Mortgage Banking

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

Swamped.(Portfolio)
Servicers are swimming against a torrent of incoming delinquencies. What's more--the outlook is for this deluge to continue. While servicers are dutifully trying to adhere to a mountain of new loa . . .

House moving legislation on Consumer Financial Protection Agency.(Briefing Book)(Congress. House. Committee on Financial Service
On June 24, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) told a hearing before the full Financial Services Committee that he intends to move legislation creating a new . . .

Senate hearing on proposal to create Consumer Financial Protection Agency.(Briefing Book)
On July 14, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) convened a hearing to discuss the proposal to create an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency. In his opening rema . . .

Business barometer.(Briefing Book)
PERCENT OF PROPERTIES SOLD CONSIDERED DISTRESSED SALES June 2008: 19 percent June 2009: 36 percent SOURCE: MDA DataQuick . . .

Lending industry testifies on Obama financial regulatory reforms.(Briefing Book)
On July 15, the House Financial Services Committee convened a hearing to get the banking industry perspective on proposed financial regulatory reforms that have been offered by the Obama administrat . . .

Obama administration urging large servicers to step up loan mods.(Briefing Book)(loan modification )
The Treasury Secretary and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sent a joint letter to the 25 largest mortgage servicers on July 9, urging them to appoint a special liaison officer t . . .

Key House members introduce bill to extend flood insurance program.(Briefing Book)(Brief article)
Right in the midst of hurricane season but before a major one has hit, two key House members introduced a bill on July 9 to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through March 31, 2010. . . .

Lawmakers send letter to banking regulators on H4H slow start.(Briefing Book)(HOPE for Homeowners )
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) sent a joint letter to the heads of the bank regulatory agencies asking them to investigate if the way banks were valuing seco . . .

Moody's says slow start for Obama mod program delays home-price recovery.(Briefing Book)
New York-based Moody's Investors Service's Moody's Weekly Credit Outlook for July 13 carries a story by Celia Chen, senior director with West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Moody's Economy.com, that sa . . .

IAS360 reports U.S. home prices jumped 1.6 percent in May.(Briefing Book)(Statistical data)
Denver-based Integrated Asset Services LLC (IAS) said all four U.S. Census regions reported positive home-price numbers for May, with the Northeast leading the way with a price gain of 3.2 percent. . . .

Ginnie Mae issuance soars to $43.5 billion in June.(Briefing Book)(Government National Mortgage Association)(Brief article)
Ginnie Mae announced that in June it blew past the $40 billion mortgage-backed securities (MBS) issuance mark for the first time in its 41-year history. For the first six months of 2009, Ginnie Mae . . .

MBA drops origination forecast by more than $700 billion for 2009.(Briefing Book)(Mortgage Bankers Association)(Report)
Top economists at the Mortgage Bankers Association now forecast this year's residential origination volume to be $2.03 trillion--a drop of more than $700 billion from MBA's earlier forecast. In a Ju . . .

PMI Q2 risk index finds 85 percent of MSAs facing risk of price declines by 2011.(Briefing Book)
The risk of home-price depreciation is spreading across the country--well beyond the housing boom states where the housing bubble first burst. As many as 324--or 85 percent--of the nation's 381 metr . . .

U.S. banks post some of worst losses of banks globally in 2008.(Briefing Book)(Brief article)(Company rankings)
The Banker magazine posted its annual ranking of the top 1,000 world banks, and the results portray the stunning damage done in the global banking sector last year. The ranking appeared in the mag . . .

Western Union money mindset index finds consumers stressed.(Briefing Book)
A new quarterly index released by Western Union for first-quarter 2009 found startling evidence of financial deterioration among U.S. households. The Western Union Payment Services Money Mindset Ind . . .

Texas housing markets continue to thrive.(Briefing Book)(Brief article)
Just as California has dominated the rankings of worst-performing housing markets, Texas appears to run away with the honors for best-performing markets. On a ranking of the 10 largest housing marke . . .

