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April 25, 2008

New Home Sales March 08

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

The First American Corporation to Hold First-Quarter Conference Call on May 1, 2008

The First American Corporation announced that it will host a conference call on May 1, 2008, at 11 a.m. EDT. The call will follow the announcement of the company’s operating results for the first-quarter of 2008, which is scheduled for release on May 1, 2008, 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.

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

First American CoreLogic Releases February 2008 LoanPerformance House Price Index

First American CoreLogic, a leader in residential mortgage data and analytics for the mortgage industry and Wall Street, announced the release of its February 2008 LoanPerformance Home Price Index (HPI).

Read the entire story here.

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

Universal Settlements Announces Launch of Strategic Markets Division in Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area

Universal Settlements, a subsidiary of First American Title Insurance Company and a member of The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF) family of companies, today announced the launch of its Strategic Markets Division in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. First American Title's Strategic Markets Division provides culturally insightful business solutions for real estate practitioners to more effectively serve the region's rapidly growing multicultural and new immigrant home-buying communities.

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

Zillow.com Chooses Digital Map Products to Deliver Parcel Boundary Data

Digital Map Products announced the popular online real estate website Zillow.com® has added DMP's enhanced parcel boundary data to help its users make more informed real estate decisions. Zillow.com said it turned to Digital Map Products for the company's expertise in aggregating a wide range of spatial-based data, including parcel boundaries and delivering it in an affordable and convenient format.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:27 AM | Comments (0)

ValuFinders Enhances Application to Comply with New Home Protection Valuation Code

ValuFinders, Inc. announced today that the company has developed a system enhancement to its Web-based appraisal ordering system, Appraisal CONCIERGE. The enhancement is in anticipation of the proposed Home Valuation Protection Code that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2009. The code was created to restore faith back into the appraisal process.

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

CrossCheck Compliance Adds BasePoint FraudMark(R) Score to Reinvent Loan Due Diligence

BasePoint Analytics™ announced that CrossCheck Compliance has selected BasePoint’s FraudMark® solution as a core component in their new approach to due diligence for loan and portfolio purchases.

The FraudMark solution uses sophisticated analytic scoring technology to identify suspicious mortgage loans, facilitating quick and effective due diligence on high risk loans before purchase or funding. The models accurately predict the likelihood of a loan containing fraud that will result in financial loss to the investor/lender. The FraudMark score risk ranks all loans to create a highly targeted subset of loans for the Enhanced Fraud Review. The precise fraud score provided by FraudMark, with market leading low false positive ratios, results in high detection of fraud with minimal operational impact.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:22 AM | Comments (0)

FIS First Quarter Revenues Increase 20.5%

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2008. First quarter results include the divestiture of certain businesses which are reported as discontinued operations for all periods presented.

Read the entire story here.

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

BofA to sweep Countrywide name into history bin

Bank of America plans to drop the Countrywide Financial moniker after it closes on its purchase of the troubled mortgage lender later this year. California's largest bank generally drops the name of an acquired institution.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:19 AM | Comments (0)

MBS ProClose Launches ProClose Platinum Web Services

MBS ProClose has launched its MISMO XML-native ProClose Platinum Web Service. Governed by rules-based automation, ProClose Platinum delivers a set of closing docs in PDF form, ready to print, e-deliver or both, just seconds after the loan file is completed, the company says.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:15 AM | Comments (0)

FirstClose Partners With America's Home Rescue

FirstClose has formed a strategic alliance with America's Home Rescue LLC to provide technology services designed to significantly streamline the pre-foreclosure and short-sale process. According to the companies, this alliance offers unique benefits to homeowners, real estate agents and lending institutions alike.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:14 AM | Comments (0)

BoA Announces Home Lending Guidelines

BoA will discontinue non-traditional mortgages where monthly payments may not cover all interest (option ARMs); significantly curtail other non-traditional mortgages, such as certain low-documentation loans; and implement enhanced borrower protections soon after completion of the Countrywide purchase, including limits on prepayment penalties and protections on non-traditional loans such as interest-only and hybrid ARMs.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)

MRG Teams With Lydian Data Services On Outsourcing

MRG Document Technologies has formed an alliance with Lydian Data Services, a provider of end-to-end outsourcing services for all aspects of the mortgage operation. The alliance enables MRG to extend its Miracle document preparation system to Lydian Data Services' origination fulfillment center customers, who use Lydian's outsource capabilities to supplement or replace their own internal processes, thereby controlling fixed costs while maintaining or raising output quality.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:12 AM | Comments (0)

Zaio Hits Milestone With 20 Million Property Photos

Zaio Corp. has surpassed 20 million photos of individual parcels of real estate in its growing national database. Zaio says it is coordinating the photography, inspection and appraisal of properties throughout the nation. The company's patent-pending technology is designed to be used by appraisers and help lenders obtain real-time appraisals from a secure database in much the same way they obtain credit reports.

