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May 30, 2008

New Home Sales Apr. 08

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

First American CoreLogic Releases LoanSafe 2.0

First American CoreLogic, a leader in residential mortgage data and analytics for the mortgage industry and Wall Street, today announced the release of LoanSafe 2.0, a next-generation version of its industry-leading mortgage risk management and fraud detection technology designed to help lenders and investors identify early indicators of mortgage fraud, market volatility and potential loss.

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

First American Taps Lyons McCloskey to Enhance Best Practices Within First American National Claims Outsourcing

First American National Claims Outsourcing, a leading provider of post-sale outsourcing services, announced that it has entered into an internal training, process evaluation and cross-marketing alliance with Lyons McCloskey, an industry-recognized provider of expert consulting and training to the mortgage banking industry.

Through the alliance, Lyons McCloskey will apply its extensive industry expertise to evaluate and enhance First American National Claims Outsourcing’s internal training and business processes. This is an additional step toward First American’s dedication to identifying and delivering industry-best services to its customers.

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

CFC Still Top Lender in Nation

Despite its financial problems, Countrywide Financial Corp. ranked first among all residential originators in the first quarter, funding $73 billion in home mortgages, according to exclusive survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News. Wells Fargo Bank ranked a close second with fundings of $65 billion.

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

BofA picks insider to run mortgage business

Bank of America Corp. will divide consumer banking into three main responsibilities: deposits, credit cards and consumer real estate.

Barbara Desoer, a 31-year veteran of Bank of America, will lead the combined mortgage operations, which will be based in Countrywide's home of Calabasas, Calif.

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

Core Mortgage Group, LLC Selects Guardian Mortgage Services to Provide Outsource Fulfillment Services for Back Office Operations

Core Mortgage Group, LLC, has made a commitment to grow by selecting Guardian Mortgage Services (GMS) to provide closing and post-closing services to support its retail operations. GMS, a national provider of back-office outsource closing services for lenders, is a division of Colorado-based Guardian Mortgage Documents.

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

Navigant Partners Teams With Situs Cos. For Due Diligence Services

Navigant Partners LLC has formed a strategic alliance with The Situs Cos., a global real estate services firm, to provide property due diligence, valuation and other property-related services for mergers and acquisitions in the commercial real estate and financial services industry.

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

CB Richard Ellis Adds Financial And Tax Reporting Services

Commercial real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. has launched its financial and tax reporting services practice within the valuation and advisory services group, a new initiative intended to provide clients with a comprehensive array of services to help their financial reporting and transparency requirements. Kyle Redfearn, managing director, will lead this new initiative.

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

Red Vision Announces Electronic Statewide Title Plant

Red Vision Systems, Inc., a company that provides property research and technology solutions, recently announced the availability of an electronic plant that will provide the entire state of Maryland with easy to access title search options and courthouse records.

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

GMAC-RFC Selects ISGN Lending Solution

ISGN said that UK-based GMAC-RFC Property Finance Limited has agreed to utilize the company's Construction Lender (TCL) software system to streamline the creation and management of loans and reduce risk.

The TCL product allows lenders to simultaneously handle relationships with service providers, while also juggling property inspections via the Internet and managing and reducing call center workloads.

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

ValuFinders Promotes Flexibility of Appraisal CONCIERGE

ValuFinders, Inc., is promoting the flexibility of its Web-based Appraisal CONCIERGE appraisal ordering system in light of recent discussions about the GSEs adopting a new appraisal code of conduct.

“Existing Appraiser CONCIERGE features include the random selection of an appraiser, appraiser independence, monitored communications and free automatic delivery of the appraisal report to the borrower, which are requirements according to the proposed Code of Conduct,” said Joe Williams, president and chief executive officer of ValuFinders.

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

Regulator Criticizes Appraisal Agreement

The agreement Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy only loans from lenders that receive appraisals from independent companies has come under criticism from John Dugan, the comptroller of the currency. Dugan--the regulator of mortgage lending by national banks--says federal and state enforcement is the way to create a conflict-free environment for regulating mortgage lenders and brokers. The agreement, which is scheduled to take effect next year, should be withdrawn because its violates federal law and would have a negative impact on the mortgage industry, Dugan adds.

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

System Designed to Expedite Short Sales for Lenders

National Quick Sale says its new automated system can make it possible for short sales to be closed within 10 days, rather than the typical two months. Rich Rollins, president and CEO of the company, says the system gathers information from real estate brokers and sellers electronically and collects broker price opinions so that sellers are presented with an analysis of the home's net present value.

