie says in an announcement to its seller/servicers.

Posted by S. Germain at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

Zenta Partners With Ellie Mae

Zenta, a knowledge and business process outsourcing company based in New York, and Ellie Mae, Dublin, Calif., have entered into an affiliated partner agreement to offer Zenta's Broker Services through Ellie Mae's ePASS Network Web portal. Zenta Broker Services is a hybrid onshore/offshore service delivery platform that provides a low-cost alternative to in-house loan processing. Zenta said the platform has been designed to provide rapid turn times on loan processes and to comply with strict quality guidelines to improve processes by eliminating defects in the loan processing service. By combining Zenta's loan processing approach with Ellie Mae's Encompass Mortgage Management software, "users will get faster, higher-quality, and more-secure transfer of data and documents," the companies said.

Posted by S. Germain at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

Bernanke Sees B&C Losses of $50-100B

The deterioration in the credit quality of subprime mortgages could result in losses ranging from $50 billion to $100 billion, Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress July 19. The chairman indicated that delinquencies and foreclosures are rising faster than the Fed anticipated only a few months ago. And these problems "likely will get worse before it gets better," he said.

Posted by S. Germain at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)

Mozilo: No End in Sight for Subprime Crisis

"We have a long way to go" in the subprime mortgage crisis, Countrywide chairman Angelo Mozilo said. Pouring cold water on statements by other mortgage executives, including Countrywide Financial Corp.'s own Todd Dal Porto, Mr. Mozilo said the current subprime collapse is causing a paradigm shift that will bring down an avalanche of regulatory scrutiny.

Posted by S. Germain at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

Fed Chairman Vows to Curb Mortgage Abuses

In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank is looking into ways to protect home buyers from predatory lenders. Under consideration are enhanced disclosures as well as restrictions on the use of prepayment penalties and mortgages with no income verification. Bernanke speculated that credit losses tied to delinquent subprime mortgages ultimately could reach as high as $100 billion. Despite the central bank's plans, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., insisted that federal legislation is necessary to protect consumers and "prevent this subprime mess from happening again."

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

Title Co. Partnerships Continue Under Heat

Affiliated business arrangements--which allow title insurers to partner with lenders, realtors or builders for the purpose of obtaining referrals--continue to be a source of concern within the property industry. ABAs are recognized under and governed by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act--which stipulates that the financial interest be revealed to the borrower, that the customer is not obligated to use the services of the affiliated business and that no other payments banned under RESPA are made. Despite clear guidelines designed to avoid illegal kickbacks, RESPA fears dominated the National Association of Realtors 2007 Legal Scan survey released earlier this month. "Growing problems with RESPA-related issues are expected by a large number of agents," according to the report, "especially disputes triggered by alleged kickbacks, affiliated business arrangements and inadequate disclosure of settlement costs."

Posted by S. Germain at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

'It's for You': Hard-to-Reach Borrowers Get New Approach

In an effort to talk with delinquent borrowers who have not answered their numerous phone calls, mortgage servicers are getting creative. Quantum Servicing Corp. plans to mail out 100 prepaid cell phones at no cost to borrowers, although they will have to first make contact with the company in order to activate the phones for personal use. While some experts believe such a move is cost-prohibitive, Quantum executive Joe Caravetta says the company can save upwards of 70 percent of the mortgage's value by helping borrowers avoid foreclosure.

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

Subprime Staple Is Phased Out

Subprime adjustable-rate mortgages with low fixed rates during the first years and a variable rate sometimes above 10 percent for the remainder of the loan term have been discontinued by Countrywide Financial Corp., Option One Mortgage Corp. and First Franklin Financial. Higher default rates on these so-called 2/28 loans have made it more difficult for lenders to sell them as securities on the secondary market.

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

Countrywide Warns Defaults Rising

Countrywide Financial reports a 4-percent jump in loan volume in June. During the same month, the nation's biggest mortgage lender says its mortgage servicing operations grew 15 percent to $3.1 billion, while its banking assets climbed 7 percent to $90 billion. Despite hiring 5,800 workers since the start of the year and working to increase market share as competitors go out of business, Countrywide also reports higher default and delinquency rates.