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

Bush Picks New HUD Secretary

President Bush has appointed Steve Preston, head administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), to the position of U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Preston is taking HUD's reigns after former Secretary Alphonso Jackson resigned in the midst of extensive criticism related to allegations of cronyism and political favoritism.

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

National City to Raise $7 Billion in Capital

After a first quarter net loss of $171 million, or $.27 per diluted share, Cleveland, Ohio-based National City Corp. said its Board plans to raise $7 billion in capital, with a large portion of that capital infusion—approximately $985 million—coming from private firm Corsair Capital, LLC. The remaining capital will be raised through investors, including some of National City's existing institutional stockholders.

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

Wolters Kluwer and FIS Partner to Offer Loan Mods and Compliance

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services has partnered with Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) in a deal that will allow Fidelity's FIS Desktop—a document and expense management system that helps servicers through the origination and loss mitigation processes—to implement Wolters Kluwer's Desert Document Services into its system.

Desert Document Services will allow FIS to have immediate access to a repository of documents that comply with all of the state and federal guidelines.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:07 AM | Comments (0)

New-Home Sales Fall to Low Last Seen in Early 1990s

The Commerce Department reports an 8.5 percent drop in new-home sales to an annual pace of 526,000 in March, with economists blaming the largest job cuts since the start of the year for the greater than expected decline. New-home sales have not seen such low levels since the 1990s housing recession, and the 11-month supply of unsold new homes marks a 27-year high.

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

House Panel Approves $15 Billion Foreclosure Bill

The House Financial Services Committee recently passed bills that aim to ease the housing crisis. The bill supported by Democrats seeks to avoid blight in neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures by giving $15 billion in loans and grants to states, which would distribute the money to cities, counties and town to purchase and repair foreclosed homes. The measure was opposed by Republicans who insisted that private lenders who have taken ownership of these properties will be the main beneficiaries.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:02 AM | Comments (0)

Home Sales Fall, But Signs of Stability Emerge

NAR reports a 2-percent decline in existing-home sales to an annual rate of 4.93 million in March from the prior month and a 19.3-percent drop from 6.11 million a year ago. Although weak sales caused a jump in resale inventory to a 9.9-month supply, NAR reports an increase in the national median home price to $200,700 in March from $195,600 in February, while the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight says home prices edged up 0.6 percent in February from the previous month.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:59 AM | Comments (0)

BofA Warns More Home Equity Losses Are Coming

Bank of America saw its earnings decline 77 percent during the first quarter to $1.2 billion as a result of the impact of increased provisions for bad loans as housing prices fall and defaults rise. The bank also reports that it has reserved $1.6 billion for future home equity losses, which is more than it set aside for all loan losses during the first quarter of 2007. The volume of home-equity loans on its books was $117 billion compared with $90 billion a year ago; and the bank had $496 million in home-equity defaults that accounted for 1.71 percent of home-equity loans, up from $17 million in defaults, or 0.08 percent.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)

Mortgage Servicing Litigation Grows

MortgageDaily.com's First Quarter 2008 Mortgage Litigation Report shows a jump in legal battles fought by mortgage servicers due to increases in delinquencies, bankruptcies and foreclosures. The report indicates nine secondary marketing lawsuits in the first quarter, with the total for 2008 likely exceeding the 23 cases recorded in 2007.

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

April 18, 2008

1Q '08 Writedowns

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

The First American Corporation Announces Retirement of Two Directors

The First American Corporation announced the retirement of Donald P. Kennedy and Gary J. Beban from its board of directors.

Read the entire story here.