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

Next HUD Boss Says RESPA Reform Workable

HUD has addressed most of the concerns of the Small Business Administration in its recent Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) reform proposal, according to SBA head Steve Preston, who is also President Bush's nominee for Housing Secretary. Many real estate industry groups representing realtors, title insurers and settlement service providers continue to criticize the proposal due to concerns that lenders would gain too much control over settlement services--which they argue would curb competition. HUD wants to improve loan disclosures and allow lenders to package settlement services with loans, which it believes could save consumers $8.35 billion annually.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:51 AM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2008

Housing Starts April 08

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

First American CoreLogic Announces 2008 LoanPerformance RiskSummit

First American CoreLogic announced that registration is now
open for the 20th annual LoanPerformance RiskSummit, which will be held July 20-22, 2008 at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

This year's agenda features educational tracks addressing mortgage
origination, issuer and investor risk management, research and odeling, loan quality, servicing and regulatory issues. Questions regarding the 2008 Risk Summit can be directed to risksummit@loanperformance.com or by calling 415-536-3525.

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

First American CoreLogic Awarded General Services Administration (GSA) Certification

First American CoreLogic today announced that it has been awarded a Federal Supply Schedule Contract by the General Services Administration (GSA), allowing the company to offer its industry-leading real property information services and analytics for direct sale to federal government organizations.

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

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions Releases Upgraded rDesk Suite

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. has announced that Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions (FNRES) has released a major new upgrade to its popular rDesk Suite of agent and broker products.

Key among the enhancements is a feature that enables agents to offer consumers access to the full power of the latest automated valuation modeling via their own branded Web sites, and an rDesk CMA comparative marketing analysis function, which features stylish new graphic designs on all printed documents.

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

LandAmerica to Combine Residential Services with Lender Services

LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. announces its Residential Services and Lender Services are joining forces to create a single powerful Residential Services customer channel effective June 30, 2008. This move will strategically align LandAmerica even more closely with its customers and enhance the company's service delivery to builders, Realtors(R) and lenders nationwide. Company officials explained that the merger represents the natural evolution of its customer-focused organizational structure.

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

LandAmerica Announces the Opening of the LandAmerica Title Insurance Company of Mexico, S.A.

LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. announces its LandAmerica Title Insurance Company of Mexico, S.A. ("LATIM") subsidiary has received licensing approval from the Mexican government to operate as a title insurance underwriter in Mexico.

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

Wells Fargo Tightens Home Loan Policies

In response to rising defaults and changes in mortgage insurers' requirements and pricing, Wells Fargo & Co. is requiring higher credit scores on mortgages for 95 percent or more of the property value. Additionally, it will no longer permit cash-out refinancings for loans for 80 percent or more of the home value.

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

Home Prices Drop Most in 17 Years

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) confirms that residential prices declined 3.1 percent nationally in this year's first quarter compared with the first three months of 2007. It was the sharpest decline in the index's 17-year history and only the second quarter in which prices had declined since the index began in 1991.

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

Interthinx(R) Offers Robust Analytics to Detect Mortgage Loan Occupancy Fraud and Undisclosed Properties

Interthinx®, Inc. announces a new module available through FraudGUARD® to identify and manage potential occupancy and ownership misrepresentations in loan files. The module includes an unparalleled analysis of a borrower's history of property ownership and critical new alerts within the proven FraudGUARD® scoring system. Interthinx customers are able to detect undisclosed properties that can skew debt-to-income ratios, and discover investors who falsely claim owner occupancy status in loan applications.

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

Fannie Mae Announces Single National Down Payment Policy

Fannie Mae has introduced a new, national policy on down payment requirements for conventional, conforming mortgages the company will purchase or guarantee. Starting June 1, Fannie Mae will accept up to 97% loan-to-value (LTV) ratios for conventional, conforming mortgages processed through its Desktop Underwriter (DU) automated underwriting system, and 95% LTV ratios for loans underwritten outside of DU, in all geographic locations in the U.S.

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

JVI Appraisal Division, Visre Partner On Appraisal Products

Appraisal imagery provider Visre Inc. has formed a multi-year partnership with JVI Appraisal Division LLC, a provider of real estate owned (REO) valuations, portfolio evaluations and origination appraisal services. Armed with Visre's ability to rapidly capture and authenticate high-quality property photos and video, JVI will introduce new image-enabled valuation products designed specifically to meet industry demand for improved reliability, faster turnaround and lower costs, the companies state.

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

Zaio Launches “Go Live 2008”

Zaio, Inc., launched a new program this week called “Go Live 2008,” to help the company's Zone Owners increase their volumes quickly and efficiently.