Posted by S. Germain at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

State Regulators Offer Guidance on Mortgages

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors, the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators and the National Association of Consumer Credit Administrators will jointly issue mortgage guidance similar to rules issued recently by federal banking regulators. The guidance calls for brokers and non-bank lenders to restrict prepayment penalties and stated-income loans, underwrite subprime mortgages at the fully indexed interest rate and help cash-strapped borrowers avoid foreclosure. At least 28 states plan to take up the guidance, and nearly three dozen states have already adopted the federal guidelines. However, "This does not eliminate the need for a uniform national standard for a strong anti-predatory lending law," says Mortgage Bankers Association Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Stephen O'Connor.

Posted by S. Germain at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2007

Top Originators 1Q 07

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

iLeads.com Partners with The First American Financial Corporation to Enhance Insurance Leads

iLeads.com, the nation’s leading provider of internet-generated consumer leads for the insurance and mortgage industries, and The First American Financial Corporation, America’s largest provider of business information, have teamed up to provide real-time insurance leads enhanced with exclusive homeowner’s data, allowing for the calculation of the consumer’s underinsurance amounts prior to the sales call.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:10 AM | Comments (0)

The First American Corporation Appoints George Grupp Chief Financial Officer of Its Specialty Insurance Segment

The First American Corporation , America's largest provider of business information, has named George Grupp chief financial officer of the company's Specialty Insurance segment.

In his new role, Grupp will be responsible for overseeing the segment's financial reporting, financial compliance and budgeting, as well as interfacing with independent auditors and rating agencies. In addition, Grupp will advise all companies within the Specialty Insurance segment on financial matters. This includes First American Property & Casualty Insurance Company, where he will maintain his current position as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

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

AOL and Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions Partner to Provide Real Estate Listings on AOL

AOL today announced a partnership with Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions (FNRES). Through this agreement, FNRES will aggregate broker and MLS listings for the 3 million monthly AOL Real Estate users, and provide access to instant home evaluations through FNRES’ Cyberhomes expert tools at http://realestate.aol.com.

Later this fall on AOL Real Estate, home buyers and sellers will also be able to search the real estate

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

MRG Selected by HelpUFinance.com for Document Preparation Services

MRG Document Technologies (MRG), a provider of document preparation services for the financial industry, announced that HelpUFinance.com, a national mortgage banker, has selected MRG for its document preparation services.

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

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and Baker Hill Strengthen Alliance

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and Baker Hill, an Experian company, announced the two companies are creating an interface between Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' ComplianceOne® solution and Baker Hill's Bank2Business® credit origination solution and OnePoint® relationship management platform.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' ComplianceOne solution allows financial organizations to create a complete loan, mortgage, deposit or IRA package from a compliance, work flow and data perspective on a single delivery platform. Organizations accessing ComplianceOne from Baker Hill's Bank2Business and OnePoint solutions will utilize ComplianceOne's loan documentation functionality.

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

Interthinx(R) Integrates PayScale Income Analytics

Interthinx®, Inc., the leading provider of proven risk mitigation, mortgage fraud prevention and regulatory compliance tools for the mortgage industry, is bolstering its loan level fraud detection tools by integrating income/compensation metrics from PayScale. The integration of PayScale compensation analytics will provide lenders and investors more accurate income profiling of borrowers when assessing risk.

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

Visionet Expands Its Customer Base

Visionet Systems Inc., a leading provider of technology and business process outsourcing services, has signed with six new clients in the first half of the year. Visionet's India subsidiary is expected to grow by 100% in 2007 as well. Their mortgage centric product suite has expanded and now includes eleven distinct products covering the mortgage value chain from end to end.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

Ginnie Setting Stage for Reverse Program

Ginnie Mae has set the stage for the launch of its reverse mortgage securitization program this September with the release of a guide for mortgage-backed securities issuers. The new guide for securitizing Federal Housing Administration-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages provides detailed issuer pooling and reporting specifications.