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

The First American Corporation Announces Appointment of Five Directors Recommended by Highfields Capital Management

The First American Corporation announced that it has elected to its board of directors five individuals recommended by Highfields Capital Management LP, the company’s largest unaffiliated shareholder.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:51 AM | Comments (0)

The First American Corporation to Hold First Quarter 2008 Conference Call

The First American Corporation announced that it will host a conference call on May 1, 2008, at 11 a.m. EDT. The call will follow the announcement of the company’s first-quarter operating results, which is scheduled for release on May 1, 2008, at 8:32 a.m. EDT.

Investors, members of the financial community and the media, can access the call by dialing (888) 955-3516, and giving the pass code First American. The call will also be webcast at www.firstam.com/investor.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)

First American CoreLogic Announces REiSource®: A New Online Real Estate Information Portal Designed for the Title Insurance Industry

First American CoreLogic, America’s largest provider of advanced property and ownership information, analytics and services, announced the release of REiSource®, a new Web-based real estate information gateway to the most complete and accurate suite of property profiles, new homeowner and refinance lists, resale trends, mortgage leads and custom reports for title insurance companies.

Read the entire story here.

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

Mortgage Builder LOS Integrated With First American Flood Data Services

Mortgage Builder Software Inc., provider of end-to-end mortgage banking software, says that First American Flood Data Services has integrated its flood certification process into Mortgage Builder's loan origination system (LOS), providing an instant response for a flood determination request.

Users of Mortgage Builder software now have the ability to order a flood determination from within the system, and the flood certificate is returned automatically with fields populated into the loan application. When a user requests a flood certification in Mortgage Builder, a MISMO-compliant data file is transmitted to First American via Web services.

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

Company Launches Special Servicing Unit

Strategic Recovery Group LLC, a national mortgage asset recovery company, has launched a special servicing unit, Acqura Loan Services. Acqura offers a full spectrum of servicing, loss mitigation, and collection services and creates a customized risk-management solution for each of its clients.

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

Wells Accepting E-Docs From Fiserv

Wells Fargo Funding has added Fiserv to the list of vendors from which it will accept e-1003s and e-disclosures. The company recently announced that such e-docs would be accepted from DocuSign, Encomia, and eLynx.

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

RealtyTrac, Reliance Network Join Forces

RealtyTrac and Reliance Network LLC have announced a strategic partnership that will allow Reliance Network's clients to have real-time access to RealtyTrac's nationwide foreclosure database.

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

Some Good News: Wells Earns $2B in 1Q

Wells Fargo & Co. posted a $2 billion profit in the first quarter on record revenue of $10.6 billion. It originated $61 billion in single-family loans during the quarter, a 7% gain from the volume of a year earlier. Its servicing portfolio increased to $1.53 trillion, up 10% from March of last year. The banking giant's strong performance came despite a 16% sequential increase in its portfolio of nonperforming loans. At the end of March, the San Francisco-based Wells had $4.5 billion in NPLs, including $658 million worth of foreclosed and repossessed real estate and auto loans. It had $314 million of first-lien residential mortgages that were 90 days or more past due and another $228 million in late second-lien mortgages. A year ago it held $223 million in late firsts and seconds.

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

Merrill Takes $4.5B in Subprime Hits

Merrill Lynch -- once the largest Wall Street player in the subprime market -- took $4.5 billion in mortgage-related writedowns in the first quarter and revealed that it has additional asset-backed security exposure of $6.7 billion. The $4.5 billion in subprime charges includes a $1.5 billion writedown on ABS-related collateralized debt obligations and $3 billion in charges that Merrill says are "related to hedges with financial guarantors."

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

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. Announces Receipt of IRS Private Letter Ruling

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. announced that it has received a formal private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service that the previously announced spin-off of Lender Processing Services ("LPS") will be tax-free to FIS, as well as to LPS and FIS shareholders. FIS shareholders will recognize a gain or loss on the receipt of cash in lieu of fractional shares.

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

ValuAmerica Vendor Management Software Will Now Assure Compliance With Federal Rules on Directed Appraisals

ValuAmerica announced a new release of its ValuNet xsp software that will prevent directed appraisals and ensure compliance with current valuation requirements of the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of The Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS).