Go Live is centered around the company's Zone owners, which are essentially appraisers in a particular geographical region that are using Zaio's technology. Each Zone covers approximately 10,000 properties, according to Zaio. Go Live is a concentrated effort to move those Zone Owners to 'live' status in a streamlined manner.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)

GMAC's ResCap Says $9.5 Bln Bonds Tendered

Residential Capital LLC in Minneapolis reports that investors tendered about $9.5 billion of bonds late on May 21. The GMAC mortgage unit wants to restructure or buy back $14 billion worth of bonds to avoid a shortfall on cash. ResCap, the second-largest independent mortgage lender in the United States after Countrywide Financial, says the exchange will help it reduce its debt burden after losing $5.3 billion over the past six quarters on rising delinquencies and declining volumes.

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

Impac Mortgage Posts $2 Bln Loss in 2007 on Credit Woes

Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. posted a $2.05 billion loss last year due to rising delinquencies and defaults. The Alt-A lender registered a $75.3 million loss in 2006. After recording an $8 million profit from continuing operations in 2006, the company reported a $1.65 billion loss last year.

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

New Effort to Block GSE Appraisal Pact

The banking industry is pushing for the inclusion of an amendment from Sen. Elizabeth Dole, D-N.C., that would require federal regulators to set new appraisal standards as part of legislation to beef up oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and permit the FHA to insure mortgages with balances exceeding home values. The amendment would eliminate an appraisal agreement that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo forged with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac compelling lenders and brokers to use outside appraisers if they want to sell loans to the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs).

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

Senate Strikes Housing Rescue Deal

Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have ended weeks of negotiations with a plan that would allow the federal government to insure up to $300 billion in refinanced loans for at-risk homeowners. The bipartisan accord, which represents the clearest sign yet that Congress is ready to pass sweeping legislation on housing, also seeks to tighten up oversight of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:46 AM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2008

Existing Home Sales March 08

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

First American to Host MBA’s Loss Mitigation Bootcamp at Westlake, Texas, Campus

The First American Corporation announced that it will host the Mortgage Bankers Association’s CampusMBA workshop on loss mitigation on June 10, 2008, at First American’s Westlake, Texas, campus.

Read the entire story here.

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

First American Spatial Solutions Announces Release of U.S. Flood Catastrophe Model

First American Spatial Solutions, a member of The First American Corporation family of companies and a leader in spatial and natural hazard risk solutions, announced today the launch of its new U.S. Flood Catastrophe Model (Flood Model), a key component of its new suite of Advanced Flood Risk Solutions, which includes geospatial analytics, basic flood data, flood risk scoring and near real-time monitoring of actual flood conditions.

Read the entire story here.

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

ISGN Rebrands All Subsidiaries

ISGN Technologies Ltd., has announced a rebranding of MortgageHub and Dynatek as well as all its other subsidiary companies. Software providers MortgageHub and Dynatek will be known as ISGN; onDemand service provider Inuva and Tradewinds Mortgage Document Preparation Co., a provider of document preparation/fulfillment services, will be known as ISGN Fulfillment Services; and Cocamar, a provider of cost analysis/risk mitigation services, will be known as ISGN Inspection Services.

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

FNC Automation Ensures HVCC Compliance for Mortgage Lenders

FNC's premier analytic product-GAAR® (Generally Accepted Appraisal Rules(TM)) - can help lenders comply with provisions that will require them to report the results of quality control testing.

Built into FNC's Collateral Management System® (CMS®) - the GAAR Compliance Series automatically reviews appraisals for regulatory and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seller/servicer compliance. GAAR is also available online and through FNC's new Collateral Headquarters(TM), a workflow solution developed for regional and community banks.

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

First Houston Mortgage Selects MRG For Document Preparation Services

MRG Document Technologies announced that First Houston Mortgage, a mortgage-banking firm licensed in 18 states that offers expertise in every aspect of the residential mortgage lending process, has selected MRG for its emphasis on compliance in the document preparation, management and closing processes.

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

Solidifi Expands Collateral Valuation Services to the U.S. Mortgage Market

Solidifi Inc., a leading technology-based provider of collateral valuation and risk management services in Canada, announced today that it has opened its U.S. head office in Chicago, Illinois, and extended its suite of solutions into the national mortgage market.

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

Interlink Forms Strategic Partnership with eLynx

Alliance Adds Handwritten Electronic Signature Support to eLynx's expedite™ Platform.

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

Del Mar DataTrac Integrates with QuestSoft in VSP 2.0

Del Mar DataTrac(R), Inc. announced that it has integrated with QuestSoft in the newest release of its Vendor Service Platform (VSP 2.0). Del Mar DataTrac provides solutions that empower small- and medium-sized mortgage bankers to deliver extraordinary customer service and drive up production while reducing risk, increasing productivity and streamlining their overall efficiency.