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

RealtyTrac: Foreclosures Declined in June

Nearly 165,000 foreclosure filings were reported nationwide in June, down 7% from the level recorded in May but up 87% from that of a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif.

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

General Electric to Sell WMC Mortgage

Problems in the flawed-credit mortgage lending market have prompted General Electric to put its subprime unit up for sale, just three years after entering the niche. WMC Mortgage made only $3.4 billion in new loans in the first quarter, compared to $9 billion in the previous quarter, and the company has cut its staff to about 700 workers from more than 1,200 employees over the past year.

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

NAR Cuts '07 Housing Forecast

The National Association of Realtors has revised its home-sales predictions for this year. After forecasting in June that 6.18 million existing residences would change hands this year, the trade group now believes volume will fall to a five-year low of 6.11 million. NAR also altered its forecast for the 2007 median resale price, currently predicting a 1.4-percent decline to $218,000. This marks the fifth revision in as many months, with NAR noting that buyers now have the upper hand.

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

Pipeline: Reverse Revolution?

The reverse mortgage business continues to grow, and there are now successful lenders in the niche other than Wells Fargo & Co. and IndyMac Bancorp Inc.'s Financial Freedom unit. Generation Mortgage Co. of Atlanta, for example, has jumped into the top 10 producers of government-insured reverse loans with its acquisition of Moodus, Conn.-based Amston Mortgage; and Chairman Jeff Lewis says the business is becoming more competitive. The reverse mortgage sector has expanded more than 50 percent over the past three years as baby boomers have planned for retirement, and Lewis believes it could get another boost from seniors who may be looking to refinance out of subprime loans. According to the Federal Housing Administration, 76,276 federally guaranteed reverse mortgages--which account for 90 percent of the ma! rket--were taken out last year.

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

Fed Chairman's Talk Further Dims Hope for a Rate Cut

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's latest remarks concerning inflation have convinced market watchers that the central bank likely will not lower interest rates at any point in the near future. In a speech to an economics conference in Massachusetts on Monday, Bernanke stated: "Although inflation expectations seem much better anchored today than they were a few decades ago, they appear to remain imperfectly anchored." He and his colleagues at the Fed have stated that Americans must be reassured about the stability of prices in the future if a slower rate of inflation is to be achieved. By going on record this week and reiterating that inflation remains too high, Bernanke hopes to send a message that the current trend of price gains will not be the norm under his watch.

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

Foreclosures Turn Up Heat on MERS

Merscorp Inc., the Vienna, Va.-based provider of an electronic loan registry, has been hit with at least nine lawsuits since 2000 alleging that the company does not have the right to initiate foreclosure proceedings for its member lenders--even though its Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. is listed as the mortgage lien holder and noteholder in the county records of some 50 million loans. Consumer advocates have criticized Merscorp for failing to make its status as the mortgage's true owner clear to borrowers, which is an issued pushed to the forefront as foreclosures rise.

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

States Push Ahead With Subprime-Mortgage Laws as Congress Lags

Mortgage Bankers Association estimates put the number of U.S. homeowners going through foreclosure as high as 700,000 in this year's first quarter, yet congressional response to the problem to date has not gone much beyond hearings on subprime lending. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., is pushing for new anti-predatory-lending rules and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., is drawing up a proposal to curtail abusive mortgage practices; but neither has introduced legislation. Growing impatient as the number of their constituents in foreclosure trouble swells, lawmakers in an estimated 30 states have taken matters into their own hands, rolling out approximately 85 bills to protect mortgage borrowers from unscrupulous lending, foreclosure! or fraud.

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

Why Applications' Value as Yardstick May Be Shifting

The large gap between the number of requests for adjustable-rate mortgages and the number of funded loans in the second half of the year is drawing greater scrutiny of the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application index. The organization attributes the disparity to an increase in denials among ARM applicants, technical issues or applicants' deciding against obtaining the loans; others believe stricter underwriting standards are finally taking a toll and that the gap will narrow as the number applications likely to be rejected declines.