August-November 2009.(Calendar of Events)(Calendar)
August-November 2009 August 2009 Aug. 5-8 Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association Annual Convention, Vail, Colorado [www.cmla.com] Aug. 9-11 Annual Western States Loan Servicing Confer . . .

A storm to remember.(Executive Suite)
The approach of the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina creates an ideal opportunity to review the recovery that has occurred in New Orleans since Aug. 29, 2005. This "100-year" storm created a . . .

The ticker.(Statistical table)
Company Ticker Price Price 52-Week 52-Week Symbol Close Close High Low 6/30/09 5/29/09 Fanni . . .

FDIC chairman Sheila Bair: the current chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shares her views on navigating the
Sheila C. Bair was sworn in as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on June 26, 2006, for a five-year term. As FDIC chairman, she has presided over an exceedingly tumultuous . . .

Maximizing mods: promising approaches to deal with the crush of loan-mod volume are starting to emerge. The formula includes bot
Serious delinquencies are up, Uncle Sam is writing loan-modification rules, the economy is toppling the financial foundations of your prime borrowers and credit counselors over at HOPE NOW are sendi . . .

Dissecting defaults.(Delinquency/Default Management)
Historical trends in foreclosure activity are a function of both prevailing underwriting quality and economic conditions. This look back at foreclosures from 1979 through the present reveals how eco . . .

Marrying the right vendor: a checklist of best practices for selecting and managing default and REO service providers.(Delinquen
The numbers are staggering. In the first quarter of 2009, foreclosure actions were initiated on 1.37 percent of first mortgages nationwide, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). That' . . .

Managing the true costs of REO: servicers need to be aware of the many hidden costs of carrying REO properties. Only then can th
Banks, residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) investors and mortgage loan servicers must gain a complete picture of their real estate-owned (REO) expenses if they are going to effectively cle . . .

A refresher course in government servicing: with government lending on the rise, servicers should prepare for more red tape when
The subprime lending frenzy of recent years has left the mortgage industry buried under a heap of rubble, where it is still searching for a stronger foothold upon which to rebuild. Though many lesso . . .

Technobabble.
Writing news releases is tricky business. You have to package your news (and hopefully you actually have some) as though it is an exciting breakthrough. That's understood. But getting too breathy ab . . .

The wallet.(Report)
In its report, Gartner's Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users, 2009 and Beyond: Where Is the Money?, Gartner Inc., Stamford, Connecticut, predicts 10 major trends in information technology . . .

The fraud file.
Interthinx's Top 10 Hot Spots for possible mortgage fraud are derived from an analysis of all loan application data submitted to the Interthinx fraud-detection tools in the second quarter of 2009. O . . .

Is the mortgage technology market closed?(MORTECH Musings)
Mortgage lenders have slammed the brakes on information technology (IT) spending, Bend, Oregon-based MORTECH LLC's MORTECH survey of lender use of technology reports that the number of loan originat . . .

Loan workout--the new mortgage channel?(The Deciding Advantage)
From the front page of the June 28, 2009, New York Times to friends struggling with keeping their homes, this loan workout dilemma isn't getting better. The New York Times says it's a paper shuffle . . .

Management teams and managing technology.(Cyberthoughts)
There is no other area of a mortgage company than the technology component that can be so wrought with mistakes. The industry has seen entire companies fail because of mistaken direction with techno . . .

Near-term technology: investments to make a difference.(Tower on Tech)(Column)
A previous Tower on Tech column (February 2009) discussed the investments mortgage lenders should consider in 2009 that will help them develop the leading systems of the future. Since that time, the . . .

eModifications: a technology solution to a business problem.(The eMortgage Evangelist)(Homeowner Affordability and Stability Pla
Government programs to help distressed borrowers, such as the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP) and Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), have established a goal of modifying . . .

New roles for rules.(The Pace of the Future)
In the April 2006 issue of Mortgage Banking, CC Pace contributed an article on rules engines ("Why Should I Care About Rules Engines?") that provided an introduction to rules and rules engines, a br . . .