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

OpenClose to Purchase Assets of LION Inc.

OpenClose, developers of Web-based, end-to-end mortgage software, has agreed to purchase the assets of LION, Inc. and will continue to operate its Precision LPX suite of mortgage software and retail Web site services. The transaction is anticipated to close this summer, subject to shareholder approval and regulatory consent.

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

Adify Partners With Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions on Industry's First Real Estate Vertical Advertising Network

Adify announced a partnership with the Cyberhomes Media Group, part of Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, who on May 13th announced the launch of the Cyberhomes Vertical Advertising network, the first real estate vertical advertising network. The Cyberhomes Vertical Advertising network will leverage the popularity of CMG's flagship website, Cyberhomes.com and thousands of broker and REALTOR® hosted web sites to provide member real estate-related publishers additional revenue-generating capabilities through access to high quality, relevant advertisers.

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

REO Inventory Now 34% of California's Home Sales

REO properties recently accounted for 34-percent of the state's home sales in April, according to a new report from ForeclosureRadar. In April alone, California set a new record when 44,101 new notices of default were filed. In addition, Notices of Trustee Sale increased 7.8-percent to 29,892, dwarfing the previous record. The number of foreclosures sold in California auctions (22,838) also increased 44-percent when compared to March.

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

BofA: More Losses Likely in Home-Equity Loans

The $118 billion home equity portfolio of Bank of America has become the biggest problem area for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, which saw its profits sink 77 percent to $1.21 billion in the first quarter. Profits were hurt by the $6 billion Bank of America had to set aside to cover current and future loan losses; in response, the bank is now focusing more on lending smaller amounts of money to borrowers, tightening lending standards and devoting more staff to providing assistance to borrowers.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:55 AM | Comments (0)

Plots & Ploys: End Run Around Cuomo?

Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., is expected to propose an amendment to a bill that would beef up regulatory oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, calling for the government-sponsored enterprises' new regulator to create new appraisal standards for the mortgages they buy or guarantee. The amendment would overrule a code of conduct created by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that would prevent mortgage brokers and loan officers from selecting appraisers and prohibit lenders from using valuations by in-house or affiliated appraisers.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:55 AM | Comments (0)

2007 Subprime Off 70 Percent

Subprime origination volumes plummeted 70 percent to $180 billion in 2007, according to a new survey from National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report. Countrywide Financial originated $16.9 billion in subprime loans (down 58 percent) and was followed by Option One Mortgage with $13.9 billion (down 53 percent), First Franklin Financial with $13.6 billion (down 51 percent), Wells Fargo with $13.3 billion (down 52 percent) and Chase with $11.4 billion (down 1 percent).

Posted by S. Germain at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)

Radian Reports First-Quarter Loss

After recording a $106.9 million profit in 2007, the housing slump and credit crunch caused Radian Group Inc. to post a $215.2 million loss for the 2008 first quarter. Claims paid by the Philadelphia-based mortgage and bond insurer rose almost twofold to $190.19 million from $95.82 million in last year's first quarter.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:52 AM | Comments (0)

Fannie Mae to Offer New Mortgage

Fannie Mae reportedly will unveil a new product allows homeowners whose mortgages have been packaged by the government-sponsored enterprise to refinance at a lower rate even if they owe more than the property is worth. However, homeowners cannot be late on their current loan payments, and current mortgage rates must be low enough to justify the refinancing.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2008

Countrywide Subprime

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

Realserv Chooses MarketLinx Transaction Manager

MarketLinx, Inc. announced that it has signed a long-tem agreement to provide its Transaction Manager software to the customers of Realserv, LLC.

Established in 2005 by Transaction First, LLC and the North Carolina Association of REALTORS, and recently joined by the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS (PAR), Realserv will provide additional integrated technology solutions and services to NCAR and PAR members and to the approximately 150,000 multi-state licensees of the Realfast forms system.

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

First American’s Suit-On-Note Scoring Module Quantifies Optimal Resolution Projections for Investors and Servicers

First American Subordinate Lien Outsourcing announced the debut of its Suit-on-Note Scoring Module (SONSM Score). Used in conjunction with the determination of property equity and understanding the borrower’s economic situation and intent, the SON Score helps servicers and investors ascertain the optimal resolution for servicing subordinate lien assets.

The SON Score provides an analysis of a respective borrower’s current real estate assets as well as a determination of a loan’s eligibility for the Suit-on-Note process, which is a different legal cause of action than a typical foreclosure action

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

First American Global Offshore Services Partners With USFN

First American Global Offshore Services announced that it has partnered with USFN—America’s Mortgage Banking Attorneys® to provide business process outsourcing solutions (LegalBPO) to the association’s membership and respective clients.