The system will also help lenders to comply with the terms of the recent agreement on appraisals between the New York Attorney General and Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and OFHEO.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:28 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. Increases Share Repurchase Authorization and Declares Quarterly Dividend

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $250 million of FIS common stock. This authorization replaces the company's previous share repurchase authorization, of which approximately $117 million was outstanding.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:26 AM | Comments (0)

Knives Out at Citi

Citigroup is preparing for more surgery as it reports another big quarterly loss and additional write-downs as a result of the credit crunch. The bank has already been cutting jobs—more than 4,000 announced earlier this year—reorganizing businesses and selling some units, like Diners Club.

The bank took $12.1 billion in write-downs: $6 billion on investments related to subprime mortgages, $3.1 billion on leveraged loans, $1.5 on its exposure to bond insurers, and $1.5 billion on its inventory of auction-rate securities. Citi is also accounting for an increase of $3.1 billion in credit costs tied to consumer lending.

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

PPR Debuts Structured CRE Loan Module

Boston-based Property & Portfolio Research Inc. (PPR) has launched its Structured Loan Module as an enhancement to COMPASSCRE, a desktop and Web services tool that calculates default metrics calibrated to historic commercial real estate mortgage defaults.

The addition of the Structured CRE Loan Module allows the modeling of structured loans, both A/B-type structures as well as mezzanine loans. It also takes into account the impact of loan seasoning and allows the determination of a time series of expected loss for any particular loan structure across market and property type, the company notes.

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

Fidelity National Information Services Launches Expedited Payments

Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) has debuted FIS Expedited Payments, a secure turnkey solution that enables financial institutions and merchants to quickly deploy an online payment option for statements and invoices. Consumers may search, view and pay their bills through a simple, seamless online user interface designed to match corporate branding, the company says.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)

Vuecentric Adds Credit Repair Functionality To MortgageDashboard

Vuecentric Inc., has released a new module for use with its MortgageDashboard loan origination system that allows mortgage originators to provide a free credit analysis to borrowers and work with them to solve problems that prevent them from qualifying for a new home loan. The new functionality is part of the MortgageDashboard Credit Center and is provided by Las Vegas-based Credit Source One.

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

Foreclosures Up 57-Percent from March 2007

Foreclosure filings in the United States rose 5-percent between the months of February and March of this year and were up 57-percent when compared to March of last year, according to RealtyTrac's latest March 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

In the latest report, RealtyTrac says foreclosure filings were issued on 234,685 properties in March — a statistic that includes filings on all default notices, auction sale filings and bank repossessions.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:16 AM | Comments (0)

Fannie and Freddie Discuss Foreclosure Prevention & Servicing Act Before House Subcommittee

Leaders with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac testified alongside consumer advocacy representatives and housing counseling agencies at the U.S. House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity's hearing on "The Foreclosure Prevention and Sound Mortgage Servicing Act of 2008” this morning. The Act is a legislative proposal that attempts to create mandates that forbid servicers from foreclosing on a property without first making a concerted effort to help borrowers stay in their homes.

Ingrid Beckles, vice president of servicing and asset management at Freddie Mac, testified on behalf of the GSE, saying with the GSEs already encouraging servicers to pursue home retention options, a new federal requirement is not needed.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:15 AM | Comments (0)

MISMO Rolls Out MXCompliance Title

MISMO announced the availability of the MXCompliance Title v2.32 Request and Response certification this week.

“The MXCompliance Title Request and Response certification allows organizations working in the title insurance industry to affirm their support of, and compliance to, MISMO standards for the transactions that help mitigate losses and protect property owners' and lenders' financial interest in real property.”

Posted by S. Germain at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)

Freddie Mac, Banks Reach Deals on Jumbo Mortgages

Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Washington Mutual will offer lower interest rates on home loans greater than $417,000 as a result of an agreement the lenders have reached with Freddie Mac. As much as $15 billion in big loans and related bonds will be bought or guaranteed by Freddie Mac this year. Jumbo borrowers, meanwhile, are likely to face an interest rate that is 0.50 percentage point to 0.75 percentage point higher than on smaller loans.

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

Why Lenders Are Leery of Short Sales

The National Association of Realtors says 18 percent of home transactions are now short sales, though experts point out that lenders are reluctant to approve such deals. Research from Clayton Holdings Inc. reveals that lenders lose only 19 percent of the loan amount on average with a short sale, compared to 40 percent on a traditional foreclosure sale. However, short sales require approvals from primary lenders, servicers, investors and home-equity lenders--a process that can take several months to complete.