The elusiveness of CRM.(Download This)
Customer relationship management (CRM) as a practice and focus has been around for decades. So it's surprising how much improvement is still needed in this crucial area at most organizations. The . . .

Number of electronic-recording counties tops 400.(TechNewz)
The number of counties that have implemented electronic recording systems topped the 400 mark during the month of June, according to the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA), Morrisville, No . . .

Metavante's Web-based technology platform deployed by SunTrust.(TechNewz)(SunTrust Mortgage Inc.)
Milwaukee based Metavante Corporation announced that Richmond, Virginia-based SunTrust Mortgage Inc. has successfully deployed Metavante's online point-of-sale (POS) technology in its retail and thi . . .

LPS streamlines the refinance process with RediRefi.(TechNewz)(Lender Processing Services Inc.)
Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS), Jacksonville, Florida, has launched its RediRefi suite of solutions, designed to help lenders more effectively manage capacity challenges associated with loan . . .

First American offers REO listing-activity report.(TechNewz)(real estate-owned )(Brief article)
Dallas based First American Valuation and Property Solutions has announced its new Property Listing Verification report, which confirms and tracks the real estate-owned (REO) listing activity for in . . .

Motivity solutions launches FHA-lending optimization product.(TechNewz)
Denver-based Motivity Solutions Inc. has launched Movation FHA SafeGuard. FHA SafeGuard is a software solution that automatically compares the information in a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) l . . .

Credit plus introduces identity-fraud tool.(TechNewz)(ID Plus)(Brief article)
Credit Plus Inc., Salisbury, Maryland, has introduced ID Plus, a tool that checks critical mortgage application information and alerts a lender if any inaccuracies are detected. "Our commitment to . . .

DRI management forms alliance with Unison Global Partners.(TechNewz)
Newport Beach, California-based DRI Management Systems has formed an alliance with Pleasanton, California-based Unison Global Partners LLC (UGP) to offer loan servicers of all sizes a low-cost and e . . .

First American CoreLogic purchases BasePoint Analytics.(TechNewz)(Brief article)
First American CoreLogic, Santa Ana, California, has purchased BasePoint Analytics LLC, Carlsbad, California, a provider of predictive-analytic fraud and risk-management solutions for the mortgage a . . .

Prommis solutions and Radian partner on loss-mitigation program.(TechNewz)(Brief article)
Atlanta-based Prommis Solutions LLC has partnered with Philadelphia-based Radian Guaranty Inc. to offer assistance to thousands of Americans who are in jeopardy of losing their homes through foreclo . . .

Wolters Kluwer launches loss-mitigation online resource center.(TechNewz)
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, has launched its Loss Mitigation Resource Center to help U.S. mortgage investors and servicers halt a skyrocketing number of foreclosures. The compreh . . .

ISGN and Data-Vision integrate systems.(TechNewz)
Bensalem, Pennsylvania-based ISGN Corporation and Mishawaka, Indiana-based Data-Vision Inc. have announced the seamless integration of their systems, which enable customers to maximize the best of b . . .

Reverse-marketing system capitalizes on latest HECM changes.(TechNewz)
Market Focus Inc., San Diego, has launched a new concept in electronic and direct-mail marketing to run on its Mortgage Quest[TM] marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) platform. The n . . .

Default servicing and the concept of psychological equity.(Executive Essay)
Default servicing is a niche that has truly come into its own as the delinquency crisis in America has grown. It has been a rapid maturation process, not without bumps along the way, as is expected . . .

Stalled GDP, unemployment put brakes on commercial market recovery.(Commercial)(gross domestic product)(Industry overview)
The global economic slowdown, combined with a "modest" supply of new space coming to the market and low demand, could delay or hamper the commercial real estate market's recovery, reported Knight Fr . . .

Brenda White--a remembrance.(People)(Biography)
Petite, modest, devoted mother, loving wife--not your typical description of a leading Wall Street investment banker who helped shape an industry. But that was Brenda B. White, an investment banker . . .