The partnership enables all USFN members to directly access First American’s process engineering teams; utilize First American’s shared processing teams to assist smaller firms in overcoming scale-related barriers to entry; and benefit from continuous, on-demand staffing across member-specified domestic and offshore outsourcing locations.

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

First American Continues Strategic Restructuring of The Talon Group and Public Abstract Corporation in Upstate New York

First American Title Insurance Company of New York, a subsidiary of First American Title Insurance Company and a member of The First American Corporation, announced the launch of a strategic restructuring of the Talon Group and Public Abstract Corporation in upstate New York.

As part of First American Title Insurance Company of New York’s ongoing strategic and organizational restructuring, the company has retired The Talon Group in upstate New York and will be consolidating the Public Abstract Corporation brand into the flagship name, First American Title Insurance Company of New York.

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

LandAmerica Fraud Detection Program Helps Agent Partners Safeguard Revenues and Avoid Costly Fraud Claims

LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. is making its Fraud Detection Program, which helps the company's Agent Partners safeguard their business revenues and avoid potentially costly fraud claims litigation, available nationally for the first time. The program is being introduced nationwide after being successfully tested among Agent Partners in LandAmerica's Northwest Region of operations.

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

Cyberhomes Announces Launch of Richer, Redesigned Real Estate Listings and Home Evaluation Site

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. has announced the release of a completely redesigned and enhanced Cyberhomes.com, the real estate listings and home evaluation site from Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions (FNRES).

The changes reflect the extraordinary growth that Cyberhomes experienced during its introductory year. The new site brings to the forefront the more than 2.5 million homes for sale licensed from its broker, MLS and franchisor content partners, and expands upon the presentation of home and neighborhood evaluation information for which it is already well-known, covering 100 million property, ownership, sales and mortgage records drawn from more than 85 percent of the United States population. Cyberhomes now also features more than half-a-million virtual tours, and 700,000 foreclosure and pre-foreclosure listings.

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

Fiserv Buys Web-Based LOS Tech

Fiserv Inc. has announced the acquisition of rights to Portellus Inc.'s loan origination system technology. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Fiserv said the acquisition is part of a strategy to bring a common LOS to market that will allow lenders to originate their mortgage, consumer, and commercial loans on one platform.

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

Countrywide's Subprime Delinquencies at 36%

At the end of March, 36% of subprime mortgages being serviced by Countrywide were in some stage of delinquency. Countrywide services roughly $100 billion in subprime mortgages, which means that nearly $36 billion worth of loans are at risk of going into foreclosure. The 90-day-plus late ratio on the portfolio is 21.04%. A year ago the 90-day rate was 7.82%.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:05 AM | Comments (0)

MRG, Lydian Offer Origination Fulfillment

MRG Document Technologies, and Lydian Data Services, have formed an alliance to enable lenders to outsource services spanning from origination to post-closing quality control. The alliance enables MRG to extend its Miracle document preparation system to origination fulfillment customers who use Lydian to supplement or replace their own internal processes.

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

Pair Automate Pipeline Risk Management

Optimal Blue, has formed a joint limited liability company with Secondary Interactive, to offer mortgage pipeline risk management. The companies touted the partnership as a way of providing bankers secondary-market services such as loan eligibility and pricing, lock desk management, pipeline risk management, and investor relations. They said this marks the first time a vendor has coupled best efforts and mandatory functionality.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:03 AM | Comments (0)

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Named ''Preferred Partner'' By Baker Hill

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services announced that Baker Hill has named the company a “Preferred Partner.” The designation symbolizes a strong alliance between the two leading financial services industry providers in which Baker Hill will actively promote Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ ComplianceOneTM solution as the regulatory compliance solution of choice to be used with Baker Hill’s loan origination systems.

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

PCLender.com Extends Mortgage Lending Compliance Functionality

PCLender.com has extended the compliance functionality of its InHouse Mortgage enterprise lending platform to encompass the entire front to back end mortgage lending continuum, protected by its SAS 70 Type II certified security and redundancy enabled infrastructure.

Utilizing an integrated library of over 3,000 forms allows lenders to ensure disclosures are accurately completed for RESPA, FACTA, and TILA for conforming, FHA, VA, HELOC's, and construction lending programs. InHouse Mortgage back end compliance features provide high cost checks via Interthinx or ComplianceEase, HMDA reporting and data verification.