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

WaMu Posts 2nd Consecutive Quarterly Loss

WaMu this week reported its second consecutive quarterly loss. The Seattle-based thrift, which recently secured a $7 billion capital infusion, recorded a first-quarter loss of $1.14 billion versus a profit of $784 million a year earlier. WaMu has consistently ranked among the nation's biggest subprime mortgage companies. According to Moody's Investors Service, it still has $19 billion of subprime loans, $43 billion of second-lien home equity credit and $58 billion of option-ARMs on its books.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:07 AM | Comments (0)

Private-Equity Group Makes Deal for Clayton

Greenfield Partners LLC has agreed to acquire Clayton Holdings Inc., the beleaguered provider of mortgage due diligence and servicing.

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

For Lenders, New Costs to Foreclose

Many municipalities--mainly in Southern California and the Midwest--are changing their approach to the foreclosure crisis, moving from efforts to help homeowners avoid foreclosure to making sure those who take control of foreclosed properties prevent them from falling into disrepair. Lenders and servicers in these areas are being hit with hefty fines for code violations in vacant homes; more than a dozen companies have been given 30 days to formulate rehabilitation plans for homes in St. Paul, Minn., for instance, before facing legal repercussions. In Chula Vista, Calif., meanwhile, a $70 fee has been imposed to register vacant properties; and some cities are levying fines up to $1,000 per day for code violations. Asset managers insist they are being hit with excessive fees, given that code violation notices initially are sent to high-ranking executives by mistake.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:02 AM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2008

National City Mortgage - At A Glance

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

First American Proxix Solutions Adds Risk Concentration To Its Hazard Risk-Management Solution

First American Proxix Solutions announced the addition of risk concentration as an option in its CATUM automated insurance suite.

First American Proxix Solutions developed a set of grid layers in varying square-mile areas for all 50 states, which have been integrated within CATUM as layer options. CATUM processes street addresses using its proprietary high-precision parcel-level geocoding and spatial analysis technology and appends a cell identification to each record according to the selected grid matrix. Insurers can then import files into their reporting application and generate reports detailing the number of policies and the total exposure in a specific area. Appended files can be shipped in shapefile format for map display.

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

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Announces 1st Quarter 2008 Earnings Release and Conference Call

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. will release 1st quarter 2008 earnings after the close of regular market trading on Wednesday, April 23, 2008. A conference call will follow at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April 24, 2008. Those wishing to participate via the webcast - www.fnf.com. Those wishing to participate via the telephone may dial-in at 888-639-6205 (USA) or 703-925-2608 (International).

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

LandAmerica Announces Dates for First Quarter 2008 Results and Conference Call

LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. announces that it will release operating results for the first quarter 2008 after the market closes on Tuesday, April 29, 2008. Additionally, the company will sponsor a conference call on Wednesday, April 30, 2008, at 10:00 AM ET to discuss the results.

Those wishing to participate in the live call should dial 1-877-407-0782 and request to be connected to the LandAmerica conference. Additionally, the call will be simultaneously broadcast over the internet via LandAmerica's website (http://www.landam.com). Click Investor Information > Calendar of Events.

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

Wells Broadens E-Disclosure Acceptance

On the heels of approving the acceptance of DocuSign electronic signature technology, Wells Fargo has announced that it will now accept e-disclosures and e-1003s from eLynx and Encomia as well.

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

FHA Requiring 2nd Appraisals on Jumbos

The Federal Housing Administration is requiring a second appraisal on jumbo mortgages above $417,000 in declining markets and limiting the maximum LTV on cash-out refinancings to 85%.

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

Cogent Road Debuts Score Protection with Funding Suite

Cogent Road has launched Score Protection, Funding Suite's newest technology offering that eliminates additional inquiries by protecting any of the scores in a preexisting credit file provided the original file is less than 30 days old.

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

IBM Opens Mortgage Lending Service Center; Signs Coastal Federal Credit Union

A new IBM facility, for subsidiary IBM Lender Business Process Services, Inc., has opened in Charlotte, N.C., to serve the outsourcing needs of the mortgage-processing industry. Raleigh-based Coastal Federal Credit Union, which recently signed a five-year deal with LBPS, is expected to save 30 to 40 percent in mortgage origination costs by turning over its loan fulfillment, IBM said.