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

July 06, 2007

Subprime Production

Posted by S. Germain at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Reports Big Data Breach, Axes Worker

Fidelity National Information Services Inc. said a database administrator stole and sold customer data, exposing as many as 2.3 million bank and credit card records, and that the worker has been fired.

The employee, who worked at the company's Certegy Check Services Inc. unit, sold the information to a data broker, which in turn sold some of it to a "limited number" of direct marketers.

These activities led to customers receiving marketing solicitations, though there is no evidence of fraud, Fidelity said. The stolen data include names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and bank account and card information, it said.

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

Fidelity National Title Group Announces New Program to Curb Mortgage Fraud

Fidelity National Title Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. announced a new product offering that will help its customers protect against mortgage fraud. The new partnership with Experian Consumer DirectSM will offer customers one year of credit monitoring, fraud resolution assistance and a credit report at no cost.

Fidelity National Title Group's offering is the first of its kind in the title insurance industry, providing customers with daily monitoring of their Experian credit report, a comprehensive Experian credit report delivered online and e-mail alert notifications to inform them of key changes to their Experian credit report including new inquiries, newly opened accounts, delinquencies, address change and public record items. Toll-free support from fraud resolution representatives and educational information also are included in the year-long credit monitoring membership.

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

Zenta Announces a Range of Processing Services for Mortgage Brokers in Collaboration with Industry Partners

Zenta, a leading world-class Business (BPO) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) Company, today introduced a complete range of loan processing services for residential mortgage brokers under the Zenta Broker Services brand. These services will allow mortgage brokers to more effectively control their costs, reduce the time to close loans, identify and reduce fraud and enhance the customer experience for a mortgage broker's client. Zenta Broker Services are delivered using a hybrid outsourcing solution with a unique onshore / offshore operations model.

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

Visionet Systems Electronic Lien Release Solution Goes Live at Four of the Top Ten Residential Mortgage Loan Servicers

Visionet Systems VisiRelease solution processes approximately twenty percent of all residential mortgage releases in the US. It is a workflow and rules based solution designed for large and mid-size servicers. Visionet continues to respond to the cost pressures on mortgage servicers by automating as many mortgage processes as possible. VisiRelease has set the productivity benchmark for the banks to process 10,000 releases a month with 10 employees including paper based lien releases. This has resulted in in-sourcing of lien release functions at the most of Visionet's clients.

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

WKFS Launches E-Docs for Reverses

In response to growing demand for reverse mortgages, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, is equipping lenders with a new line of electronic documents they can use to help comply with regulatory requirements tied to Home Equity Conversion Mortgages. A HECM, the most common form of reverse mortgage in the United States, allows borrowers aged 62 or older to convert the equity in their homes into income through a lump sum, monthly payments, or a line of credit offered by lenders. The WKFS line of electronic upfront disclosures and closing documents for HECMs allows lenders doing business in the top 10 states underwriting HECMs to create compliant document packages.

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

Easley Approves Mortgage Oversight

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley signed a bill into law on Wednesday to create a public record listing the name of the originator for every mortgage written and on Thursday enacted a measure that would make mortgage fraud a crime. However, the new laws may not do enough to curb rising foreclosures in the state, considering that homeowners are more likely to face problems keeping up with payments on a mortgage because they are unable to afford a legal home loan, rather than because they received a fraudulent loan. The state could move more toward addressing the root cause of foreclosures if the Senate passes a bill that would require lenders to consider whether the borrower can afford a loan. The mortgage industry has expressed concern that there could be a negative impact on the availability of financing if more laws are passed.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)