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

Keller Williams(R) Realty Sends Listings to Zillow.com(R)

Zillow.com and Keller Williams Realty Inc. today announced a partnership which enables Keller Williams to automatically feed the listings of the company's 73,000 associates to Zillow.com on a daily basis, joining the Zillow Listings Feed program, which launched in November 2007.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)

Stewart Reports Updated Operating Results for the First Quarter 2008

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)

American Federal Mortgage Deploys Del Mar DataTrac's DocumentTrac

Del Mar DataTrac Inc. says that American Federal Mortgage Corp. has implemented the company's electronic imaging platform, DocumentTrac. DocumentTrac enables lenders to share documents electronically among branches, brokers, and investors quickly and freely, while reducing labor and delivery costs. The platform also reduces storage costs, while enabling easy, secure retrieval, Del Mar DataTrac adds.

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

Mortech, AllRegs Form Strategic Alliance

Mortech and AllRegs have formed a relationship to simplify the loan closing process. According to the companies, the strategic alliance enables both companies to continue to deliver product and pricing information in an all-in-one solution to thousands of mortgage professionals. Mortech provides all-in-one pricing, rate notification, and prospect management tools. With the addition of AllRegs, the two companies will cross-sell their solutions, enabling lenders to increase close ratios.

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

Ellie Mae Releases Version 3.5 Of Encompass Software

Ellie Mae has announced version 3.5 of the Banker and Custom Editions of the Encompass mortgage management system, adding many new enhancements. According to the company, the enhancements, which improve security and increase compliance, also streamline a number of tasks in loan processing, secondary marketing, process management, business management, and security and administration.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:46 AM | Comments (0)

Equifax's New Mortgage Risk Tool

Equifax, Inc., launched a tool that's designed to help investors assess the credit risks associated with mortgage loans originated in certain geographic areas. Equifax released the new tool—Mortgage Market Risk InsightTM (MRI)—that provides investors with the most up-to-date credit information on borrowers living in certain zip codes.

Subscribers of the tool benefit from a comprehensive review of mortgage loans that are still in compliance, but potentially at-risk of default because of their association with certain data patterns.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:43 AM | Comments (0)

Controversial Foreclosure Prevention Bill Passes House

Despite threats of a presidential veto, the U.S. House of Representatives passed The Neighborhood Stabilization Act (H.R. 5818). The bill aims to clear up urban blight by providing $15 billion in federal grant funding to help local and state governments clean up and restore neighborhoods impacted by foreclosures.

The bill has serious critics with opponents saying it benefits lenders and may actually encourage borrowers to give up on saving their homes.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)

HUD Extends RESPA Reform Comment Period

While officials at HUD are bent on finalizing a rule for RESPA reform before President Bush's term ends, they have agreed to give the public an extra 30 days to comment on the White House proposal to overhaul the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. A total of 148 members of Congress—along with such industry groups as the MBA and the NAR—petitioned HUD Deputy Secretary Roy Bernardi to extend the comment period.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:39 AM | Comments (0)

Home-Appraisal Row May End Up in Court

The appraisal code of conduct orchestrated by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and slated for implementation by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Jan. 1 likely will face litigation if Cuomo fails to collaborate with the mortgage industry to revise the regulations. The code of conduct aims to prevent lenders from pressuring appraisers for inflated valuations, would make it illegal for bank employees and mortgage brokers to select appraisers and would ban the use of in-house or affiliated appraisers by lenders. The mortgage industry and certain federal regulators worry about disruptions in the appraisal industry and higher borrowing fees as a result of the code, and some are criticizing Cuomo for instituting new rules without soliciting feedback from federal regulators or Congress.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:38 AM | Comments (0)

UBS Mortgage Sale a Cautionary Tale

Following on the heels of Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc., UBS AG has become the latest investment bank to sell off unwanted assets, which some observers believe indicates signs of recovery in the credit markets. UBS is unloading $15 billion in Alt-A and subprime mortgages to asset manager BlackRock Inc., reportedly for about 68 cents on the dollar.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:37 AM | Comments (0)

Home Lender ResCap Facing Cash Crunch

Residential Capital (ResCap) posted a total of $5.3 billion in losses over six consecutive quarters due to rising mortgage foreclosures, and it is working hard to amend credit terms before it is found in violation of loan agreements. In order to meet debt obligations, the GMAC mortgage-finance subsidiary needs to raise $600 million by the end of June. The company is seeking $350 million ResCap notes outstanding from GMAC by the end of May and hopes to borrow $150 million more from GMAC under a credit facility already in place.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:35 AM | Comments (0)

Treasury Plans to Press Lenders

The Treasury Department has announced plans to meet with at least 10 big lenders, including Bank of America and Countrywide Financial Corp., as part of an effort to pressure them into hastening the time it takes to modify mortgages for financially distressed borrowers. Treasury officials are also pressing to make the modification process more consistent across institutions.