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

Landata Technologies, Inc. and Optical Storage Solutions Form a Strategic Alliance

Landata Technologies, Inc. and Optical Storage Solutions (OSS) formed a strategic alliance to integrate the Landata eSTAR eRecording product with the OSS land records management system, LANDEX. Landata offers LANDEX users their e-Link software application as a seamless integration to allow for remote electronic submission of land records to select participating county recorders.

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

Landata Technologies, Inc. and Optical Storage Solutions Form a Strategic Alliance

Landata Technologies, Inc. and Optical Storage Solutions (OSS) formed a strategic alliance to integrate the Landata eSTAR eRecording product with the OSS land records management system, LANDEX. Landata offers LANDEX users their e-Link software application as a seamless integration to allow for remote electronic submission of land records to select participating county recorders.

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

Radian Guaranty Eliminates Stated-Income, Stated-Asset Programs

Radian Guaranty Inc., the primary mortgage insurance subsidiary of Radian Group Inc., says that mortgages originated under stated-income and stated-asset programs will no longer be eligible for mortgage insurance.

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

Treasury Releases Blueprint for Regulatory Structure

The U.S. Treasury Department has released its outline for an improved financial regulatory structure, one that Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. says will strengthen consumer protections, improve tools for market stability and enhance financial innovation. The Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure includes a series of short-, intermediate- and long-term recommendations for reform of the U.S. regulatory structure.

The short-term recommendations include improvements to regulatory coordination and oversight that regulators can make quickly. The Blueprint recommends creating a new federal commission for mortgage origination to protect consumers better. The report also recommends modernizing the President's Working Group on Financial Markets and clarifying the Federal Reserve's liquidity provisioning.

For more information, visit www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/regulatory-blueprint/.

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

Fed Introduces Maps With Data On Mortgage Conditions

The Federal Reserve System has made available a set of dynamic maps and data that illustrate subprime and Alt-A mortgage loan conditions across the U.S.

The maps, which are maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, will display regional variation in the condition of securitized, owner-occupied subprime and Alt-A mortgage loans. The maps and data can be used to assist in the identification of existing and potential foreclosure hotspots.

The maps can be accessed at www.newyorkfed.org/mortgagemaps/. Monthly updates are planned.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:28 AM | Comments (0)

MISMO & PRIA Publish IP Property Rights Disclosure Draft

MISMO, the data standard subsidiary of the MBA, and the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA) have published the Intellectual Property Rights Disclosure Draft of a Business Requirements Document.

According to the MBA, the draft lays out the business requirements that should be met when dealing with electronic document formats like MISMO SMART Doc, eSigned PDF and Adobe Intelligent Document Format, as well as Microsoft Word that has embedded XML.

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

Red Vision Adapts TitleVision Platform for New House Title

Red Vision, a provider of real property research solutions, announced their recent partnership with New House Title, a Florida-based foreclosure service firm, to adapt Red Vision's Title Vision solution to meet New House's expanding business needs.

The TitleVision solution helps to save companies, such as New House Title, time and reduce the errors that can occur when reviewing records for title searches, including courthouse records, property appraiser values, and property tax data.

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

Zaio's New Program Focuses on Quality Appraisals

Zaio Corp. rolled out a new solution Monday—the Propertywise Qualified Appraisal Program—which was designed to give lenders and investors the confidence of knowing an appraisal is coming from a qualified appraiser.

The system allows mortgage brokers to submit their appraisal requests through a technology platform. In turn, Zaio sends the appraisal off to a qualified, pre-screened and independent appraiser, who later sends their independent appraisal back to Zaio Inc.

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

FTC Advises USFN: Attorneys Can Assist Debtors With Loss Mit Info

Attorneys representing creditors can now help their servicing and lending clients with loss mitigation efforts, thanks to a recent FTC advisory opinion. Recognizing that many servicing shops are now asking creditors' attorneys to help them inform borrowers about loss mitigation options, USFN saw it a necessity to ask the Federal Trade Commission about the role of creditor’s rights attorneys in the overall loss mitigation process.