(Fidelity) More Companies Use E-Signatures to Cut Costs, Fraud

E-signature products have gained legitimacy after withstanding a number of legal challenges, which has given business leaders more confidence that documents signed online are just as binding as those signed by hand with a pen. To this end, Fidelity National Financial Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., is preparing to launch a pilot with a major mortgage company, under which refinancing borrowers can accelerate the process and possibly save money by inking a power-of-attorney agreement online with DocuSign Inc. In general, customers now face a wide range of product choices, especially now that such smaller firms as DocuSign and EchoSign Inc. are launching Web-based technology that makes electronic signatures eas! ier and more user-friendly. E-signature services are proving popular because of their cost savings and convenience; in many cases, companies can download the various e-signing software programs right onto their computers after paying for them.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

U.S. Pending Home Sales Index Drops 3.5 Percent in May to a Near 6-Year Low

The National Association of Realtors' index of pending home sales is the latest sign that the housing market is still in a funk. The group reports that its index fell 3.5 percent in May to 97.7, compared to declines of 3.4 percent and 4.5 percent in April and March, respectively, leaving pending sales of existing homes at their lowest level since September 2001. The indicator of home sale performance in the coming weeks continues to be depressed by problems in the mortgage market, although borrowers looking for options to subprime financing are driving home-loan applications, says NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun. At the same time, lenders are reining in risky mortgages to borrowers with flawed credit histories, according to Yun.

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

Titan Launches Back Office Outsourcing

Titan Lenders Corp., Denver, a closing, post-closing and mortgage fulfillment services provider, launched yesterday in an effort to meet the growing demand of outsourcing variable cost operations.

Titan’s work is automated and customizable by Cerberyx, a web-based technology platform that was designed specifically for handling outsourcing processes.

Built on eSys Technologies, Rochester, N.Y., platform for managing cost and increasing productivity for lenders, Titan’s Cerberyk is an information management tool that provides lenders with assistance from loan application through sale of the loan. Cerberyk provides security and Titan said it meets MISMO compliance requirements as well. The system aims for high efficiency, bringing together service and transaction processes under one platform.

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

Debt Buries Mortgage Lender

Mortgage Investment Lending Associates (MILA) has joined numerous other subprime lenders that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. MILA distributed money from the nation's largest lenders to subprime borrowers through mortgage brokers. Much of the Mountlake Terrace, Wash.-based company's problems stem from the fact that Bear Stearns, GMAC/RFC, Goldman Sachs Mortgage, Wachovia Mortgage, Deutsche Bank, Countrywide Home Loans and Indymac Bank ordered it to buy back millions of dollars in mortgages they insist did not meet underwriting criteria. According to Washington State Department of Financial Institutions consumer services director Deborah Bortner, MILA "went out of business for the same reason as many, many other lenders have gone out of business: The market turned against them." With offices in more than two dozen states, The Everett Herald reports t! hat the lender funded $4.5 billion in home loans in 2005.

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

U.S. Finance Firms Are Finding Themselves Major Real Estate Owners as Foreclosures Mount

Rising foreclosures have helped produce a 53-percent increase in the value of U.S. homes held by commercial banks to $2.3 billion at the end of March—which is the highest level since 1992 and is up from $1.5 billion a year ago, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that the share of subprime loans entering foreclosure in the first quarter was 2.43 percent—the highest level in nearly five years—and subprime late payments increased to 13.77 percent, up from 11.5 percent a year ago. Banks could pay maintenance costs on the homes or sell them at deep discounts, says HSH Associates executive Keith Gumbinger, both of which could depress real estate values. National Association of Realtors economist Lawre! nce Yun says the national median price for a previously owned home could fall to 1.3 percent this year, which would be the first decline since the Great Depression.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

New Subprime Loan Rules Issued

U.S. financial watchdogs have released new guidelines meant to rein in the overly aggressive lending practices that triggered a mortgage default crisis, but while still preserving access to credit for responsible home buyers. As part of the new rules, the Federal Reserve and other regulators said lenders should confirm incomes and take into consideration possible rate increases when determining borrowers' repayment ability. Additionally, they declared, subprime borrowers should not face prepayment penalties when they refinance their loans.

Posted by S. Germain at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

New Subprime Loan Rules Issued

Posted by S. Germain at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)