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

Fannie, Freddie to Report Third Straight Loss on Credit Costs

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are each expected to post losses for the third consecutive quarter amid the worst housing slump in decades. The two GSEs, which own or guarantee 40 percent of the $12 trillion in U.S. residential mortgages, are reeling from record home foreclosures and delinquencies that have pushed their stocks down more than 50 percent in the past year. According to a recent Bloomberg poll of analysts, the GSEs may each need to raise as much as $15 billion in capital after more than $9.4 billion of mortgage-related losses.

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

May 02, 2008

Housing Starts March 08

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

The First American Corporation Reports Financial Results for the First Quarter 2008

Read the entire story here.

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

Stewart Information Services Q1 Net Loss Widens

Stewart Information Services Corp. reported a wider net loss for the first quarter, hurt by a decline in title orders on lower home sales. The company posted a net loss of $22.3 million, compared to a loss of $4.8 million in the prior year quarter.

Read the entire story here.

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

LandAmerica Slips To Q1 Loss

LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. reported a net loss of $24.2 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2008, compared to profit of $4.7 million in the last year quarter. Revenues for the quarter declined to $686.4 million from $948.6 million in the same quarter last year.

Read the entire story here.

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

Stewart Information Services 1Q losses increase

Stewart Information Services Corp. said first-quarter losses widened due to a sharp decline in title insurance revenue. Losses increased during the quarter ended March 31 to $22.3 million, or $1.24 per share, from $4.8 million, or 26 cents per share, during the same quarter the previous year. Total revenue fell 26 percent from the year-ago period to $394.1 million.

Read the entire story here.

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

Radian Presents Remediation Plan to GSEs

Radian Group Inc. has presented a comprehensive business and financial plan to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that is aimed at restoring the profitability of its mortgage insurance business, according to the company. Radian said it presented the plan to officials from both government-sponsored enterprises on April 10, two days after Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its rating on the MI subsidiary, Radian Guaranty Inc., from AA-minus to A. This triggered a requirement that Radian submit a remediation plan to the GSEs.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:03 AM | Comments (0)

Origen Selling Servicing Platform to Green Tree

Origen Financial, a manufactured housing lender based in Southfield, Mich., has agreed to sell its servicing platform and related assets to Green Tree Servicing, St. Paul, Minn. The deal includes the transfer of approximately $1.6 billion of manufactured housing loans.

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

Ross Closes on Option One Purchase

An affiliate of WL Ross & Co. has closed on its $1.3 billion purchase of Option One Mortgage Corp., Irvine, Calif., which services $55 billion in A-minus to D loans. WL Ross chief executive Wilbur Ross said he is now in the hunt to buy savings and loan institutions. In a recent interview with National Mortgage News, Mr. Ross said he eventually wants to enter the loan production business.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:01 AM | Comments (0)

Stewart Title Ltd. Offers Lenders Cover Against Loss Resulting From Mortgage Fraud

Stewart Title Ltd., the underwriter of United Kingdom transactions for Stewart Title Guaranty Company, can provide lenders the cover they need to safeguard their mortgage transactions. With the UK experiencing a rise in the number of mortgage related frauds, Stewart Title offers title insurance to help provide cover against such fraud. For a one-off premium, the policy provides cover for a lender and any successor to its title in the mortgage.

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

Interthinx(R) Releases Enhanced APR Calculator Within Its PredProtect Regulatory Compliance Suite(SM)

Interthinx, Inc. has announced a new APR calculator enhancement to its PredProtect loan-level regulatory compliance solution. The enhancement gives Interthinx customers two options for verifying the accuracy of their disclosures under the federal Truth-In-Lending Act (TILA). Lenders may now choose APRWin from the Office of Comptroller of Currency (OCC) or the new engine that validates payment streams and creates printable amortization schedules.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:57 AM | Comments (0)

AllRegs Acquires Merit Matrix

AllRegs announces the acquisition of Merit Matrix. The acquisition of Merit Matrix allows AllRegs to round out its content available to mortgage bankers with more than 64 investors and nearly 3,000 loan products. Additionally, the acquisition of Merit Matrix also allows for mortgage professionals to continue using their existing loan platforms and product and pricing engines for loan transactions, which are now able to receive data directly from AllRegs via direct XML data feeds.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:51 AM | Comments (0)

American Federal Mortgage Deploys Del Mar DataTrac's DocumentTrac

Del Mar DataTrac(R), Inc. announced that American Federal Mortgage Corp. has implemented the company's electronic imaging platform, DocumentTrac(TM).