The FTC answered this question last week, saying as long as attorneys follow all of the FDCPA rules, they would not automatically violate the FDCPA by providing loss mitigation options at the commencement and during the foreclosure process.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:21 AM | Comments (0)

HUD Secretary Resigns

Alphonso Jackson said that he will be resigning from the agency, effective April 18, 2008. Jackson's announcement comes after much speculation about his pending resignation and after two U.S. Senators sent letters to the president, saying they do not have confidence in Jackson's leadership in times when the whole U.S. economy is suffering under the weight of a housing slowdown.

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

MetLife to Buy Mortgage Firm

EverBank Financial Corp. will sell its EverBank Reverse Mortgage LLC unit to Met Life Inc. The acquisition will help Met Life Bank quickly expand its presence in the reverse mortgage market, having added these loans to its portfolio for the first time last year.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)

Radian Guaranty Introduces New Mortgage Program

Radian Guaranty has rolled out its new FastAdvance program, which provides partial claims advances that enable residential loan servicers to help troubled borrowers by arranging a customized repayment plan or modifying the terms of a mortgage. In addition, the company has teamed up with Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley (CCCS) to provide assistance, educational outreach and a method of direct communication between borrowers and servicers using Radian FastAdvance.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)

MBA's Top CRE, Multifamily Lenders

The MBA reports that the highest dollar volume for multifamily and commercial mortgage originations in 2007 was recorded by Wachovia Corp., totaling $90.3 billion. Originations amounted to $71.6 billion for second-place Wells Fargo Co., followed by $69.7 billion for Bank of America Corp. The average deal size was $25.4 million for Bank of America, $22.2 million for Wachovia and $6.1 million for Wells Fargo.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:12 AM | Comments (0)

FHA Loans Grow Costly as Banks Add Fees

Mortgage industry professionals say more big lenders will follow JPMorgan Chase's lead and add fees to loans that are insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The move comes at a time when Congress wants to rely more on the FHA to jump-start mortgage lending and revive the housing market.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:12 AM | Comments (0)

Court Approves Review of Countrywide Mortgage Practices

The Office of the United States Trustee will investigate the mortgage processing systems of Countrywide Financial in an attempt to uncover evidence that the lending giant systematically abuses borrowers by chronically mishandling mortgage payments, padding bills with improper fees and charges and ignoring court orders while dogging troubled consumers.

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

Bernanke Sees '08 Rebound

The United States economy could possibly slip into recession, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke conceded to the Joint Economic Committee of Congress on Wednesday; however, he predicted that economic recovery could begin by the end of 2008. Bernanke indicated that the central bank had done its job and likely would not continue its aggressive rate-cutting campaign.

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

Zillow Launches Mortgage Marketplace

Zillow.com, which got its start two years ago as an online property valuation site, is expanding its reach into the world of mortgages. Prospective borrowers who log on to the site and complete a comprehensive loan request form will receive quotes and rates from registered lenders, which undergo background checks from Zillow. After receiving the quotes, Zillow.com users--who do not have to provide any identifiable information--then have the option to initiating contact with lenders and also to rate them.

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

Senators Move on Housing Relief

Several key senators this week came to terms on a $15 billion bipartisan plan aimed at bolstering the struggling housing market. To get the package up for debate in front of the full Senate, Democrats dropped a bankruptcy provision opposed by Republicans and agreed to halve funds for counseling at-risk homeowners to $100 million. For their part, GOP lawmakers agreed to a smaller tax credit for homeowners than they initially sought and accepted $4 billion in block grants for communities to buy and refurbish foreclosed homes.

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

Fannie Mae Tightens Rules for Mortgages

Fannie Mae recently imposed stricter rules for the mortgages it purchases or guarantees, including a 580 minimum credit score for individual loans purchases. Additionally, the government-sponsored enterprise extended by one year the period following foreclosure that is needed for borrowers to re-establish credit to five years. However, Fannie Mae says it will purchase mortgages with credit scores under 580 and permit credit recovery periods of less than five years in certain situations. With regard to servicers, the company boosted the maximum forbearance period to six months from four months in an effort to minimize losses from foreclosures.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:07 AM | Comments (0)

MBA Unit Seeking Database Vendor

Lender Technologies Corp. hopes to develop a national fraud database that encourages information-sharing by mortgage lenders to guard against fraudulent transactions. The for-profit subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association currently is seeking proposals from vendors to develop the project, which MBA senior director of government affairs Corey Carlisle says would be more comprehensive than existing fraud databases in that it aims to stop fraud during origination.

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