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

Triad Guaranty and Lightyear Capital Enter Exclusive Negotiations to Form a New Mortgage Insurance Company

Triad Guaranty Inc. announced that it has entered into an exclusive arrangement with Lightyear Capital LLC to negotiate definitive agreements that would result in the creation of a new monoline mortgage insurance company. In addition, the new company would provide various forms of administrative and financial support to Triad Guaranty. Lightyear would be the lead investor and Triad Guaranty initially would not have any ownership in the new company.

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

Custom Credit Systems, Hyland Software Team On Document Management

Custom Credit Systems (CCS) has formed a strategic partnership with Hyland Software Inc., developer of the OnBase enterprise document management software suite. Through this partnership, CCS will be able to provide its customers with enhanced document retrieval capabilities to increase efficiency in the overall lending process, according to the firms.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:45 AM | Comments (0)

DocuTech Automates California RE 885 Disclosure Calculations

DocuTech, a national provider of compliance and document services to lenders, has provided an update of its ConformX mortgage document software that automates and guarantees compliance with California's new subprime lending best practices law.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:44 AM | Comments (0)

Red Vision Completes First Electronic Statewide Title Plant In Maryland

Red Vision Systems Inc. has built an electronic plant providing 100% coverage for the state of Maryland. The TitleVision plant employs advanced posting algorithms to deliver customers fast and accurate property search products from its database of courthouse and property tax records. Red Vision notes that it differentiates itself from traditional abstractors by combining statewide electronic plants and collaborative workflow technology with a team of local title experts and customer service professionals.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:43 AM | Comments (0)

Ellie Mae to Acorn's Rescue?

Ellie Mae has decided to provide Acorn Housing—a nonprofit that is focused on providing houseling counseling for low-to-moderate income borrowers—with its Encompass Mortgage Management solution, which is designed to smooth out the process of dealing and working with loans, especially on the loss mitigation-end.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)

Credit-Related Charges Hinder Countrywide's First Quarter

Countrywide Financial Corp. announced that the company experienced a net loss of $893 million in the first quarter of this year compared to a much more generous net income of $484 million during the first quarter of last year. Countrywide blames most of its losses on credit-related subtractions that were driven by the need for higher loan loss provisions, mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures and a drop in home prices.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:39 AM | Comments (0)

Mortgage Demand Hits '08 Low

The MBA reports an 11.1-percent drop in home loan applications last week, following a 14.2-percent plunge the previous week. Purchase loan requests slipped 4.8 percent to their lowest point in five years, while refinancing applications declined 16.7 percent to their lowest level this year.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:36 AM | Comments (0)

Fed Cuts and Signals Halt

The Federal Reserve reduced its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 2 percent, with hopes of preventing the downtown in the economy from worsening. The cut in the federal funds rate is expected to eventually result in lower borrowing costs for consumers who take out adjustable-rate mortgages. The central bank has lowered the interest rate seven times since September but suggested in a statement that the campaign has ended, unless the financial markets deteriorate further.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:35 AM | Comments (0)

2010 Is Predicted Date for Housing Recovery

Fannie Mae President and CEO Daniel Mudd anticipates "some recovery and growth" in the country's residential property market--but not until 2010. Speaking before a business journalism conference in Baltimore, the executive predicted that the rockiness experienced last year will continue through 2008, with a similar climate forecast for 2009.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:33 AM | Comments (0)

Countrywide Clients Get More BofA Help

BofA announced that it would take steps to help Countrywide's borrowers keep their properties out of foreclosure. During the next two years, BofA plans to help 265,000 or more borrowers by modifying $40 billion in troubled mortgages. In addition to offering modifications and forbearance arrangements, BofA will eliminate prepayment penalties in some instances, halt new late fees on loans in the foreclosure process and reach out to borrowers who are making timely payments but with some difficulty.

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

'Workouts' on U.S. Prime Mortgages Rise--Hope Now

The HOPE NOW Alliance reports 502,520 mortgage workouts in the first quarter, up 6 percent from the 2007 fourth quarter and 26 percent from the third quarter. While workouts on prime loans surged 19 percent to 206,495 in the first quarter from 173,499 in the fourth quarter, the alliance reports that subprime workouts fell to 296,025 from 301,244.

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

Presidential Candidates Call for Government to Rescue Homeowners

In response to falling home prices and soaring mortgage default rates in numerous states, the presidential candidates are touting homeowner rescue plans that call for increased involvement by the federal government. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., wants lenders to voluntarily institute 90-day moratoriums on foreclosures to ensure plenty of time for loan modifications or workouts; and both she and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., support a proposal from House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., that calls for lenders to lower mortgage balances by 15 percent so that struggling borrowers could refinance into FHA loans. Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has proposed a refinancing plan to help as many as 400,000 homeowners.

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